28 August 2017

2006 Columbus Clippers 30th Anniversary Program Cards


    In 2006, the Columbus Clippers celebrated their 30th anniversary as a team. One of the ways they chose to commemorate that occasion was through the issuance of a series of collector cards distributed with each Clippers game program over the course of the 2006 season. I think this was the third of four times they would issue cards this way, resulting in a very difficult to find set. A checklist had popped up for this set several years ago including Hensley Meulens in the set. However, when Beckett finally added the set to their system, Meulens was nowhere to be found. Instead, there were several cards listed generically as 'team card' or 'stadium card'. So did he have a card or not?

    This week, thanks to waiting on an eBay saved search for about 6 years, I finally found my answer. A seller listed several 2006 Clippers programs, including images of the cards inside, and one of the cards was this:

 

     The program, from May 9, 2006, (the seller included the game's line-up sheet and a ticket stub) contained the cards for 1989 (Hal Morris), 1990 (Deion Sanders), 1991 (Bernie Williams) & 1992.  One of those 'team card' entries in Beckett's listing was for Columbus' record setting eight selections to the 1992 International League All-Star team, including Hensley Meulens.