Tony Two Bags: Rice Base

Some months back I made a post about a crystal parallel to this card. Today I am finally posting about the base version. OK the real reason is I needed a quick and dirty post for the end of the year since I still haven't finished a couple of posts from all the post-season hubbaballoo. I noticed I had scanned it but apparently never posted about it.

So here is the Base of Anthony Rendon's 2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Prospect Ticket. I think this type of card is officially called an "X-RC" which is a weird way of saying a pre-RC which technically since is their first card should be an "RC" but since they are a minor league prospect, or in this case shown in College Uni. Heck I don't care what the thing is called. I like it cause Tony is one of my Fave Nationals.

2011 Panini Playoff Contenders: Prospect Ticket: RT10 Anthony Rendon

The Chief And Church Are Wooden Sort Of

2005 Bowman Heritage 17 Chad Cordero and 97 Ryan Church

Base and Mahogany editions.

Oh I do love me some Heritage. Be it Bowman or Topps. Bowman started the concept, well Topps Mother company actually, but technicalities we'll leave in the basement. Anyway for the Nats inaugural season 2005 both Topps and Bowman had a Heritage set. Topps used their 1956 design, while Bowman used their 1951 design for Heritage. I will only concentrate on the two Bowman cards well four Bowman cards really in this post and the two variants and the two players shown.

First up lets talk about the base about the base no treble. As mentioned above the 2005 Bowman Heritage set reproduces the 1951 Bowman design very faithfully using the modern players. I love when the Heritage sets get things right. First up numerically, but not alphabetically is Chad "The Chief" Cordero. The Nationals first closer who ranks up there as one of their best in their 12 plus year history.

2005 Bowman Heritage 17 Chad Cordero Nationals

Checkout how faithful they were to the 1951 design on this back. They even have 1951 for the copyright date, well for the design copyright date, the actual card copyright date they have in the smaller more detailed copyright info that they do now-days.

Now for Ryan Church  who played outfield for the Nats for a few years and when he was traded away to the Mets with Brian Schneider for Lastings Milledge I was quite upset. At the time November 2007 I didn't have a trading card blog so on my regular blog I made a rant post about the trade. Amazingly it was exactly 10 years ago today I posted that. Ryan had become one of my fave Nats during those early years along with Schneider and Cordero.

2005 Bowman Heritage 97 Ryan Church Nationals

Aright well since this is a quick and dirty end of the month post, and I am working on the draft very late on the next to the last day, well very early on the final day actually. Trying to finish before it is time to get up for work. I need to remind my self to stop this end of the month procrastinating. I tell myself time and again all throughout the month that I need to make some posts, and often I start a draft or two on something. Well right now I do have a bunch of drafts in my posting queue. I had a couple of other posts I started drafting. I intended to post one or two of them in time for November, but I have no cards for them yet. I had recently gotten some of these Heritage cards from Sportlots Stores. I may have duplicates of the base, not sure.  The Next Cordero at one time I had watched on Ebay and COMC but eventually got a better price on a Sportlots Store search. I had even purchased the Cordero Mahogany card from Sportlots about a month prior but the seller couldn't find their copy and gave me a refund. So the one I got was from a completely different seller.

Oops I spoiled the surprise of these next cards in the previous paragraph, as well as at the beginning of this whole post so there Pfffftthhhhpppt. (however you spell the sound of a raspberry.)

I didn't have time to check the spelling. I did have an image of Bill The Cat saved on a USB Thumb drive. Dang it I thought it was one where he was saying "Pfffffffhhhpppttthhtt"

I don't know the why or the reasons they decided on this particular variant, but for some reason when they first came out I liked them and thought the concept was pretty cool. I am talking about the Mahogany edition of these cards. The front image is put directly on the raw surface of the cardboard without a clean whitewashed background as a result these card look a bit darker than the regular base edition.

