2011 Topps Purple and Red (but not Blue) Diamonds

2011 Topps Purple Diamond #PDC10 and
2011 Topps Red Diamond #RDT18

Phillies 11, Nationals 3
Game 119 - Saturday Night, August 12th in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies scored seven unearned runs to defeat the Nationals, 11-3, and give Roy Oswalt his first victory in two months.

What It Means:  The team's record is now 78-41.  With the Braves losing against the Cubs, the lead in the East is back to 8 1/2 games.

What Went Right:  I left the room to read Doug a bed-time story and it was 2-2 in the third.  I came back after he was tucked into bed and it 7-2, Phillies.  Apparently a throwing error by Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond started a chain of events that led to the 5-run Phillies inning.  The scoring was capped by a two-run single from Jimmy Rollins after Oswalt had walked with the bases loaded.

Oswalt (5-7) pitched seven solid innings and allowed just three runs on six hits while striking out five.  Ryan Howard led the offense with a two-run home run in the first and four RBIs overall.

Featured Cards:  I'm trying to put together a master set of all 2011 Topps Phillies base cards and inserts this year.  I realize this is a daunting task, and there's a good chance I'll lose interest in this quest by the time the 2012 Topps set rolls around.  I've mentioned before how hard it was to put together a checklist for the multitude of Phillies cards within the Series 1 and Series 2 releases, or any of the new releases for that matter.  One of these days, I'd like to see a (reliable) website where I can easily compile my Phillies checklists without needing to cross-reference eBay and Beckett and BaseballCardPedia.  Perhaps Zistle will be the one to finally get this right.

In any event, thanks to a recent Check Out My Cards purchase, I'm closer to having a complete run of the retail exclusive Phillies inserts.  Featured here are Howard's Purple Diamond card, available only at Toys 'R Us and his Red Diamond card, available only in packs found at Target. (Not to be confused with Howard's Sapphire Blue card, exclusive to packs found at Walmart, which I'm still trying to track down.)

Other Stuff:  The blog has a new look, so please check it out and let me know what you think.  For the background color - should I go with blue or red?  It's red now, but I'm not sure if I like it or not.