Beyond Cooperstown: Chasing the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame Pin Collection

A complete guide to stadium-giveaway pins commemorating inductees to the team’s Hall of Fame

By Jeremiah Gardner

One of the hallmarks of The Hobby — sports card and memorabilia collecting — is completing a set.

For some, it’s Topps rookie cards. For others, it’s signed baseballs or game-used bats. But one of my favorites to chase are stadium giveaways, like the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame commemorative pin series I recently completed (for now, that is, since it expands annually).

Unique, limited in availability, not well known or catalogued, and ever-growing, it’s a collector’s delight.

A team Hall of Fame — unlike the one for all of Major League Baseball in Cooperstown, NY — celebrates the people who shaped a franchise, including Cooperstown icons and that next tier of great players, along with beloved broadcasters, managers, scouts, executives and other impactful contributors. Building a team Hall of Fame collection becomes more than chasing cards or keepsakes — it’s collecting the history of the organization itself.

Since 2002, the Twins have rewarded fans with beautifully designed enamel pins honoring each new member of the Twins Hall of Fame. Each pin represents not only a Twins legend but also a specific day at the ballpark, making the collection part memorabilia, part time capsule.

For collectors like me, that’s a big part of the fun. And it doesn’t come as a set. You have to find each pin.

A Collection with One Big Challenge

The Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame was established in 2000 with six inaugural inductees:

• Harmon Killebrew
• Rod Carew
• Tony Oliva
• Kirby Puckett
• Kent Hrbek
• Calvin Griffith

Two more legends joined in 2001:

• Jim Kaat
• Herb Carneal

Unfortunately for collectors, the commemorative pin series hadn’t started yet. As a result, none of these first eight inductees has an official giveaway pin.

The pin series began in 2002, meaning today’s collectors can assemble only 34 of the 42 inductees through Dick Bremer’s 2026 induction.

It’s the one glaring hole in an otherwise outstanding collection, and I still hope the club eventually produces commemorative pins for those original eight members — if for no other reason than to tame the obsessive-compulsive anxiety of “completionists.”

More Than Hall of Fame Players

One of the charms of collecting the Twins Hall of Fame series is that it isn’t limited to the most exclusive stars in Cooperstown.

Where else can a collection include World Series heroes alongside iconic broadcaster Herb Carneal, unforgettable public address announcer Bob Casey, longtime radio voice John Gordon, executive Andy MacPhail, scout Jim Rantz, owner Carl Pohlad and clubhouse fixture Rick Stelmaszek?

For collectors who enjoy team history — and perhaps have exhausted their exploration of, and/or budget for, Cooperstown greats — team Halls of Fame represent an expanded opportunity to chase, learn, and enjoy the game and The Hobby.

Scarcity Matters

The Twins generally produced 5,000 pins for each giveaway, making them relatively scarce as stadium collectibles.

The lone known exception I’m aware of came in 2023 when 10,000 Joe Mauer pins were distributed.

Many pins, of course, immediately disappear into personal collections. Many — I hate to say — are probably discarded. Others surface occasionally at card shows, online auctions or memorabilia dealers, making the hunt part of the appeal.

The Canceled Pin

No Twins Hall of Fame collection comes with a bigger “what if?” than Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch was elected to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2014 and was scheduled for induction on Aug. 23. Like every other modern inductee, he presumably would have received a commemorative giveaway pin.

Then everything changed.

His induction ceremony was canceled following his arrest in Houston on a misdemeanor assault charge involving his ex-wife. The club never rescheduled the induction, and no giveaway occurred.

Whether commemorative pins had already been manufactured has never been publicly confirmed. Collectors like me wonder whether boxes of unreleased Knoblauch pins might still exist somewhere inside Target Field — or whether the design never made it into production at all. For now, it remains a mystery.

COVID Creates an Unusual Entry

Justin Morneau became another unique chapter in the checklist.

Elected in 2020, Morneau was originally scheduled to receive his commemorative pin on May 22 of that season. The COVID-19 pandemic postponed both the ceremony and giveaway until Sept. 28, 2021.

As a result, there were no Twins Hall of Fame inductees in 2020, and Morneau was the lone inductee — and giveaway — in 2021.

Sponsors Through the Years

Collectors often enjoy identifying subtle variations in stadium giveaways, and sponsorship is part of the history.

Among the 34 pins issued:

• Fisher Nuts sponsored 13.
• Coordinated Business Systems sponsored five.
• Treasure Island Casino sponsored two.
• No Name Meats sponsored one.
• Thirteen pins carried no sponsor.

A Winning Tradition

Perhaps it’s coincidence, but Twins fans usually had something extra to celebrate on giveaway day.

The club compiled a 14–8 record during its first 22 Hall of Fame pin giveaway games.

The Complete Twins Hall of Fame Pin Checklist

The Hall of Fame Behind the Pins

The Twins elect players through a committee of media members, club officials, fans and previously elected Hall of Famers using standards similar to those employed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Non-player candidates — including broadcasters, executives and other contributors — are considered separately by a Veterans Committee composed of Twins Hall of Famers, historians and club leadership.

One notable exception came in 2016, when the organization waived its customary waiting period following Torii Hunter’s retirement, allowing him to enter the Twins Hall of Fame immediately.

Today, every inductee is permanently honored in the Twins Hall of Fame Gallery on the Target Field suite level and on Target Plaza.

A Trifecta of Special Meaning

Baseball collecting has always been about preserving memories.

A rookie card captures the beginning of a career. An autograph commemorates a personal connection. A stadium giveaway reminds us that we — and they — were there.

The Twins Hall of Fame pins do all three.

Even if you buy your pins on the secondary market, you know fellow fans walked through the turnstiles to get them. Each pin represents a summer afternoon at the ballpark, a celebration of someone who shaped Twins history and another piece in a collection that’s still growing. Whether your favorite is Johan Santana, Dick Bremer or Bert Blyleven, these pins celebrate the people who made generations of Twins fans fall in love with baseball.

And maybe, someday, the Twins will finally produce those missing eight pins — allowing us collectors to more thoroughly complete our set.

Jeremiah Gardner lives in Plymouth, MN. He initially collected sports cards from 1984 to 1986 as a middle-schooler in Sioux Falls, SD, where his first favorite card shop was Rainbow Sports Cards. He picked up the hobby again in 2013, discovering a new favorite shop, Twin Cities Sports Cards, near his home in Plymouth, MN. He has been collecting cards and memorabilia ever since. His favorite athletes of all time are Atlanta Braves’ great Dale Murphy and his own Minnesota (identical) Twins, Keegan and Jace (born in 2013).