So here are the Mahogany Editions:

 2005 Bowman Heritage: Mahogany: 17 Chad Cordero Nationals

 2005 Bowman Heritage: Mahogany: 97 Ryan Church Nationals

I'm not sure why, but I noticed both my Mahogany cards have slight creases on them. Maybe it is part of the design. I'll have to look into that and try to find my other Mahogany cards I got. I have the Brian Schneider and possibly one or two others.

Here are some side by side comparisons just for fun. First up the backs of the Chad cards. The regular base is on the left and the Mahogany is on the right. You can see slight surface creasing. Hmm upon further checking (and on the front) the creasing is more like veins especially on the fronts so I think it is intended.

2005 Bowman Heritage: 17 Chad Cordero Nationals

Regular Base Edition on left, Mahogany Edition on right.

2005 Bowman Heritage 17 Chad Cordero Nationals

Base on left, Mahogany on right.

Hmm I didn't make a separate side-by-side for the Ryan Church so here is the opening image repeated.

A Slightly Oversized Big Train

Back in September for my Sportlots Spending Splurge I got this nice card, with another card from the set Eddie Murray Orioles which I am mentioning on my regular card blog. This one was 50¢ (Eddie was 70¢) I also got a Hockey card for my name niche PC. Shipping was only 68¢ for the three cards. Buying from Sportlots stores is better on shipping than for the auctions. For some reason auctions there don't combine shipping.

I had forgotten that the cards from this set were slightly larger than standard size at 3.5" x 5" about postcard size. Still nice looking cards. Only 60 cards in the set and not too expensive. I don't think there are any super hard to get cards from this. That is good since it looks like I should get more of these oversized beasts.

 1984 Donruss Champions 37 Walter Johnson Senators

EDITED: To cross-link to regular blog for Eddie Murray card from this set.

Senators Singles: Dick Hyde 1959 Topps

1959 Topps Dick Hyde

Once again I face the end of a month without having a single post. Forcing me to have a quick and dirty post. This card I got from a Sportlots auction for the minimum 25¢ opening bid. I vaguely mentioned this card in my latest Strive for '65 update on my regular card blog but didn't identify it.

Since this is a quick and dirty end of the month post I'll just show the card:

1959 Topps Baseball: 498 Dick Hyde

I also have Dick's 1960 Topps card at one time I think I had 3 or 4 of that card. I probably still have a dupe or two of that '60 card. Not sure but I know I have sent at least one to another collector.

Ed Brinkman

 Ed Brinkman - (2, 38) 11
Senators 1961 - 1970

I have a confession to make even though as a kid I was a Senators fan, I didn't follow the team or baseball too closely in the way that sports fans usually do, or that I do today. I was more into football to be honest.  Even then not really until I was 6 or 7. Another big factor was I was only 6 when the Senators (2.0) left DC for Texas. I was a kid I didn't know the number of home runs any of the players had hit, or what their batting percentages were, or how many games a pitcher had won during a season. I still don't know those things by heart, but I do keep up with whatever is current for the Nationals. So the only thing I knew about Mr. Brinkman back then was that he was a player for the Washington Senators that was good enough for me (and that was probably only because I had a card or two of his). Had I known how good a defense man he was I probably would have paid more attention maybe. Then again I was a little kid and things like baseball stats mean very little to some kids.

As usual I try not to ramble on and on about any one player during these posts, just enough to get some interest and maybe give me some time to figure out which cards to show. So here are the cards.

I'll start things off with one of the first few Senators cards I remember owning that is also one of the cards I think of automatically when I hear his name. 1968  Topps 49A Ed Brinkman Senators (Team Name in White, I need the yellow team name variant 49B) .

1968 Topps Baseball 49 Ed Brinkman Senators

Team name in white letters

Bonus Card: When I think of the 1968 Topps set the main card I think of and associate with that particular set just happens to be the card that numerically follows Mr. Brinkman's card. Number 50 Willie Mays Giants. This card I think was also among some of my first cards I ever owned, and for a long time the only Willie Mays card I owned until the 1972 Topps Mays came along that year. I also think that this card had originally been my brother's.

