Random Topps Team Set of the Week: 2008 Chicago Cubs

Thanks to the Topps Card Randomizer, introducing the Random Topps Team Set of the Week:

• Team: 2008 Chicago Cubs
• Record: 97-64, first place, NL Central Division.
• Manager: Lou Piniella
• Card on the Top: Alfonso Soriano

The checklist consists of the following players:

• CHC1 Alfonso Soriano
• CHC2 Geovany Soto
• CHC3 Matt Murton
• CHC4 Kerry Wood
• CHC5 Rich Hill
• CHC6 Carlos Marmol
• CHC7 Ryan Theriot
• CHC8 Ted Lilly
• CHC9 Aramis Ramirez
• CHC10 Jason Marquis
• CHC11 Derrek Lee
• CHC12 Mark DeRosa
• CHC13 Felix Pie
• CHC14 Carlos Zambrano

The cards in order from the set (the checklist at the end was cut from the back of the package. What, you don't do that?):

Key differences between the team set and 2009 Topps eponymous set:

• For the Cubs' retail set, Topps chose to crop Geovany Soto's picture, so you get a closer look at the eventual Rookie of the Year winner. Here is what his regular card looked like:
  
  

• The fact that his retail card depicts a clean-shaven Kerry only shows that the picture used could not have been recent, as seen by his eponymous card below:
  
  

• You could not find a more lights-out reliever from 2007 through 2010 than Carlos Marmol. Still the record holder for most K's per 9 innings, he was the closer-in-waiting, and the reason why the Cubs had no problem letting Kerry Wood move on to Cleveland for the 2009 season. He didn't get a card in the regular set, but thanks to an appearance in the 2008 All-Star Game, not only did was he included in the All-Star Team subset, but he got his base card as well:
  
  

• As was the case with Soto, Ted Lilly's 2008 retail card was a cropped version of his regular card:
  
  

• Ditto for Derrek Lee, my daughter's favorite Cub...EVER!!!:
  
  

Of the 14 players included in this set, 5 players have different pictures on the retail set compared to the base set, and three were of the same-photo-different-cropping variety.

Next week's featured set will be the 2009 Colorado Rockies. Hope you'll be here when we compare the cards from the retail set to their counterparts found in Topps and Topps Updates and Highlights sets.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama