C.J. Abrams Topps Heritage

 This post I am showing C.J. Abrams' 2022 Topps Heritage card, and the chrome parallel that is serial numbered to #/999. It is also his "Rookie Card", technically his first flagship Topps card should be his RC but the rules for rookie cards have changed in the last few years and are totally confusing.

So here we go the 2022 Topps Heritage design is based on the 1973 design:

2022 Topps Heritage Baseball 501 CJ Abrams Washington Nationals

2022 Topps Heritage Chrome Baseball 501 CJ Abrams Washington Nationals #162/999

Goodies From A November Group Box Break

 Without much fanfare here are some cards I got from a November Group Box Break. A monthly break I am a part of that I get recent Nationals from.

Group 1:

2022 Topp Archives Baseball:

1963 Design:

75 Andre Dawson Expos

96 Patrick Corbin

100 Juan Soto

1978 Design:

109 Stephen Strasburg

132 Josiah Gray

168 Vladimir Guerrero Expos

190 Lucius Fox

1987 Design:

284 Keibert Ruiz

1992 Design:

366 Bryce Harper

Group 2:

2022 Panini Prizm Baseball:

28 Mason Thompson

84 Josiah Gray

94 Cody Wilson

2007 Fleer Ultra Baseball: Ultra Rookies Auto:

206 Matt Chico on-sticker blue sharpie 104/349

2021 Topps Heritage Baseball:

1972 Design:

200 Michael Taylor

368 Rookie of the Year Award

2022 Gypsy Queen Baseball:

56 Stephen Strasburg

287 Patrick Corbin

Group 3:

2021 Topps Baseball (Series 2):

343 Victot Robles

446 Alex Avila

453 Starlin Castro

461 Ryan Zimmerman

473 Kyle Schwarber

531 Asdrubal Cabrera

2002 Topps Baseball: Update:

US38 Lucius Fox RC

US51 Erick Fedde

US68 Washington Nationals Team Card Juan Soto - 100 Career Home Runs CL

Group 4:

2022 Topps Baseball: Update:

US132 Joe Russ

US173 Andrew Stevenson

US 179 Maikel Franco

US194 Nelson Cruz

US226 Sean Doolittle

US269 Ehire Adrianza

US293 Yadiel Hernandez

US296 Steve Cishek

US299 Cesar Hernandez

I also got a small lot of Texas Rangers cards I had gotten from a bonus group box break:

Cards not scanned

2022 Topps Baseball: Update:

US82 Taylor Hearn

US91 Brad Miller

US96 Kyle Cody

US101 Albert Abreu

US122 Kolby Allard

US131 Martin Perez

US163 Jon Gray

US198 Garrett Richards

US200 Corey Seager

US285 Nick Tropeano

Some Guy Named Harper. NO some other guy named Harper

Guess what? It's the end of the month you know what that means? Not so fast. OK so I was going to do another quick and dirty Senators Singles post but while looking for potential candidates found an interesting card and then another of the same guy so long story longer. I vaguely remember having one or two of these cards of this guy named Brandon Harper who is no relation to Bryce Harper, even though this guy has a little brother named Bryce. Bryce's older brother is Bryan Harper. Brandon played only 18 games for the Nationals in the bigs in 2006.

OK according to TCDB Brandon has 15 cards with 8 of them being minor league cards. I might have his 2006 Upper Deck (update?) card from some team trade or sales package but I'm not sure about that. Any how the cards of his that I am sure I have I'm showing here. I have at least two of his first card I'm showing (the regular 1952 Edition). A few weeks back I had to do a quick apartment cleaning/hoarding sweep for the annual insurance inspection. I gathered my unorganized piles of card packages and boxes condensed them and stacked them differently than they had been so now the unorganized groupings are even more unorganized. Hey now I have some of my dining room floor space back.

The Cards:

2006 Topps 1952 Edition 209

 

2006 Topps 1952 Edition Chrome TCRC53

#d 0877/1952

2007 Topps Heritage 403 (1958 Design)

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.

2016 NLDS vs Los Angeles Dodgers Results

2016 NLDS

vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers Won Series 3-2

Back in 2012 when the Nats took their first trip to the National League Divisional Series, I was too excited and then too depressed to do any sort of review post. Then in 2014 I was again depressed by the results. Well this year, the third year in five that the Nats have made the postseason, I decided that win or lose I'd do a post about the series.

The NLDS is a best out of five games series, and much like the Wild Card "play-in" game it comes and goes too swiftly. 3 wins and you move on to the Championship Series (NLCS). Lose those 3 and your season is over. The Nationals for this series won "home field" advantage by having the better season record 95-67 to the Dodgers 91-71. In the long run home field gets the advantage of an extra game and the homie crowd for one more game.. 