 1968 Topps Baseball 50 Willie Mays Giants

There doesn't seem to be many of Ed's cards that I did own back in the late 60s early 70s. I'm not even sure if  I had this 1970 Topps card back then or not.

1970 Topps Baseball: 711 Ed Brinkman Senators

On one of my sportlots splurges that included some of the Ed Brinkman cards I needed including the 1966 Topps #251 for .35¢ of course then I found I already had it, Duh its even in my logo picture for this blog. D'oh! I didn't think I had it because I had not recorded it in my Zistle collection. That was before the Beckett buy-out of Zistle.

1966 Topps Baseball: 251 Ed Brinkman Senators

Here are some more of Ed's Senators cards:

1963 Topps Baseball: 479 Ed Brinkman RC Senators

1967 Topps Baseball: 311 Ed Brinkman Senators

1969 Topps Baseball: 153 Ed Brinkman Senators

Some of Ed's Post-Senators cards I didn't have back in the day, or don't remember having them back then. I do admit there was one time as a kid where I did a huge purge of cards. I think most of them were cards I had defaced with a HUGE black magic markered "K" to identify it was my card and not my brother's card, or miscut cards. Stupid stupid stupid. Marking the card AND tossing cards back then. I don't know how many cards I tossed back then in that one time purge I just recall sitting on the floor of the dinning room near the border of the dinning room/living room with a black (or very dark green) garbage bag. I also recall many many 1970 Topps Baseball cards going in there.

1971 Topps Baseball: 389 Ed Brinkman Tigers

I also have the Topps 1974, 1975 and 1975 mini Ed Brinkman cards from his years with the Tigers, but I didn't scan those. I have shown my 1971 Topps Coin of Ed here. I also have Ed's photo from a lot of 8 photos circa 1970 portrait picture that is a the top of this post. It seems to be from the 12 photos 1970 Team issued Picture Pack. Their photos match those but as I described in the earlier post my copies are yellowed newspaper print paper not regular photo stock that I think those would have been issued on. Thus they remain on my Mystery to Me static page.

Ed Brinkman Baseball Reference

On Deck: Ryan Church - (38), 19

In The Hole: Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez - 7

Back To Back To Back To Back

Goodwin, Difo, Harper, Zimmerman WOW!

2017 Topps Now Online Card

What a Win what an accomplishment. On Thursday's 27 July 2017 home game vs the Milwaukee Brewers the Nats tied an MLB record which is also a team/franchise record. They smashed 4 back-to-back Homers, which technically is Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back. Making them the 8th team to have 4 consecutive HRs in an inning. Plus two batters later another Homer making it 5 HRs in one inning for a team record.

It all happened in the 3rd inning and all against Michael Blazek on his starting debut. Poor guy good thing it wasn't his Major League debut that was in Jun 2013 for the Cardinals. Having had some relief work under his belt he wasn't a totally newbie.

The Nats were leading 2-0 when starting pitcher Max Scherzer leads off the bottom half of the 3rd with a walk.

On 1-0 count Brian Goodwin knocks in a two run homer bringing in max to make it 4-0.

Next Wilmer Difo smacks in a homer on a 1-1 count 5-0.

he is followed by Bryce Harper on a full count it is now 6-0.

The Nats current Home Run King Ryan Zimmerman joins the back-to-back club on his first pitch to make it 7-0.

2011 Panini Limited Authentic Timber Lumberjacks 5 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals

Bat chip (sliver) SN# 134/299

Then Daniel Murphy... flies out ending the streaking homers to some light hearted booing from the home crowd.

Next batter Anthony Rendon launches a Homer on the 0-1 pitch and it is 8-0.

They went on to score a few more Homers breaking a team record of 8 HRs in a game. They won the game 15-2.

Oh and it was Max Scherzer's Birthday what a way to celebrate your 31st year.

