allen & ginter meets minnie & paul

the dodgers visited minnesota in june for a three game series. i only made it to one game (the second of the series) which means i believe i missed a dodger game in minnesota for the first time in my lifetime. the first game featured three solo home runs (shohei ohtani and freddie freeman for the dodgers and byron buxton for the twins) and the third game saw mookie betts hit career home run number 300 in support of ohtani on the mound. as for the game i did see, it was a bit sloppy with a 30 minute delay at the start due to heavy rains earlier in the evening. the twins didn't play too well defensively, and the game devolved into a bit of a runaway for the dodgers.

there was only one topps now card created for the games, and it was all about mookie's milestone home run. i likely won't seek it out since it was from a game i did not attend, but it's a dodger card so you never know. thankfully, i have some other cards to show that are tangentially related to this topic.

i am a fan of the insert sets in topps' allen & ginter('s) releases. i may not collect them all, but there are some interesting categories and subjects. i will most definitely find some that appeal to me or have some sort of meaning - case in point, the "beachin' it" inserts from last year's issue.

here are some that have also made it into my collection...

from 2023 topps a&g's "only in..." insert set

that would be the minnie and paul sign at target field. more about it on the back:

the sign and logo are even more significant these days, with the twins' triple-a team playing in st. paul.

in 2024, topps included a 50 states insert set. here's how the land of 10,000 lakes was represented

the back is interesting to me

and i am left wondering why the inset image is not of something relative to the text, such as the paul bunyan statue in bemidji. the image shown is of the lowry bridge over the mississippi which is not the most iconic bridge in the city of minneapolis, let alone the state. curious about how that image was selected.

in 2025, topps gave us the state bird insert set. here's minnesota's

with explanatory text on the back:

i have spent many a morning hearing the call of a loon from one of minnesota's lakes.

also in 2025, ginter had an insert set focused on lighthouses. the split rock lighthouse was included

here's the back

i've been up to split rock a couple of times. it's up on the "north shore" which is the westerly side of lake superior. it's a nice drive between duluth and grand marais (and all the way up to canada), and this lighthouse gives some nice views of the lake. plus, castle danger's brewery is close by.

i've lived in minnesota for nearly 30 years, and i appreciate seeing it and its features included in these sets. i'm looking forward to 2026 allen & ginter and seeing what insert topics are included.

back to the dodgers having been in town, i'll go ahead and show this 2024 topps chrome insert of betts

since i did spend part of my summertime in the park watching him and his teammates play. i am still a dodger collector at heart, you know. or should i say, you betcha?!