Twins hit grand slam with four ’07 card promos

My Inside Pitch column from a couple months ago, which focused on the lack of food issues in the hobby, spawned plenty of responses and also brought a few 2006 and 2007 oddball issues to light.

? Twins player sets: Upper Deck and the Minnesota Twins joined forces to produce an in-stadium giveaway that were distributed April 12-15. The giveaways are held in conjunction with the Twins' Awards Weekend celebration, highlighting the honors won by their players during the 2006 season.

 The five-card packs, presented by FSN North, were handed out at the Metrodome on four consecutive nights to the first 10,000 fans in attendance each night (40,000 total card packs).

Each card pack featured a different player and their award. There are four player cards in each pack along with one sponsor card. The back of the sponsor card highlights the Upper Deck Kids Rewards program as all of the player cards being distributed have static codes that can be entered online for Kids Rewards points.

Here's a breakdown of the giveaway nights:
April 12: Torii Hunter Gold Glove Ceremony, 10,000 five-card Hunter card packs; April 13: Johan Santana Cy Young Ceremony, 10,000 five-card Santana card packs; April 14: Justin Morneau MVP Ceremony, 10,000 five-card Morneau card packs; April 15: Joe Mauer AL Batting Title Ceremony; 10,000 five-card Mauer card packs.
Checklist: 1-4. Torii Hunter; 5-8. Johan Santana; 9-12. Justin Morneau; 13-16. Joe Mauer

? Tribune tribute: The Chicago Tribune honored its hometown Bears with a card set during the first three Sundays of January.
Two of the perforated sheets featured 13 player/coach cards, while the final sheet - given away with the Jan. 21 newspaper - featured 12 cards.
The well-designed cards are anchored by a color photo with "Chicago Bears" printed inside a football in the upper left corner and a player drawing in the lower right corner.

Meanwhile, the unnumbered card backs are designed with an old Topps feel to them. Besides the normal bio and stats, the backs showcase a player caricature and an interesting fact at the bottom of the card.
Sheet No. 1 checklist: Robert Garza, Olin Kreutz, Rex Grossman, Cedric Benson, Desmond Clark, Gabe Reid, Robbie Gould, coach Ron Turner, Tommie Harris, Ian Scott, Lance Briggs, Todd Johnson and Danieal Manning.

Sheet No. 2 checklist: Fred Miller, John Tait, Thomas Jones, Bernard Berrian, Muhsin Muhammad, Rashied Davis, Brad Maynard, coach Ron Rivera, Mark Anderson, Alex Brown, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Nathan Vasher and Cameron Worrell.

Sheet No. 3 checklist: Brian Urlacher, Lovie Smith, Ruben Brown, Brian Griese, Jason McKie, Adrian Peterson, John Gilmore, Devin Hester, Adewale Ogunleye, Hunter Hillenmeyer, Charles Tillman and Ricky Manning Jr.

? Retro Cavs: The Cleveland Cavaliers gave each fan who attended the April 5 game a 17-card Upper Deck Retro Team card set.

The black-bordered cards feature each player in the retro Cavs' orange uniform. The Upper Deck logo appears at the bottom center of the photo, while the team name, player's name, position and jersey number are printed at the bottom of the card front.

Numbered "of 16" in the upper left corner, the card backs feature the player bio and highlights inside a box at the top and a "Cavs '86-'87: Celebrating an Era" logo. The backs also include the player's stats and sponsors' logos. In addition, the cards also include static codes for UD Kids Reward Points.

Checklist: 1. Shannon Brown, 2. Daniel Gibson, 3. Drew Gooden, 4. Larry Hughes, 5. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 6. LeBron James, 7. Damon Jones, 8. Dwayne Jones, 9. Donyell Marshall, 10. Ira Newble, 11. Sasha Pavlovic, 12. Scot Pollard, 13. Eric Snow, 14. Anderson Varejao, 15. David Wesley, 16. coach Mike Brown, Nno. sponsor card.

? Mmm chips: Frito-Lay and Donruss teamed up for a football card promotion in January. Four-card cello packs were included inside 24-bag Frito-Lay Family Sacks at Wal-Mart stores nationwide through January or while supplies lasted.

The 60-card set breaks down into a 25-card base set, two 15-card parallel sets and five checklist cards. The 25-card Frito-Lay base set showcases eight rookies - Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Matt Leinart, A.J. Hawk, DeAngelo Williams, Greg Jennings, Jay Cutler and Laurence Maroney.

These rookies joined Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson and Shaun Alexander to make up the 15-card parallel sets that include either a "Doritos" or "Cheetos" logo on the front instead of "Frito-Lay." Many reports have said the Cheetos set is scarcest.

Five checklist cards were also produced. Three of the checklists showcase a "Frito-Lay" logo in the upper right, while one has a "Doritos" logo and the other has a "Cheetos" logo.

Base set checklist: 1. Brett Favre, 2. Ben Roethlisberger,
3. Peyton Manning, 4. LaDainian Tomlinson, 5. Larry Johnson,
6. Tom Brady, 7. Shaun Alexander, 8. Ronnie Brown, 9. Eli Manning, 10. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, 11. Michael Vick, 12. Brian Urlacher, 13. Carson Palmer, 14. Roy Williams, 15. Troy Polamalu, 16. Donovan McNabb, 17. Clinton Portis, 18. DeAngelo Williams, 19. A.J. Hawk, 20. Laurence Maroney, 21. Greg Jennings, 22. Matt Leinart, 23. Jay Cutler, 24. Reggie Bush, 25. Vince Young.