Game 1: Friday 07 October 2016 Nationals Park, Washington DC - Loss 3-4

The first game of the series was a real uphill battle. Unfortunately the Nationals lost. The first inning was soiled with a solo homer by LA's Corey Seager apparently he is their golden child this season. The first pitch he saw he knocks it out. Good thing he was the second batter and the lead off man had struck out. Things would only get worse from there. The Dodgers would tack on 3 more runs in the top of the third making it a 4-0 game. The nationals were able to cut the lead in half with a two-run homer by Anthony Redon that scored Bryce Harper and Jason Werth. The Nationals would then get their third and final run in the bottom of the 4th with a sac fly by Trea Turner to send catcher Pedro Severino home. The Nats would make a few more attempts to score but no love there.

Game 2: Sunday 09 October 2016 Nationals Park, Washington DC - Win 5-2
Game 2 of the series was rained out on its original Saturday game day 08 October then postponed for Sunday. This game started out much like the first Golden Boy Corey Seager knocked in a solo homer top of the first. Dodgers fans were wetting themselves with glee. The next scoring was again top of the 3rd this time just one run Josh Reddick singled and Justin Turner scored. That would be the final scoring by the Dodgers. The rest of the scoring would be ALL WASHINGTON starting bottom 4th with José Lobatón knocking a 3 run homer scoring the Brothers Dan Daniel Murphy and Danny Espinosa. Then next inning would be last year's wonder boy for the Mets Daniel Murphy hitting a single to get Trea Turner in. Then the bottom of the 7th Murphy would single again this time sending Jayson Werth home.

Game 3: Monday 10 October 2016 Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - Win 8-3
For Game 3 the fun moved to the left coast. This time bottom of the 1st. Yep you guessed it Corey Seager bats, but not a solo homer but a deep double that scores LAs Mr. Turner (Justin). Move to the top of the 3rd it is Jayson Werth's turn to double and for Washington's Mr. Turner (Trea) to score. Game tied 1-1. Bryce Harper singles and Jayson Werth Scores. Anthony Rendón homers deep left center (412 ft.), Bryce Harper scores. 4-1 Washington. Bottom of 5th Carlos Ruiz homers deep left center Joc Paderson scores 4-3 Washington. Then all is quiet until the top of the 9th. Jayson Werth homers deep left center (5-3), Ryan Zimmerman doubles deep right sending both Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper home (7-3) he advances to 3rd on throw. Chris Heisey hits a sac-fly to left scoring Ryan Zimmerman 8-3. Nats take lead in series 2 games to 1. And that Mrs. Lincoln is all she wrote.

Game 4: Tuesday 11 October 2016 Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA - Loss 5-6
Game 4 could have been a historic game for the Nationals. It SHOULD have been, but alas it was not. Top of the first Nats draw first blood Daniel Murphy singles to right Trea Turner scores (1-0). Bottom of the 1st Dodgers come back Adrian Gonzalez homers deep right also scoring Justin Turner. (1-2) Top of the 3rd Daniel Murphey does it again with a sac fly to center to plate Trea Turner (2-2). Bottom 3rd Justin Turner (Wrong Mr. Turner) singles to left center and Clayton Kershaw scores (2-3). WHAT? Their Pitcher? Oh yeah he did get on base Blah. Then with bases loaded Joc Pederson is hit by a pitch again Justin Turner scores (2-4). Bottom 5th Joc Pederson doubles to left scoring Josh Reddick (2-5). Top 7th bases loaded Jayson Werth hit by pitch Danny Espinosa scores Nationals turn for that fun trick (3-5). Daniel Murphy singles left center Trea Turner and Bryce Harper score tying the game 5-5. Bottom of the 8th Chase Utley (Huh? Haven't seen that troublemaker for some time) singles right center Andrew Toles scores go-ahead run (5-6). Big heavy sigh Dodgers tie series 2-2.

Game 5: Thursday 13 October 2016 Nationals Park, Washington DC - Loss 3-4
Game 5 the one that decided the whole enchilada. This was perhaps the biggest dramatic game of the series along with game 4. For the first 7 innings it was super, then the hour and a half long 7th inning turned sour. There was some hope near the end but it was quickly extinguished. The scoring got started in the bottom of the 2nd with the Brothers Dan. Danny Espinosa singled to right sending Daniel Murphy home 1-0. The score would stay that way for most of the game until the 7th inning. It didn't help matters that the bottom of the 6th ended with Jayson Werth trying to squeeze home. He was sent by 3rd base coach as the ball, hit by Zimmerman who doubled left, was about even with 3rd base. In the top 7th Joc Pederson knocks a solo homer deep left center 1-1. Carlos Ruiz singles shallow left scoring Ausin Barnes 1-2 with just one out. Then Justin Turner triples to deep center scoring Howie Kendrick and Carlos Ruiz 1-4. The top of the 7th alone ran for about 45 minutes and the Nats break a sad NLDS record of using 6 pitchers in just one inning. Bottom 7th Chris Heisey knocks in a 2 run homer deep left plating Danny Espinosa and bringing the game to within one run 3-4 with no outs. Sadly that would be the final scoring of the game. The Dodgers move on to the NLCS against the Cubs.

