1997 Pinnacle Hit It Here
#'d to 10,000
Apparently this was the year of the "$1,000,000" promotion. Check out the Fleer version next entry.

This particular contest had some collectors honestly trying to get as many of these cards as possible. Why? Get this:

Pinnacle promised to pay one winner over 25 years (haha - how would you like to have 'won' only a year before they went bankrupt?) Anyway, the promise of one million dollars if the pictured player hit for the cycle on Opening Day. At which point Pinnacle would hold a random number drawing and if your HIH card matched the winning number of the drawing - you won.

Keep in mind: Only one player in the history of MLB has ever hit for the cycle on Opening Day - and that was in 1933! While they were at it why didn't Pinnacle offer a land grant on The Moon? That would be as ridiculously pie-in-the-sky as this promotion.

1997 Fleer Million Dollar Moments #32
Another "Million Dollar" promotion. This time collectors had to scour the hobby to finish an insert set of 50 cards. Keeping in mind that only 1 complete set could ever be made. Why? Only a single No.50 - depicting Jeff Bagwell - was ever printed.

But even collectors able to gather the other 4 short-printed cards were to be rewarded from anywhere between $500 - $50,000, depending on whom you found. Note: Card #'s 45-50 were the SPs, the rest were issued one per pack by the millions.

To the best of my knowledge - not a single dollar was ever paid out to any collector. In fact, the only time I ever saw any of the 'winning cards' was just this past year (2008), and get this: It was a Bagwell specialist who was somehow able to get what would have been the million dollar winner, years after the fact of course. ;-)

From a purely collecting standpoint I'm glad that Frank was one of the "commons". I hate to think what I'd have to do in terms of dollars if he were selected as one of the short printed contest winners.

1996 UD Predictors (Various)
An OCD Syndrome favorite. Lots of versions since the promotion ran in both Hobby and Retail. Not to mention the bunches of redemptions to track down.

I'm not a huge fan of these particular Predictors since winning was way too easy. But it was pretty fun to play back in the day. I have good memories of reading the daily newspaper sports roundups (pre-internet!), filling out all the forms, mailing out the cards, and waiting/calling UD. It took five months after the '96 season ended and right into the 1997 seaon, but they finally delivered.

2007 UD MVP Predictors
Even though he was coming off a good year with Oakland, and even before the '07 Season started, IMO, it was never a real possibility that Frank could compete in the '07 MVP discussion.

We all know it takes time for Frank to "heat up" - slow springs has been the hallmak nearly his entire career. Plus, the demand for the MVP to have all five skill sets is firmly set in the minds of voters. Not unless a DH drives his team to the World Series - he's unlikely to be included in any MVP discussion. I honestly didn't see the Jays making a run in the midst of rebuilding.

Still, I appreciate the card itself as I happen to really love this image. Now why UD didn't use THIS amazing image for many of Big Frank's cards is a mystery I'll never solve.