Checklist: 1. Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush, Frito-Lay; 2. Kellen Clemens/Leon Washington, Frito-Lay; 3. Marcedes Lewis/Maurice Jones-Drew, Frito-Lay; 4. Matt Leinart/Vince Young, Doritos;

5. LenDale White/Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush, Cheetos
(Thanks to Joseph Monaco of Highland Heights, Ky., for the information and the cards.)

? Tigers card sets: Last summer and fall the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News celebrated the resurgence of the hometown Tigers by issuing collectors cards in their newspapers weekly. Each set featured 16 cards and each card measured 5-by-71/4 inches.

Each of the cards featured action photography.

Detroit Free Press checklist (not numbered): Pudge Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Jeremy Bonderman, Maggs Ordonez (Maggs on the front Magglio on the back), Joel Zumaya, Justin Verlander, Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge, Nate Robertson, Craig Monroe, Kenny Rogers, Todd Jones, Sean Casey, Placido Polanco, Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers American League Champions

Detroit News checklist (not numbered): Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, Pudge Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Jeremy Bonderman, Magglio Ordonez, Craig Monroe, Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge, Sean Casey, Nate Robertson, Andrew Miller, Todd Jones, Kenny Rogers, Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers American League Champs

(Thanks to Tigers fan Alan Sandy for sending the information and the images.)

? 2006 Kahn's Reds: Every season the Cincinnati Reds hand out a Kahn's card set to its loyal fans. Last season the Reds gave away the 28-card set on Aug. 19.

The standard-sized cards are anchored by an action shot of the player, with a Reds logo in the lower left and the player's position, name and jersey number in the lower right.

The card backs feature the Kahn's logo, player name, jersey number, bio and career stats.

Checklist (listed by jersey number): 2. Royce Clayton, 3. Ken Griffey Jr., 4. Brandon Phillips,
6. Ryan Freel, 9. Juan Castro,
12. Edwin Encarnacion, 17. Javier Valentin, 19. Chris Denorfia, 18. Scott Hatteberg, 22. Eric Milton, 23. Jason LaRue, 25. David Weathers, 26. David Ross, 28. Kyle Lohse,
33. Rich Aurilia, 34. Brandon Claussen, 36. Rheal Cormer, 38. Gary Majewski, 39. Aaron Harang, 41. manager Jerry Narron, 44. Adam Dunn, 45. Bill Bray, 50. Kent Mercker, 54. Elizardo Ramirez,
56. Todd Coffey, 61. Bronson Arroyo, 81. Eddie Guardado, Nno. 2006 coaches (Mark Berry, Chris Chambliss, Bucky Dent, Billy Hatcher, Tom H ume, Lee Tunnell)

(Thanks to Monaco for the information and the cards.)

? Reds DAV cards: Speaking of the Reds, they also handed out four Disabled American Veterans cards during the 2006 season.
Bordered in red and white, the cards feature "limited edition" and the card number in the upper left corner, the Reds logo in the top right, and jersey number and position along the right border. Meanwhile, the DAV logo is in the lower left, while the player's name fills the bottom of the card.
The backs feature information about he Disabled American Veterans organization.

Checklist: 5. Rich Aurilia, 6. Gapper (mascot), 7. Jason LaRue, 8. Felipe Lopez.

(Thanks to Monaco for the information and the cards.)
? Delco Baseball League set: The Delaware County, Pa., Baseball League, which is the oldest incorporated league in the United States, is starting its 100th season this year.

To help celebrate this accomplishment, a 60-card set has been produced. The set includes ex-players, past managers, worthy executives and umpires.
The set includes former Negro Leaguer Doc Bea on his individual card, along with Frank Baker, Chief Bender, Connie Mack, Jimmy Dykes and Bris Lord on one Legacy card.

These sets are available for $10 and can be purchased by contacting John Laszek at (610) 812-6560 or Rich Merchant at (484) 431-3397. For more information contact Jim Vankoski by e-mail bvankoski@hotmail.com or phone (610) 909-4919.

? 2005 uncatalogued Twins sets: SCD contributor Judy Bartolett has sent along two 2005 Minnesota Twins sets that are not listed in the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.

The first set was the Minnesota Crime Prevention Association's eight-card series, which was available from all MCPA member law enforcement agencies.

The card fronts feature a dark blue border, the Twins logo, Twins Community Fund logo, player name, uniform number and position.

The second missing set celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the 1965 Twins' American League champion team. The 30-card set was given away in two parts to the first 10,000 fans attending Twins games on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19, 2005.

The card fronts feature a red border surrounding a black-and-white photo, the Twins logo in a pennant, player name, position and Donruss logo. Donruss gave the backs a retro look by printing them in primarily dark blue and white. They feature 1965 and career statistics, along with the player's bio.

Crime Prevention checklist: Joe Nathan, Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse, Torii Hunter, Shannon Stewart, McGruff the Crime Dog.

1965 Anniversary checklist: 1. Dave Boswell, 2. Jim Kaat, 3. Jim Merritt, 4. Mel Nelson, 5. Bill Pleis, 6. Dick Stigman, 7. Earl Batttey, 8. Jerry Kindall, 9. Frank Quilici, 10. Zoilo Versalles, 11. Bob Allison, 12. Joe Nossek, 13. Tony Oliva, 14. Sam Mele, 15. John Sain, 16. Jim "Mudcat" Grant, 17. John Klippstein, 18. Camilo Pascual, 19. Jim Perry, 20. Al Worthington, 21. John Sevcik, 22. Jerry Zimmerman, 23. Harmon Killebrew, 24. Don Mincher, 25. Rich Rollins, 26. Billy Martin, 27. Jimmie Hall, 28. Sandy Valdespino, 29. Hal Naragon, 30. Jim Lemon.