Series Results: Dodgers Win Series 3-2

Game 1: 07 October 2016 - Loss 3-4

Game 2: 09 October 2016 - Win 5-2

Game 3: 10 October 2016 - Win 8-3

Game 4: 11 October 2016 - Loss 5-6
Game 5: 13 October 2016 - Loss 3-4

Alyssa is Happy

Extras:
Parody of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off by Keith Elgin (Video) 2016 Nats Playoff Theme It isn't great but it is a fun fan-made parody. He debuted the song LIVE at a restaurant Ben's Chili Bowl a DC area landmark. He also sang it live on local radio (WRQX "Mix 107.3") on the Jack Diamond Morning Show

To conclude this semi-sweet post. Thank you Nationals for an exciting season with an excellent run. Plus an exciting NLDS especially the drama of games 4 and 5. I wish this Post Season was not a repeat of the last two even year seasons (2012 and 2014). Sadly the Nationals post season record is much like the Capitals Post Seasons. Get to the first round then lose.

Hey Nook Its An Allen And Ginter Autograph

2007 Topps Heritage Baseball 442 Nook Logan Nationals

No that 2007 Topps Heritage card at the top is not the card I'm talking about in this post. I thought about making this one of my Senator's Singles posts but I didn't want this logo - 

- sitting at the top of the post. Besides the card I'm showing this post is technically not a Senators card. OK yes I believe there has been a time or two that I have used that logo for an Expos card or two which technically was Never a Senators card and for many of those guys never a Curly W or DC card. I think from now on I will limit this "Senators Singles" logo to only those cards that show the guys that played DC ball from before 1972.

The card I am spotlighting this post is from 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter's Baseball set. It is one of the certified autograph cards. The framed mini cards with an on card signature. I wish these types of cards were serial numbered, but autograph cards have gotten so mainstream now they often don't warrant a serial number. Yet a parallel something stamped with blue foil lettering is?

The player featured is Nook Logan who played outfield for The Nats in 2006-07. At the time I thought he was a super guy and a much needed slugger for the team. Well he was mostly just a spectacular outfielder and a speedster on the bases. He was with the Nats when they were mostly just trading around for speedsters that made occasional spectacular plays to impress the scouts, when they really needed power bats. His bat upon reflection, wasn't so hot as I thought it was. Do bats reflect? Aluminum ones for kids and the minor leagues Yes, Louisville Sluggers and Official MLB bats NO. I forgot that he injured his foot against an outfield wall on opening day 2007, spent over a month out on the DL and never really got his hitting back up. He was slumping near seasons end. I had forgotten that he had been in the Mitchell Report on players who had used performance enhancing substances. He had used HGH to recover from injuries he had in the minor leagues when was with in the Detroit Tigers system (2004-06). Enough of the sad contributions to ending a promising career you want to see a ding-dang card.

2007 Topps Allen & Ginter's Baseball AGA-NL certified autograph

On Card auto blue sharpie

Nook Logan Nationals

(Front and Back)

The main purpose for making this a one card post was simply to fill my monthly posting quota minimum of one post. 

Half A Six Pack

I was going to show these cards separately as Senators Singles but decided since I got them at the same time and I have a huge backlog of cards to blog about on all my blogs I need to do them together. I got these three cards in a PWE six-pack of cards I got from Jeff at 2x3 Heroes. The first two are some of those retro modern cards and the third one is one of those modern trading card games that nobody can figure out how to play so nobody ever plays the games.

 2007 Bowman Heritage Baseball 106 Felipe Lopez Nationals

(Front and Back)

I love vintage cards and now I love the modern retro cards in the vintage styles. I didn't use to like the retro Heritage styles but after getting some several years back I grew to like them. Some years and designs work much better than others. The 2007 Bowman Heritage is a bow to the Original 1952 Bowman design.

Second Up we have a nice 2011 Topps Heritage card the design which honors the 1962 Topps Design, which in itself is sort of a homage to the days when kids would peek through a knothole in a wooden fence outside the ballpark to see the game.

 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball 186 Rick Ankiel Nationals

(Front and Back)

Now this next card is technically a game card. How you play the dang thing I'll never know and as a card collector and not a card player I don't really care that much. I don't even think any official rules have been printed for this silliness, if there are then I'm wrong. Anyway I'm not even sure how well these things sold originally, and now they mainly just sell to the player or team collectors. There might be some set collectors but since the cards are not numbered who knows how many cards there are exactly. Oh OK there might be a checklist or two on the interwebs somewhere. Anyway here is one of the cards of the kind that I never really wanted to get but I guess I'll get the Nationals and Orioles and my PC players from this set sometime.

2009 Topps Attax Baseball Card Game NoNumber Lastings Milledge Nationals

(Front and Back)

Oh the toppstown website. I guess the game was something that used codes from the website to play. Which means the website probably explained how to play, but since this is now over five years old the website is probably closed and abandoned.