John H. contacted me a couple weeks ago about trading some 2009 Topps cards.  We eventually agreed to a trade of inserts, since we are both working on completing the base sets.  He sent me a bunch of cards that will fit nicely in my collection.  Thanks John!

1. 2005 Topps Update Washington Nationals Inaugural Lineup #NI-BW Brad Wilkerson (2.00)
2. 2005 Topps Update Washington Nationals Inaugural Lineup #NI-NJ Nick Johnson (2.00)
3. 2008 Topps Year in Review #YR52 Felipe Lopez (0.75)
4. 2008 Topps Update #UH266 Rob Mackowiak (0.30)
5. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG9 Rogers Hornsby (1.25)
6. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG13 Jackie Robinson (2.00)
7. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG17 Ted Williams (5.00)
8. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG22 Thurman Munson (2.00)
9. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG24 Nolan Ryan (6.00)
10. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG-FR Frank Robinson (0.75)
11. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG-JS John Smoltz (2.00)
12. 2009 Topps Legends of the Game #LG-RY Robin Yount (2.00)
13. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH11 Ivan Rodriguez (1.50)
14. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH15 Don Zimmer (1.00)
15. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH17 Gary Sheffield (1.00)
16. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH21 Johnny Podres (1.00)
17. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH23 Mariano Rivera (2.50)
18. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH25 Lou Piniella (1.00)
19. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH29 Francisco Rodriguez (1.00)
20. 2009 Topps Ring of Honor #RH33 Brad Lidge (1.00)
21. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR22 Cliff Lee (1.00)
22. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR23 Garrett Atkins (1.00)
23. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR34 Kelly Johnson (1.00)
24. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR54 Alex Gordon (2.50)
25. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR59 Mel Ott (2.50)
26. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR70 Jon Lester (1.00)
27. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR78 Matt Cain (1.00)
28. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR80 Rogers Hornsby (1.50)
29. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR88 Michael Young (1.00)
30. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR89 Todd Helton (1.00)
31. 2009 Topps Turkey Red #TR100 Honus Wagner (2.50)
32. 2009 Topps WBC Stars #BCS17 Alex Rios (1.00)
33. 2009 Topps WBC Stars #BCS18 Luke Hughes (1.00)

Chris from On Card Autos contacted me a couple weeks ago and we arranged a Cubs-for-Nationals trade.  He sent me an impressive collection of over two hundred 2005-2009 Nationals cards (with a couple 2004 Expos thrown in for good measure).  Since I almost exclusively buy Topps flagship, I probably would have never seen any of these brands of cards if it weren’t for Chris.  Thanks Chris!

Now since there are quite a few cards here and I like to have my cards neatly organized in my database, I’m going to take my time integrating these cards into my collection.  What I’ve come up with is the “25 Years of Baseball Nationals Countdown to Opening Day”.  Each day from today until Nationals Opening Day on April 5, I’ll introduce some of the new Nationals cards I acquired from this trade.

With 58 days left ’til Nationals Opening Day, here’s the first selection of Nats:

2004 Ultra #250 Nick Johnson

2005 National Pastime #23 Brad Wilkerson

2006 SP Authentic #24 Austin Kearns

2007 UD Masterpieces #67 Ryan Zimmerman

2008 UD A Piece of History #150 Justin Maxwell (Rookie)

2009 Topps Allen and Ginter #174 John Lannan

2009 Topps Series 2:

1. #550 Carlos Beltran
2. #649 Luke Hochevar
3. #615 Robinson Cano
4. #606 Nick Johnson
5. #638 Eugenio Velez
6. Topps Town #TTT27 David Ortiz
7. #481 Nyjer Morgan
8. #506 Paul Konerko
9. #599 Placido Polanco
10. #634 Chris Davis

“A NICHE IN HISTORY: Nick’s .428 OBP in 2006 is the highest in the four-year history of the Washington Nationals.  The only better one in franchise annals is .429 by Tim Raines of the 1987 Expos.“