The Topps Now card that I showed at the top of this post I didn't think about until checking Ebay on a previous Topps Now Card (one I have talked about before and mentioned below) I found the 4 consecutive HRs card for sale on Ebay for $5.99 free shipping. The seller (toppsnow) I think started with 10 available and I noticed 6 had sold within 24 hours so I thought I should grab it before it was gone at that price. The downside is I have to wait til they actually get the card from Topps. The small print says they buy the things during the initial Topps Now 24 hours. The cards usually arrive at the seller 2 weeks later and they ship the cards out the day they receive. So I won't see that card for a while. Ebay's estimated delivery says it ships from Sept 12 to 25. I ordered another Topps Now card from them Ryan Zimmerman's 235th career HR Franchise Record. Plus my shopping spree from two other sellers gets me the Trea Turner Cycle card (#83 the other card ODB-2 a seller has listed for $99 WTH?) and a Bryce Harper Solo homer and Grand Slam 4for4 card. Those two are expected at a quicker speed between 04 Aug and 09 Aug. Yeah yeah I know I've said horrible things about Topps Now mostly the digital online only ones. They often look very nice and the subjects will probably not get put on a card anyplace else, or at least not for sometime. I just have to be careful and make sure I'm getting a PHYSICAL copy, not a digital version.

Related Links:
WATCH: Nationals club four straight home runs against Brewers to make MLB history- CBS Sports

Washington Nationals hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers, and five in one inning - Federal Baseball

Record Power - Nats hit 5 HRs in 3rd, 4 in a row - MLB

The Nationals hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs - SBNation
Nationals slug four HRs in row, five in one inning to tie MLB record - Sporting News
Nationals hit 8 HRs to blast Brewers 15-2 - WTOP

Nationals mentioned in this post:
Wilmer Difo
Brian Goodwin
Bryce Harper
Anthony Rendon
Max Scherzer
Trea Turner
Ryan Zimmerman

Tony Two Bags Rice Refractor

Back on my Birthday of this year (04 April) I received 3 card packages/PWEs each with one card. I had forgotten I had some "Birthday Cards" this year, since April was one of the months I had gotten really backed up on for my mail day mentioning in my usual places on the forums. Today on my regular CaptKirk42 Card Blog I will be posting about one of the other cards from one of the other packages I got that day. A Niche Name PC Card. Here I will be mentioning the lone Curly W Card that came as an unintentional Birthday Present. The card came from a contest from TCC member dlackey (Dennis) it was a "Guess the Number" contest. The number was from 1-100 but had nothing to do with the card itself, it was just a random number. The card is a very PC card both in player and team.

This lovely 2011 Panini Playoff Contenders: Prospect Ticket: RT-10 Anthony Rendon Washington Red crackly ice? Or Red refractor, regular refractor? Crackly Refractor? After looking at the dang checklists I think it is called "Crystal". So it is the "Prospect Ticket Crystal Collection" I guess. Serial number is 223/299 sort of a "jersey number" card for him since 23 is the jersey number he is wearing from his college days at Rice University.

Get On Your Bikes And Ride

2017 Topps Now card 83 images from FederalBaseball.com

On Tuesday 25 April, 2017 in game 2 in Colorado vs the Rockies young Nats shortstop Trea Turner hit for The Cycle. For those who are new to baseball and don't know what "hitting for the cycle" means; it is when a player hits a single, a double, a triple and a home run all in the same game. They do not have to be in order, that feat is rarer and is a "natural" cycle. It is the triple that is the most difficult hit to get. Trea is only the 3rd Modern National to hit the cycle, and the 9th Expos/Nats and the 11th DC player (Senator or National) to achieve this amazing feat. The last Nat to hit the cycle was Cristian Guzman 28 August 2008 and the first Nat to hit the cycle was Brad Wilkerson on 06 April 2005. Texas Rangers Carlos Gomez hit the cycle 4 days after Trea on the 29th of April 2017. It is his second cycle interestingly his first was for the other Ex-Senators team the Minnesota Twins on 07 May 2008.

