You've Got Mail #36: Wrigley Roster Jenga

I'm pretty sure everyone has played Jenga at one point or another. It's a fairly simple but challenging game where you take a block from the structure underneath and continue stacking them on top until it falls.

Tony over at Wrigley Roster Jenga is doing something similar, albeit with Cubs, Bears, and Blackhawks cards. He's attempting to do all-time roster collections of all three franchises. That's quite the task if you ask me. I felt obliged to help him in his quest by reaching out to him on Twitter and letting him know I had some extra Bears cards to assist him in his journey. We exchanged addresses and less than a week later there was a nice PWE in my mailbox that covered aspect of all my team collections.

Topps 2000 is a forgotten set to me as it came out right as I stopped collecting the first time around. This Larkin card is great as it reminds me of better times, when the Reds were somewhat decent every year. The other reason I like it is that it's an action shot from old Riverfront Stadium and I don't see much of that on cards past the mid 90s. 

The Joe Morgan card I'm guessing is some sort of Heritage thing that Upper Deck used to do, perhaps Goudey? I'm not sure. 

Here are a few oddballs and a Brandon Phillips card from the Topps T206 set. I ran into George Foster once as he came through the checkout line in my part-time job. Of course I asked "you're George Foster right?" He looked around and said "who's that?", grinned and then replied "how you doin'?". He paid for his purchase and went on his merry way. The end.

A nice selection of reprints covering not only the Reds but a few old school defunct teams like the Washington Senators. Speaking of which, check out the Walter Johnson card in the middle. Interesting that it says Washington Americans and not Senators. The real gem though is that Buck Ewing card at the bottom. For those that are unfamiliar, Ewing was one of the greatest players in the 19th century and probably the best catcher during that era. He led the NL in home runs in 1883, played in the ill-fated Players League of 1890, and managed the Reds at the end of the 1800s and part of the 1900 season for the Giants. He retired in 1897 after an 18-year career with a .303 career average, 1,129 runs scored, and 883 RBIs (credit: Baseball Reference).

A few other baseball odds and ends. Not sure why Tom Pagnozzi was included as its a Cardinals card but hey, I'll take it anyway! 

Since I had sent Tony some Bears cards, it was only natural that some Bengals were included, seeing as we both collect football teams named after large wild animals. Vintage Bengals cards are hard to come by so these were definitely welcomed. Check out the Pat McInally card, if you didn't know any better, he'd be a dead ringer for a Browns player.

Finding quality hockey cards in these parts is a cumbersome task as well as card shops barely carry any singles and card shows don't have a lot. It's a good thing that people like Tony step in and include hockey cards in trade packs now and then. The Devils are my team and these are some great additions. Three pretty solid players here in Schneider, Elias, and Jagr. Not sure about Sergei Brylin though, can't say I've ever heard of him.

Thanks for the great PWE Tony! These cards helped fill some nice holes in the collection.