2017 Topps Now: Brandon Phillips #262 (172 print run)

I was thrilled when I heard the Braves had signed Brandon Phillips to play 2nd base alongside Dansby Swanson and on June 17th he made an impact that I'm sure the club was hoping for. In the bottom of the 10th inning Brandon singled up the middle and allowed Johan Camargo a chance to score the winning run. Thanks to Christian Yelich's botch trying to field the ball, Johan was able to score and the Braves won the game 8-7.

This game took place two days before my birthday so it was an early birthday present to myself. Brandon would go on to continue to flash the leather and brandish his bat in a big way in June. Stay tuned...

2017 Topps Now: Sean Newcomb #234 (234 print run)

The Braves have always featured good, young pitching and in 2017 Sean Newcomb got to show the MLB what he was capable of. Against the Mets he went 6 1/3 innings, only surrounding 4 hits and 1 unearned run. Since then he has been pretty steady, though in 2018 he had some grip issues at times in high heat/humidity, but still appears to be part of the young starting rotation for the club moving forward.

I'll also have to mention the low print run...that just happened to match the card number. The Topps Now program has grown year over year and I find it a little refreshing that this RC of Sean has a low print run versus the crazy high print runs that Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna's cards received this year. I still love the program, but the some of the cards seem to be losing some of their "limitedness" (is that even a word?) with more and more people coming to the program and purchasing cards. None the less, I'm already looking forward to the 2019 season and the smattering of product that will follow.

2017 Topps Now: Rio Ruiz #231 (293 print run)

June 9th, 2017 Rio walked up to the plate and gave the Braves a walk-off single to help defeat the New York Mets. Rio, a rookie, hadn't had that many major league at bats up until this day. He however came through for his team on this day, batting in Dansby Swanson for the win!

2017 Topps Now: Adam Wainwright #204 (289 print run)

I ended up grabbing this non-Braves Topps Now card last season for a few different reasons. 1) I have a small Wainwright PC as a member of my "Faith Brothers" sub-collection, 2) the card also fits my Batting Pitchers sub-collection and 3) the way the card came to be. 

Wainwright pitched a shutout game, which along is impressive, but all the runs in the game were by Wainwright himself with his two run HR. It's moments like this that I say leave the game alone. I don't want a universal Designated Hitter in both leagues. I like the strategy involved when the pitcher has to hit. Yes, most pitchers are the best at the plate, but then there are instances like this that make the game so exciting and fun.

2017 Topps Now: Matt Adams #178 (217 print run)

Matt Adams, nicknamed "Big Country", joined the Atlanta Braves on May 20, 2017 when the Cardinals traded him for Braves prospect Juan Yepez. The Braves picked him up as a replacement for Freddie Freeman who had just been sent to the DL for a lengthy stay. Three days later, Matt would make his presence felt on the team with a walk off RBI single to capture a win against the Pirates. As you can see from the back of the card, he was greeted with a celebratory water cooler shower by his teammates on the sideline!

2017 Topps Now: Matt Kemp #95 (202 print run)

I was happy to have had Kemp on the Braves, even if his time ended up being limited. He started off pretty hot for the club, hitting 3 runs in a game against the Brewers on April 29th. I found it hard to believe that a guy w/ his offensive abilities that this was the first game he hit 3 homers. This was the first time this has happened for the Braves since another "rental" player, Mark Teixeira did so in 2008.

2017 Topps Now: Dansby Swanson #59 (916 print run)

I still remember April 17th, 2017 like it was yesterday. Dansby steps up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, game tied 9-9 with the San Diego Padres. On a 1-2 count, he smacks a line drive out into left field just beyond the reach of the defender giving the Braves their win and first walk off of Dansby's young career as well as the first in SunTrust Park history.

2017 Topps Now: Atlanta Braves #44 (488 print run)

Last year the Braves opened their new home, SunTrust Park on April 14th. 41,149 fans were in attendance as the Braves hosted the San Diego Padres. This day also saw the first home win in the new stadium as Julio Teheran tossed a good game and Ender Inciarte padded the Braves' lead late in the game.

