Game Thoughts

The replay was under review for the 2nd straight inning. The friday night Apple TV broadcast was replaying the throw from JT to Trea Turner, with the thin 1 run lead hanging in the balance. The verdict was declared, and the Phillies served the Los Angeles Dodgers their first loss of the season.

So many storylines headed into this game, as the playoff atmosphere gripped the Philadelphia fanbase, the Fightin Phils came through with a much needed boost of confidence they could get the job done. They broke out to the first lead of the season early, they faced the pitcher which they failed to sign in the offseason, as Yamamoto didn’t even blink an eye when turning down the Phillies. The team played smallball, they took advantage of mistakes, they advanced runners, and JT bailed out the bullpen twice.

It was a validating victory, for a team that has shed the silliness for a more serious tone, they played up to their competition, and proved they are a contender with the best of the league.

Cards

Opened up a few packs of modern cards during this game:

• 2024 Topps Series 1 – Hanger pack
• 2024 Topps Series 1 – Fat Pack from Citizens Bank Park!
• 2024 Topps Update

2024 Topps Series 1 – Hanger pack

The highlight for me are the 1989 35th Anniversary Willie Mays card pulled from the 2024 Topps Update. As someone who is stepping a toe into vintage, this was the best of both worlds, one of the best baseball players of all time, in the 1989 Topps format! Just an incredible card that dropped my jaw when I pulled the card from the pack during the game.

The other highlight was pulling the American League Leaders for homeruns featuring Shohei Ohtani / Adolis Garcia / Luis Robert Jr. This was pretty cool to pull cards of players in the game as the game was being played. Max Muncy is in there as well, unfortunately no Phillies in the Hanger pack

2024 Topps Series 1 – Fat Pack from Citizens Bank Park!

This pack I believe was purchased at Citizens Bank Park in 2024, during an ill fated trip down which we ended up not watching a single pitch of the game due to massive rain delays. Start time pushed back from 1:05PM to 4:05, but then didn’t actually start until after 8PM. Phillies did right by the ticket holders, and this was the pack from that game.

Highlights

• 1989 35th Anniversary Bobby Witt Jr
• Johan Rojas Rookie Card
• Stars of MLB cards look amazing
• Lots of cards, and lots of rookies in the fat pack!

Also there is an odd Framber Valdez card in this pull which is super shiny, but has no serial numbering. I could not find the exact parallel this is.

2024 Topps Update

The Topps Update series is my favorite of the year from the flagship release. I didn’t see any rookie debut cards, not to be confused with the rookie debut patch cards. Something about the update packs bring me back to when I got back into the hobby. That year Bryce Harper was the rookie in the set everyone was chasing and I bought a hobby box and sure enough I was able to pull the card. This was before he was on the Phillies of course, and as fate would have it he would land here. Love the Update series.