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Nationals president Mike Rizzo tries to swing a trade for George Brett on 'Old Baseball Cards'

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a kid or the president of a Major League Baseball team, you can’t beat the excitement of opening a pack of baseball cards and finding your favorite player.

Just ask Mike Rizzo, the president and general manager of the Washington Nationals. Rizzo is this week’s guest on “Old Baseball Cards,” Yahoo Sports’ baseball-card-driven nostalgia show. He is something new for our show too. We’ve talked to plenty of managers, but only one other GM. And Rizzo is the first person on the show with an extensive scouting history, having worked for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks before the Nats. His dad was also a scout for the California Angels, which is the team that drafted Rizzo in 1982.

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All that and he was still brought back to his younger years, collecting baseball cards and thinking Hall of Famer George Brett was one of the greatest players he’d ever seen. And wouldn’t you know it? We find George Brett in a pack of 1986 Topps. We also talk about Rizzo’s days scouting a young Gary Sheffield, Roberto Alomar’s double-play turning ability and Rizzo’s time with the Angels. Heck, he names off nearly the entire 1986 Angels team.

Washington Nationals president and GM Mike Rizzo talks about George Brett, Mike Schmidt and Gary Sheffield on this week’s installment of “Old Baseball Cards.”
Washington Nationals president and GM Mike Rizzo talks about George Brett, Mike Schmidt and Gary Sheffield on this week’s installment of “Old Baseball Cards.”

If you liked this episode, we have plenty of great ones below. In fact, we have an episode with George Brett. I’d recommend that one, as well as our episode with Nationals manager Dave Martinez and our episode with Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto.

Previously on Old Baseball Cards
RECENT EPISODES:
Don Mattingly | Tom Gordon & Nick Gordon | Ron Darling

OTHER MUST-SEE EPISODES: Randy Johnson | George Brett | Dave Winfield | Gary Vee | Jerry Dipoto | Mike Krukow | HQ’s Scott Rogowsky | Felipe Alou| Torey Lovullo | Nick Swisher | David Ross | Tim Raines | Thomas Ian Nicholas aka Henry Rowengartner | Pedro Martinez | Bronson Arroyo | Eric Davis | Dusty Baker | Hank Azaria | Alex Rodriguez | Scott Boras | A.J. Ellis | Bernie Williams | Chase Utley | John Smoltz

COMPILATIONS: Best trades of 2017 | Best finds of 2017 | Best Guests of 2017 (Part 1) | Best Guests of 2017 (Part 2) | The Best of People Eating 30-Year-Old Gum | The Best Finds of 2018 | Favorite Guests of 2018

CROSSOVER EPISODES: The Miz | Metta World Peace | Jazzy Jeff

STARS FROM BACK IN THE DAY: Fred Lynn | Eduardo Perez | J.J. Putz | Luis Gonzalez | Duane Kuiper | Edgar Martinez | Ryne Sandberg | Frank Thomas | Sandy Alomar Jr. | Delino DeShields | Cliff Floyd | Dan Plesac | Aaron Boone | Bobby Bonilla | Andre Dawson | Ivan Rodriguez | Jack Morris | Jeff Nelson | Mark Teixeira | Rick Ankiel | Kevin Millar

MANAGERS/COACHES: Terry Francona | Joe Maddon | Bruce Bochy | Clint Hurdle | Buck Showalter | Brad Mills | Bob Melvin | Dave Roberts | Gabe Kapler | Alex Cora | Dave Martinez | Ron Gardenhire | Scott Servais

CURRENT PLAYERS: Alex Bregman | CC Sabathia | Curtis Granderson | Noah Syndergaard | Kyle Hendricks | Clayton Kershaw | Todd Coffey | John Axford | Dee Gordon | Adam Eaton | Rajai Davis | Brad Ziegler & Tyler Clippard | Buster Posey, David Price & Anthony Rizzo

CELEBS: Kurt Busch | Bill Nye | Mr. Belding | Alyssa Milano | Josh Duhamel | Joel McHale

ETC: Chris “Mad Dog” Russo | Josh Kusnick | Jeff Passan | Ken Kendrick

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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