Monday, April 16, 2012

2012 Topps Gold World Series Champions Pin Cards #GCP-CH Cole Hamels

Phillies 8, Mets 2
Game 9 - Sunday Afternoon, April 15th in Philadelphia
Record - 4-5, 4th Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies offense came to life late in the game, salvaging a win in the series and helping Cole Hamels notch the well-deserved W.

What It Means:  Hopefully it means the bats are back.  With every member of the both teams wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson, the Phillies outhit the Mets 14-9.

What Went Right:  The Phils scored in the first on successive singles from Juan Pierre, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins.  They were then shut down until the seventh.  Ty Wigginton hit a sac fly to tie it up in the seventh and Laynce Nix followed with an RBI-double to give the Phils the lead.  They then added five more runs in the eighth with Wigginton's three-run double the big blow.

Hamels pitched a terrific game, allowing just two runs on six hits in his seven innings of work.  He struck out 10 on the way to his first victory of 2012.

Featured Card:  I could have gone with cards of either Nix or Wigginton, but I thought Hamels deserved the honors in this game summary post.  The card featured here is an insert available within packs of 2012 Topps Series One cards.  It's numbered to 736 and it features an actual pin inserted into the card.  It's appropriate that Hamels' card features a pin celebrating the team's 2008 World Championship, as Hamels was the MVP of both the N.L.C.S. and the World Series that year.  It's a cool card and it's nice to see Topps trying something different.  There's also a Mike Schmidt card in this set that I'm still trying to track down at a reasonable price.

No comments: