Personal Connection To 1950's Chicago Cub Hal Jeffcoat

Another package was sitting in my mailbox Friday. Another 350 Cubs cards arrived to bring this week's count over 1,000 new cards.

This trade sent a box of Boston Celtics cards out to Jon in San Diego, California for this box of Cubs.

As always, I love a nice Ryne Sandberg Oddball. This one is a 1986 Quaker Granola Bar card. 

Speaking of Cubs legends, here's a 2002 Topps "Who Would Have Thought" featuring Sammy Sosa with both Chicago clubs. 

You know who wasn't a Cubs legend? Bobby Hill. Despite that, I love these Donruss Originals cards from 2002.

Munenori Kawasaki wasn't a Cubs legend as a player, he's a legend due to his awesome personality. He only spent a season with the Cubs, much of which occurred in Des Moines with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Kawasaki did get a couple cards including a 2016 Topps Heritage High Number.

This is a 2012 Topps Superstar Celebrations card. Do you remember 2012? Yikes, the only thing worth celebrating as a Cubs fan were the increasing amount of high draft picks. 

One of those high draft picks turned into Ian Happ. Heard he had a good at bat in yesterday's season opener! 

Do you have a player on your team throughout history that may have made such a small impact on the field, but a lasting memory for you personally? Ryan O'Malley is one for me. I lost my dad a little over a year ago, and in his retirement years he became a die hard Cubs fan. Ryan O'Malley made his big league debut on August 16, 2006 against the Houston Astros. He proceeded to pitch 8 innings of shutout ball and allowed five hits in picking up the win. He only made one more start in Major League Baseball. Based on one big league start my dad thought he was a future Hall of Famer and for the next ten years he would often ask, "whatever happened to that Ryan O'Malley? He was really good!" 

One more card in this box has a personal connection, though less than Ryan O'Malley. Hal Jeffcoat played for the Cubs from 1948 to 1955. 

For a couple years I was sending out numerous letters to former players for TTM autographs. Jeffcoat was a target in the summer of 2007. I did receive a letter back, but unfortunately it was from Jeffcoat's wife with bad news. 

Jeffcoat played 737 games for the Cubs in his eight seasons on the north side. This week's count of incoming Cubs cards stands at 1,325 and the overall collection now boasts 101,536 Cubs cards.