Thursday, June 21, 2012

Heat + Win = Minis

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini #325,
2011 Topps Allen & Ginter's Mini Black #99 and
2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini #2a
Phillies 7, Rockies 6
Game 70 - Wednesday Night, June 20th in Philadelphia
Record - 33-37, 5th Place, 8 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies lucked into a walk-off win, overcoming the Rockies in the ninth and winning the ballgame, 7-6.

What It Means:  I'll take it.

What Went Right:  The Rockies kept taking the lead, and the Phillies kept battling back.  Despite Joe Blanton's and Jonathan Papelbon's best efforts to hand this one to the Rockies, the Phillies managed to pull off the win.  Prior to the dramatic ninth inning, the big hit for the Phillies was a three-run home run from Michael Martinez.

Featured Cards:  I couldn't decide which player deserved the featured card in this post, so I went with three mini cards.  Ty Wigginton started the Phils rally in the ninth with a two-out single and Hunter Pence doubled him home to tie the score at 6-6.  After Carlos Ruiz was intentionally walked, Shane Victorino reached on an infield single and Placido Polanco reached on an error by Todd Helton, allowing Pence to come home with the winning run.

The Pence mini is his non-variation card from the Gypsy Queen Mini set, while the Victorino card is one of the mini variations not available as a standard sized card in the regular base set.  Polanco was left out of this year's Gypsy Queen set, so I'm showing off his  fancy black parallel mini card from last year's Topps Allen & Ginter's release.

Field Report:  It was ridiculously hot at the ballpark tonight.  Game-time temperature was 95 degrees and Jenna and I decided to forgo actually sitting in our seats and at least find a place to watch the game where there was a slight breeze.  After having dinner at Harry the K's, we ended up finding a nice spot to view the game from the rooftop porch.  So instead of sweltering in our seats (and sitting, of course), we opted to enjoy the breeze above Ashburn Alley and stand.  Surprisingly enough, it was an enjoyable way to watch the ballgame.  The Phillies are now 3-4 in games I've attended this year.

Of importance to fellow collectors of the Phillies team-issued sets:  An employee manning the Newstand in Ashburn Alley told me he expects the Second Edition of the postcard-sized cards to be available for sale following the All-Star break.

2 comments:

Steve F. said...

My wife attended with work friends but they left early. They went with a pregnant co-worker (a/k/a designated driver) with a van, so it was a "party van"--meaning that (a) they were drinking on the way down and throughout the game, (b) the pregnant lady with the van keys dictated when they left, especially given the stifling heat, and (c) when they left, the Phils had just gone down and they all figured it was over. The pregnant lady with the van keys also chose the music, so no one had any clue the Phils pulled it out until I texted my wife a photo from TV of Pollie just past the bag and Helton starting to stomp his foot down to finally reach the base. She said the van erupted in cheers when she read them the text.

Good to hear about the post-card set being updated soon. I may have to buy a second copy of the first edition just to make sure they haven't sneaked in a card of Sanches, Orr or any of the Missing Links guys you mentioned in an earlier post. Last year they added Orr and Herndon sometime after opening day but before the second edition came out--something I discovered by accident only because I bought a second copy at the ALS Carnival to get signed by players for whom I had nothing else.

This year I've been asking the newsstand guys whether any cards have been added and they always tell me, "Wait until later in the summer when they'll issue a whole new set." I usually let it drop at that....

Jim said...

Nice story about your wife's game experience!

Rest assured, I'll be bugging the Newsstand guys come July.