Then and Then, Stealth CMC Edition

So I was perusing Chris' want list over at Nachos Grande recently and realized I had a couple cards he needed, (and one he apparently didn't). So I sent them off. He didn't have anything off my admittedly limited want list of CMCs, so I suggested some random Cubs cards and he came through with this cool package almost two dozen Cubs in return.

It's a great selection, everything from a 1985 Topps Henry Cotto to a 2008 Goudey Derrek Lee. But you'll have to forgive me, there were two other cards that stuck out to me, the proprietor of a blog focusing on the 1990 CMC set.

There was the 1995 Stadium Club Cub Willie Banks. Banks graced card 808 of the CMC set, a card that I do not yet own. So maybe this is a want list card. Banks spent 1990 with the Orlando Twins as one of the club's top prospects.

He made it to the Cubs for 1994, traded by the Twins in a three-player deal. The back of his card points out he threw his first complete game shutout May 24. Over his nine-season major league career, it would be his only such achievement.

But the coolest card of the package, by far, has to be the 1993 Upper Deck Mark Grace. Now, Grace was obviously not in the CMC set, but the catcher he's running past, Kirt Manwaring is.

If that's not enough, it's also one of those cards where you can figure out when the photo was taken to a reasonable degree of certainty. And, in doing so, it reveals what prompted Grace's dash to the plate: a single by Hall of Famer and my favorite player Andre Dawson.

A stealth CMC alum card and a stealth Dawson card. That is so cool.

In case you're wondering, the Cubs played at San Francisco from May 15 to May 17, 1992 (that's not Wrigley in the background). Manwaring and Grace played in the first game, but Grace went 0-5, never getting on base. Game 2, Manwaring didn't play.

But, in Game 3, on May 17, both played. Grace went 2-4, scoring once. With one out and one on, Grace doubled to left. Ryne Sandberg was walked intentionally, then came Dawson, who promptly lined a single to short left. Dwight Smith scored, Grace came after him.

Grace appears to be readying for a collision, but Manwaring isn't. That's apparently because attention shifted to third and Sandburg, who was gunned down, Grace scoring without a play.

Now that's a cool card. Totally worth the two wanted cards and one non-wanted card I sent. Thanks, Nachos!