2011 Topps Heritage Stamps

Phillies 3, Reds 2
Game 130 - Monday Night, August 29th in Cincinnati

One Sentence Summary:  Baseball returned after a wet and windy weekend, as the Phillies held on to win in Cincinnati, 3-2.

What It Means:  The two-game losing streak is over and the Phillies are now 84-46.  With the Braves idle, the lead in the East is now 6 1/2 games.

What Went Right:  Cole Hamels returned from his DL-stint to pitch six strong innings.  He was perfect through three and the first Reds hit came when Hunter Pence fell down in the outfield while trying to track down a Brandon Phillips fly ball.  (It was ruled a triple.)  Hamels exited after 76 pitches (50 for strikes) and seven strikeouts.

The bullpen trio of Antonio Bastardo (6-0), Michael Stutes and Ryan Madson (24th save) held the Reds at bay.

Shane Victorino's huge two-run home run in the eighth broke the one-all tie.  The Phils scored their first run in the fifth on a Wilson Valdez RBI-double.

Featured Cards:  There was a great post today over at 14,000 Phillies about the dilemma faced by a team collector trying (in vain) to track down every single Phillies baseball card.  I read the post and thought to myself, "He just described my exact mentality towards collecting Phillies baseball cards."  I went through the same stages he did and as a young(er) collector and I wanted to collect every single baseball card until the Topps Tiffany set came along in 1984.

After that, I figured I'd just collect each and every baseball card set and forgo the Tiffany sets and some of the stranger oddball sets and eventually the 1987 Fleer Glossy set.  With each passing year, I got further and further away from the elusive "complete" collection.  1990 came along and I decided I'd just try to go after every Phillies card.  That worked until the Desert Shield cards of 1991 and the glut of different sets and parallels and limited print runs that soon followed.

Still, there have been low-print run cards that have come along through the years that I've tried to track down.  I have three of these Topps Heritage Stamps cards from the Phillies team set (numbered to 62), and maybe one day I'll track down the other eight Phillies featured in the set.  But realistically, that's doubtful.

Even if I had unlimited funds (I don't) and unlimited time (negative), I still wouldn't have the energy, the desire or the storage space to try and track down every single Phillies baseball card.  But I still try.  I'm a baseball card collector after all, and much like the guy who now owns 14,601 Phillies cards (and counting), I'm still having fun.