During the early 1990s, I collected Mark Grace cards. Then he turned on the Cubs, was arrested for DUI, and served jail time for four felonies.
Thus, I stopped collecting his cards.
He’s made a bit of a resurgence as TV analyst for the Cubs in 2020. That didn’t last too long, in the same year, he was suspended from Marquee Sports Network’s Cubs broadcasts for derogatory comments he made about his ex-wife on-air.
In 2023, he was elected into the Cubs Hall of Fame, along with my favorite Cub, Shawon Dunston. (I collected both Grace and Dunston in the early 90s). It was fascinating for me to see Grace and Dunston do interviews together in 2023.
After his time with the Cubs, Dunston mostly stayed away from the Cubs, because he saw himself as a failure. At the start of his career, there were high expectations for the #1 draft pick of 1982. He was supposed to be the next Ernie Banks! But alas, he did play with a joy of the game, with a passion. But his stats didn’t match up to the expectations. So Dunston never really returned to the Cubs. But now, seeing all the Cubs fans so excited for Dunston to come back, he was really surprised. He didn’t think that he would be so welcomed back.
In short, Dunston was humble. Grace, on the other hand, was the… well, in his playing days, he would often talk to the media. He was the face of the team. Sure, that’s great. But now in these 2023 interviews, it showed how much Grace likes the attention. He’s a showman. Showmen are ok. Having showmen in baseball is a good thing. But when you pair up the showman with his other questionable activities, it shines a different light on Grace’s showman side.
In one interview, Grace talked about how he and Sutcliffe would go out to the bars all the time after the games (again, going to bars is ok, but the DUIs are definitely not ok). Grace would go on to say how Dunston never went out to the bars, because he had a kid and was a family man. That again showed very clearly the dichotomy between Grace and Dunston. Grace was a party kid. Dunston was a responsible, loving man for his children.
Today, I find it hilarious that I got one of Grace’s cards for one penny with free shipping. Shows how much it’s worth. I can’t say that I have a favorite Grace card anymore, because how can I call any of his cards a favorite? In fact, when my wife and I attended our first Cubs game when we were dating, it was Cubs baseball card day. In the pack with other Cubs cards was a Mark Grace card. I tore Grace’s card in half at the game.
To get one of his cards for a penny, with free shipping? That’s hilarious. This is most likely my favorite Grace card. Bonus points for the card not giving Grace the honor of wearing a Cubs logo on his hat.
