Friday, May 20, 2011

2011 Topps Walmart Hanger Pack #WHP11 Roy Halladay

Phillies 3, Rangers 2
Game 44 - Friday Night, May 20th in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  Roy Halladay worked with the few runs he was provided by Ben Francisco and Raul Ibanez as the Phils edged the Rangers, 3-2.

What It Means:  Interleague play is back!  Woo.

The Phillies are now 27-17 with a two game lead over the Marlins, as I write this.  They'll try to score a few more times tomorrow night in support of Cliff Lee.

What Went Right:  The Phillies managed only four hits, but two of those hits were Francisco's 2-run home run in the second and Ibanez' solo home run in the fourth.  Working with no margin for error, Halladay (6-3) allowed just two runs on six hits while striking out seven.  Ryan Madson did it again, saving his eighth game of the year.

Featured Card:  Putting together a complete checklist of Phillies baseball cards from the Topps Series 1 release has been a daunting task.  I didn't even know this Halladay card existed until seeing it last week on CheckOutMyCards.com.  Apparently, this particular card is found exclusively within "hanger packs" of Topps Series 1 available for sale at Walmart.  I'm assuming a hanger pack is what we used to call a rack pack back in the day, but I could be wrong.  This isn't to be confused with the 2011 Topps Walmart Blue Diamond exclusive card of Halladay, which can also be found only at Walmart, but in a non-hanger pack.  Regardless of the card's long name, or it's availability only in Walmart hanger packs, it's actually a nice looking baseball card.

Not to be left out, there are also exclusive Phillies insert cards available in packs of cards for sale at both Target and Toys 'R Us.

Transactions:  Shane Victorino was placed on the DL prior to the game, and top prospect Domonic Brown was recalled.  It's expected that Brown will be inserted into the starting line-up immediately to face right-handed starters.  Also, Scott Mathieson was optioned to Lehigh Valley and David Herndon was recalled, just to give the Phils a fresh arm in the 'pen.

No comments: