2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Fergie Jenkins Autograph

The Cardinals and Cubs are on tonight, but I am flipping my television over to the College World Series Game between the my NC State Wolfpack and the UCLA Bruins.  It's pretty unusual that I would purposely miss a Cardinals-Cubs game, but honestly the rivalry does not have much juice to it at the moment.  I am sure that Busch Stadium is packed and I am sure that there are a few Cubbie Bear fans running around doing a little bit of talking.

Despite the large crowd the internet chatter around these games has died off considerably in the recent years.  Sure the Cubs are almost mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but that never stopped this rivalry from being one of the best in the game.  Yes, the Cardinals have been to the last two National League Championship Series and have won two more World Series over the last decade, but that did not stop Cubs fans in the past.

I think the real difference at the moment centers around the fact that the Cubs are pretty much hapless and hopeless.  In the 1980s the Cubs had star players like Lee Smith, Ryne Sandberg, and Mark Grace.  There was always next year and they actually made the playoffs in 1989.  Same in the 90s and 2000s.  A little more Sandberg, throw in Sosa, Prior, and Kerry Wood.  Mix in a playoff appearance in 1998 and 2003 and you've got a happy fans base.

I know lots of other fans bases that would be irked only making the playoffs once a decade, but the system seemed to be working great for the Cubbie Bear crowd.  Now, I am not sure what has happened to the Cubs.  Their team is horrible, there is no help on the way, and their fan base seems a little bit depressed.  Cardinals fans seem to almost feel a little bit sorry for the Cubs.  Maybe.

With the series coming up, I took stock of my recent Cubs acquisitions and noticed that it had been a long time since a new Cubs card had appeared in this space.  There was a Lee Smith card last week, but it was clearly posted in a Cardinals themed entry.  It's been a few months, so for less than $10 I picked up a Hall of Famer appearing in a Cubs uniform.

2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Fergie Jenkins Autograph 

I actually try to pick up as many Hall of Famers signatures on cardboard as possible, so despite being a Cub, I was quite pleased to add this nice looking card to my collection.  Factoring in the price and the great look of this Sweet Spot autograph and I am feeling good about allowing a Cub card into this space.  Here's hoping for a Cardinals win this evening, also Go Pack!