Over the weekend my wife asked me to take her back to Atlanta for a game as her birthday present. Turns out the Nationals will be in town that weekend so I'm starting to look for tickets now. Can't wait to get back as nothing beats taking in a game in person, especially at a beautiful ball park like SunTrust Park.

2017 Topps Now: Dansby Swanson #59 (916 print run)

Dansby Swanson didn't take long to make himself feel at home in the new SunTrust Park. On April 17th, he had his 1st career walk-off. Tied 4-4 against the Padres and down 1-2 in the count, Dansby would fight off a few pitches until he got the one he was looking for.

This is one of the higher print runs of all the Topps Now cards I have, mainly because of the RC designation I imagine. I hope to see this young kid show up in more Topps Now cards in the 2018 season because that'll mean he is living up to his hype.

2017 Topps Now: Suntrust Park #44 (488 print run)

On April 14, 2017 the Atlanta Braves new home, SunTrust Park opened it's doors for it's first home game of the 2017 season. 41,149 fans packed the stadium to check out all the new sights and to watch the Braves take on the San Diego Padres. Behind Julio Teheran, the Braves would go on to win their first home game in their new stadium.

I was lucky enough to catch two homes games last season. Opening Day this season is March 28th and I'm trying to figure out if I can get away and drive down to Atlanta. I don't know if my schedule and finances will allow me to get back to SunTrust Park this season, but none the less I'm glad I've been able to witness a MLB game in yet another big league stadium.

2017 Topps Now Opening Day: Freddie Freeman #OD-228

The Topps Now program was a hit for the trading card company in it's inuagural year. Like with any good company, Topps was looking to continue riding the success they had in 2016 with another year of product that captured events all throughout the new 2017 baseball season.

This time around they decided to kick things off early with a preview set if you will, Opening Day. I didn't pay much attention to this, but I did see that Freddie Freeman received a card in the set so I searched the 'net for it. I finally found a reasonably priced card and placed my order...then the wait began. I'm still not sure what caused the long delay, but the card finally arrived in today's mail.

From what I can tell, this card wasn't created after any events of a Spring Training game. It just appears to be a "regular" card that just happens to sport the new 2017 Topps Now design. You really can't tell from the scan, but the back of the card has a rainbow sheen to it. It looks really nice in hand.

I'm ready for another year of Topps Now. I bought just about every Braves card from last season (still working on scanning those to share) and I've got a decent jump on this year. One of the things I like that Topps has done yet again w/ this program is that you can sign up for your favorite team, pay for a certain amount of cards (at a discount) and just sit back and wait for players from your team to do something on the field to earn a 2017 Topps Now card. It makes it a lot easier if you lead a hectic life (like I do) and can't constantly check the Topps website everyday to see what cards are being offered. Topps also made some major changes to the way the cards are packaged, but I'll save that for my first real 2017 Topps Now post. Stay tuned!

2017 Topps Now Spring Training

I got home yesterday afternoon after being on the road for a few days for work. As I checked the mail I ran across a small envelope from Topps. I wasn't expecting anything so I really wasn't sure what they had sent me. I opened it up and found this card inside:

Wow, first a "Christmas card" from Topps and now this Spring Training card? Topps' marketing department has really picked it up lately! As you can see from the above image, Topps is again thanking it's customers who purchased 2016 Topps Now cards by giving you a free card showcasing the new design for 2017, as well as giving you a code to save 25% off Topps Now Opening Day team sets.

I like the new design, even if some of the image is covered by the graphic at the bottom. I haven't yet logged onto their website to check out these Opening Day team sets, but I'm sure I will shortly. I trying to cut back some of my spending right now so I'm not sure if I'll bother w/ the team set, but the coupon is a gracious offer by Topps and it just might sway me and others that are on the fence.

I've got an extra Mike Trout card that I don't intend on keeping. Somehow, just like at Christmas, I received two of these mailings. The first to comment on this post and show me a picture of my favorite sandwich (peanut butter & banana) will get the card FREE!