Panini America halts production to add first Albert Pujols Los Angeles baseball cards
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
Panini America will have the first Los Angeles baseball cards of Albert Pujols — who signed a 10-year, $254-million deal with the Angels on Thursday morning — on the market as it stopped the presses to make the changes to Pujols’ cards which will be found in a product arriving later this month and one arriving in January.
The first card will appear in 2011 Donruss Elite Extra Edition, which arrives at the end of the month. It’s the first release under Panini’s new deal with the MLB Players Association, meaning he can’t be shown in a uniform using MLB logos. (So it’s merely a text change and, yes, a slightly darker shade of red to match the Los Angeles colors.)
A second card also was changed after today’s news — Pujols’ inclusion in 2011 Playoff Contenders (above), which arrives in January.
The Elite card will be found in the base set and have parallels numbered to 1, 25, 100 and 200. Contenders will have a 1/1 Season Tickets Championship Tickets card, the company said, along with an Artist’s Proof card limited to just 49 and a First Day Printer’s Proof card limited to 10.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
