Payday Pack - I Wish I Was A Little Bit Taller

Wow. It's been almost 3 years since I did one of these. When I first started this blog, I made it a habit to purchase a pack of cards every 2 weeks when I got paid. It was a pretty regular series for me. Then COVID hit. Then in the aftermath, the supply of cards at my local retailers dwindled to nothing. I was no longer buying packs and the Payday Pack series died off. With the abundance of cards that showed up for the release of the 2024 base set, I took a chance to see if there was anything left. Lucky for me, there is still an ample amount of cards available. Here are my 3 favorite cards from the hanger pack I bought:

3rd Place

2024 Topps #32 Samad Taylor (RC)

 

I have no idea who Samad Taylor is, but he's either got enough cache and confidence to specifically  request the number zero, or the Royals have a low opinion of him...

2nd Place

2024 Topps #288 Boston Red Sox (TC)

 

Maybe it is because I'm not a native New Englander, but these City Connect uniforms don't connect with me. The novelty has worn off and every time I see my team in yellow, I cringe. What I can connect with is my team winning, something I hope they can do frequently this year. I believe this photo is from an August game against Kansas City where Pablo Reyes (#19) hit a walk-off grand slam.

1st Place

2024 Topps #133 Resilient Reds Rookies (CL)

 

I have to admit, after seeing this card, I had to hop on to Baseball Reference and see how much of a height difference there was between these two players. Matt McLain is listed at 5'8", while Elly De La Cruz towers over him at 6'4". It kind of reminds me of the Aaron Judge/Jose Altuve card from a few years back.

Other Contestants Not Appearing On Stage:

#330 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

#173 Brady Singer

#89 Tyler Glasnow

#110 Zac Gallen

#87 Tony Gonsolin

#235 Jonah Heim

#123 Jesus Luzardo

#72 George Springer

#325 Justin Martinez (RC)

#45 Felix Bautista

#121 Bailey Ober

#347 Manuel Margot

#97 Alex Verdugo

#108 Jarren Duran

#317 Starling Marte

#106 2023 AL RBI Leaders (Tucker/Garcia/Rodriguez) (LL)

#279 Angels (TC)

#35 Adley Rutschman

#240 Andruw Monasterio 

#239 Keibert Ruiz

#248 Tyler Anderson (Gold parallel SN#2024)

#CSMLB-28 Corey Seager (Stars Of MLB Chrome insert) 

#SB-19 Clayton Kershaw (Superstar Blueprint insert)

#SMLB-15 Julio Rodriguez (Stars of MLB insert)

#SMLB-29 Corbin Carroll (Stars of MLB insert)

#214 Andrew Abbott (ASR, RC)

#248 Tyler Anderson

#95 Cole Ragans 

#96 Christian Bethancourt

#8 Brendan White (RC)

#282 Alek Thomas

#314 Max Muncy

#171 Jacob deGrom