Trade Deadline Madness
Watching baseball GM’s Wheel & Deal like Kids trading Baseball Cards.

I have a confession to make. A deep, dark secret which I do not believe I have publicly admitted for since becoming a staff writer for the Wrigley Rapport. Hopefully this purge of my deep, dark, hidden secret won’t taint my standing in Cubs Nation — or with my colleagues on the staff.
Are you ready? Before I became a Cubs fan… I was a New York Yankees fan.
There, I said it.
When I was 12 years old, in 1977, my family moved from Ankeny Iowa to Davenport Iowa. When we got settled in to our new digs my parents had added something called cable television to our in-home entertainment package. A small black box with a dial that sat on top of the t.v. set changed my baseball world forever.
I discovered a channel called WGN. On most summer days I could tune in and find a Cubs game. Guys like Bill Buckner and Ivan DeJesus played for the Cubbies back then. Thus began my maddening love affair with the Chicago Cubs.
Over the next few years I gradually transitioned from the American League to the National League. This helped my gradual transition away from the Yankees and into the open arms of my Cubbies.


Of course, in the 1970’s the Yankees were in the height of their George Steinbrenner days. He would provide the Bronx Bombers with the best players money could buy. No price tag was ever too steep for “The Boss.”
The Yanks acquired the best of the best — players like Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Lou Piniella, and Ron Guidry. Old school legends like Catfish Hunter, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle and Willie Randolph.
The Yanks went on to win back to back championships in 1977 and 1978.
But what set the Yankees apart from every other major league team was their bigger-than-life owner George ‘The Boss’ Steinbrenner. He was willing to make any move that he thought the team needed, regardless anyone elses opinion. It did not matter how much he had to pay for that player. And of course there was never ending drama.
So changing my baseball allegiance from the ‘Circus’ in New York to the Lovable Losers in Chicago was on its face an absolute insane proposition.
Trading 90 win seasons in the Bronx for 90 loss seasons on the North Side made no sense.
But as you all know, there is a certain magic about Wrigley Field and the ivy and the big green manual scoreboard. Something endearing about this little slice of heaven plopped down in the heart of a residential neighborhood — the cozy confines with streets surrounding it named Clark, Addison, Waveland and Sheffield.


Then, In 1981, a bigger than life figure named Harry Caray began calling games and my fate was sealed.
I would henceforth forever be a Cubs fan.
It made sense. I lived less than three hours from Wrigley, and WGN let me watch every game. Most of my friends were either Cubs or Cardinals fans.
So you might be asking how all of this relates to the rapidly approaching trade deadline?
Back in the day, like most of my 12 year old friends, baseball cards were the bomb! I would beg my mom relentlessly every time we went to the grocery store for a couple of packs of Topps baseball cards. Topps were the gold standard of baseball card collecting.
Those cards were the currency of a 12 year old. The good cards like Nolan Ryan or Reggie Jackson were much sought after. And if you hit the jackpot and happened to double up on one of the superstars you instantly knew your collection was about to increase in value. Those doubles could buy you the Tom Seaver or Pete Rose card you did not have, and sorely coveted.


I stored my cards in Velveeta cheese boxes. They were made with strong cardboard and were the perfect width for my collection.
I remember the glee I would feel when I opened one of those packages and staring back at me was Reggie Jackson, or Greg Nettles, or Ron Guidry.
My collection was now moving from average to elite when that happened. And I would promptly strut up to one of my buddies and reveal my ‘cool cards’ and start laying out my strategy to trade that currency for the certain card I coveted in that moment.


Fast forward to the present. Now we all use Twitter and can interact and communicate with vast numbers of people who share our love and passion for our Cubbies.
We can banter back and forth about what our teams needs are and what players fit those needs. The number of different opinions many times equals the number of people expressing them.
The main name this year for Cubs fans has been Justin Verlander. We lay out stats and pro’s and con’s and banter back and forth.
With social media the baseball writers and insiders can feed us with constant rumors and names and teams on a never ending stream. That information fans the flames and fuels the discussions as we eagerly await big news to break. Much like the anticipation of tearing open your newest Topps pack and having Nolan Ryan staring back at you!
When the news broke that Theo Epstein had done it again and pulled of a big trade for Aroldis Chapman last year to bolster our team as they played their way to the playoffs, the buzz and excitement was monumental.
The excitement was almost more than I could handle.
The Jose Quintana trade was not quite as big as that move, but probably a more important one honestly.
All of this leads to the coming three days, as teams make their final push to bolster their squads in pursuit of a world series title.

We will all be anxiously awaiting that Ken Rosenthal tweet that breaks the latest big trade.
Where did Sonny Gray go? Did the Dodgers grab Yu Darvish? Was anybody willing to gamble on Justin Verlander.
Did Theo go get a back up catcher? A reliever? Or will he shock us all with a trade that nobody saw coming, Theo style!
Enjoy the process my friends. I, for one, am looking forward to the whirlwind of transactions that will make or break a season.
Quite honestly, it takes me back to my childhood — trading cards, and anticipating what superstar George Steinbrenner was bringing to New York.
However, I am much more fulfilled as a fan of the Cubs and would want no one else but Theo Epstein pushing the buttons and cutting the deals that will bring another Commissioner’s Trophy to Wrigley.
In Theo we trust! Go Cubs Go!

Doug Preszler is the type of person who can be a Cubs fan and an Iowa fan while living in South Dakota. He is a man who cares not for regional loyalty. He can be found on Twitter @PreszlerDoug, telling tales of the Dakotan Cubs fan’s existence.