2017 Topps Now card ODB-2 from Topps.com

Expos to hit for the cycle:
Tim Foli 22 Apr 1976 natural
Chris Speier 20 Jul 1978 (hit his 2nd for the San Francisco Giants on 09 Jul 1988)
Tim Raines 16 Aug 1987
Rondell White 11 Jun 1995
Brad Wilkerson 24 Jun 2003 natural (his first same franchise different team his second was as a Nat)
Vladimir Guerrero 14 Sep 2003

Nationals to hit for the cycle:

Brad Wilkerson 06 Apr 2005

Cristian Guzmann 28 Aug 2008

Trea Turner 24 Apr 2017

Senators to hit for the cycle:

Bill Hassamaer 13 Jun 1894

Ed Cartwright 30 Sep 1895

Bill Joyce 30 May 1896

Otis Clymer 02 Oct 1908

Goose Goslin 28 Aug 1924

Joe Cronin 02 Sep 1929 (his first, his second was for the Boston Red Sox on 02 Aug 1940)

Mickey Vernon 19 May 1946

Jim King 26 May 1964

Twins to hit for the cycle:

Rod Carew 20 May 1970

Cesar Tovar 19 Sep 1972

Larry Hisle 04 Jun 1976

Lyman Bostock 24 Jul 1976

Mike Cubbage 27 Jul 1978

Gary Ward 18 Sep 1980

Kirby Puckett 01 Aug 1986

Carlos Gomez 07 May 2008 (his first, his 2nd was for Texas Rangers on 29 Apr 2017)

Jason Kubel 17 Apr 2009

Michael Cuddyer 22 May 2009 (his first, his 2nd was for Colorado Rockies 17 Aug 2014)

Rangers to hit for the cycle:

Oddibe McDowell 23 Jul 1985

Mark Teixeira 17 Aug 2004

Gary Matthews Jr.  13 Sep 2006 natural

Ian Kinsler 15 Apr 2009

Bengie Molina 16 Jul 2010

Adrian Beltre 24 Aug 2012 (his second his first was for Seattle Mariners 01 Sep 2008 his 3rd is also with Rangers on 03 Aug 2015)

Alex Rios 23 Sep 2013

Shin-Soo Choo 21 Jul 2015

Adrian Beltre 03 Aug 2015 (third total 2nd as a Ranger. his first two are above)

Carlos Gomez 29 Apr 2017 (his second his first was for Minnesota Twins 07 May 2008)

Related Links:

Trea Turner hits for third Nationals cycle ever, knocks in seven runs in wild game - CBS Sports
Trea Turner hits for cycle, drives in 7 runs in Washington Nationals 15-12 win over Colorado Rockies in Coors Field - Federal Baseball.com
Topps Now card - Federal Baseball.com
Trea-cycle: Young Nat uses wheels for feat - MLB.com
National's Trea Turner hits for cycle against Rockies - USA Today
Trea Turner hits for the cycle as Nationals outlast Rockies, 15-12 - Washington Post


OK now let me show some REAL cards of Mr. Turner that I actually own. Actually I'll just show two since I can't find all of the ones I have. one I have already shown here, so to see the back of that one you'll have to Follow This link.

2016 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball: 64 Trea Turner

The other one I can show is a cool 3 color patch card. It looks much nicer in hand the gold scanned as black.

2015 Panini Elite Baseball: 17 Trea Turner Nationals

Future Threads 3 color patch (White, Blue, Red) No 10/25

Front and back

Video Treat: Queen Bicycle Race Video (Live)

Nationals/Senators mentioned in this post:
Ed Cartwright
Otis Clymer
Joe Cronin
Goose Goslin
Cristian Guzmann

Bill Hassamaer

Bill Joyce 

Jim King 

Trea Turner
Mickey Vernon
Brad Wilkerson