Grandstand Harrisburg Senators 2010 Team Set

2010 Grandstand Harrisburg Senators Team Set 

(shown sealed)

Here is a team set I acquired from Ebay (about 2 weeks ago) for 14 bucks plus 4 shipping brand new still sealed in the original clear cello-plastic wrapper. In past years I might have tried to find 2 sets, one to keep sealed and one to open up and "show off". Note due to many reasons I don't "show off" my collection or display it, I just basically "store" my collection. Now days I don't bother with the 1 to keep sealed and 1 for the "collection" although I did that years ago with the 2005 Topps Washington Nationals Commemorative Box Set. 

Any way the set is the Minor League farm Team Set of the 2010 Harrisburg Senators by Grandstand. It is a 28 card set. It includes the Manager (Randy Knorr (Front Card)), Both the Hitting and Pitching coaches (Troy Gingrich, Randy Tomlin) and the Trainer (Alsushi Toriida (Back Card)). Key player cards and Notable Nats are: Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, Matt Chico, Danny Espinosa Jhonatan Solano, and Chris Marrero.

The design is nice and reminiscent of a 1990s Fleer or Upper Deck card.   

Here is the team set shown in order as they were packed.

Here are the backs of the Notable players and the coaches (Atsushi Toriida the Trainer card back is shown above as the back of the sealed pack.)

Nats First Triple Play

WOW! What a play!

On Friday 29 July, 2016 in San Francisco against the Giants The Nationals made their first Triple Play in Team History*

THE SETUP: It is the bottom of the 8th The Nationals are ahead 4-1. Oliver Perez Pitching. Lead off batter Denard Span (Was with the Nationals last year) hits a single to third. Second batter Angel Pegan hits a single to center. Buster Posey at bat, Nats switch pitchers to Blake Teinen, Posey Walks. Bases loaded Span at 3rd, Pegan at 2nd and Posey at 1st.

The Nationals make a rare Triple Switch, they bring in Sammy Solis to pitch, Danny Espinosa to Shortstop and Ryan Zimmerman to First Base. Brandon Crawford comes up to bat.

THE PLAY: With one strike against him Brandon Crawford hits the next pitch. A line drive directly at first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. He catches it for out number 1, Runs to first base steps on the bag for out number 2 and launches the ball to third base.

Third baseman Anthony Rendon catches the ball and steps on third for out number 3. Base runner Buster Posey (at first) has too large a lead to get back to first base, he is still a little stunned. Denard Span base runner at third races toward home on contact, as Zimmerman is fielding the ball. Span would later say he thought the ball had one hopped before getting to Zimmerman.

I think Denard had the same expression Friday Night after the Triple Play.

The Nationals get their first Triple Play and end up winning the game with the same score of 4-1. It is also a historic play as it is the first 3-3-5 Triple Play in MLB History. Sadly the Nationals would lose Saturday's and Sunday's Afternoon Games allowing the Giants to split the four game series 2-2.

* Well since they have been in DC the Montreal Expos had made many Triple Plays in their history. At least 10 times with the last one being in 2002 vs. The Phillies.

Related Links:
Nationals Turn First 3-3-5 Triple Playin Major League History- CNSNews.com
Nats slay Giant threat with historic triple play - MLB.com
Nationals Unique Triple Play vs. Giants Was Historic For Many Reasons- nesn.com
Nationals turn first-of-its-kind  triple play to win against Giants- Yahoo.com

A Couple of Infield Autos

A few weeks back I got a couple of auto cards from a seller on Sportlots from two auctions both for the opening .25¢ bid. I forget what the final postage was. Some of those dealers don't give much of a break on shipping. Anyway it wasn't until I logged them onto my Zistle and TradingCardDataBase lists (or attempted to) that I noticed one of the was not an "officially certified autograph". What the heck it looks close enough to real sigs I've seen of the player that I believe it to be a real in-person or through the mail auto.

First the "Unofficial Autograph" card. It is a 2007 Topps Turkey Red Baseball Chrome Gold Variant serial numbered to 1999 with an autograph signed on-card with a black sharpie. Card #127 Ryan Zimmerman.

 2007 Topps Turkey Red Baseball Gold 127 Ryan Zimmerman Nationals

#d 0347/1999 w/black sharpie autograph "uncertified"

(Front and Back)

Next is a "Certified Autograph" 2011 Topps Chrome Baseball Certified Autograph Issue signed on-card in blue sharpie. Card #33 Danny Espinosa RC.

 2011 Topps Chrome Baseball Certified Autograph Issue

33 Danny Espinosa RC Nationals on-card autograph in blue sharpie

(Front and Back)

All the dust looking specks on the front of the cards is from the scanner glass. I didn't wipe it down before scanning.

For the Zimmerman front image I had to adjust the brightness/contrast some so I could see the auto on my computer. The chromeness of the gold foil doesn't scan well. Maybe I should have brightened up the Espinosa also.