In a promotion that began in 1989, the Pawtucket Red Sox will treat fans and collectors to the annual baseball card night giveaway on Friday at McCoy Stadium.

To each fan who enters the 10,031-seat ballpark, the PawSox will hand out a three-page foldout album of perforated cards that picture the players who have kept the team atop the International League standings for most of this season. Friday’s game pits Pawtucket against the Charlotte Knights, a White Sox affiliate, with a 7:05 p.m. start.

This year’s card set will include Jason Masterson, Joe Thurston, Jeff Bailey, Chris Carter, Jonathan Van Every, Dave Pauley, Charlie Zink, Devern Hansack and George Kottaras.

Last year’s top cards featured Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Manny Delcarmen and David Murphy. They’ve spent most of 2008 in the big leagues, the first four in Boston and the fifth with Texas where Murphy was traded late last season.

The first team card albums were unveiled in 1989, a season in which the PawSox produced three card sets. Two were in the regular format — a 25-card issue by CMC and a 28-card set by ProCards. The first album held 29 perforated cards plus a team photo. The individual cards featured 25 players, manager Ed Nottle, coaches Mark Meleski and Lee Stange, and team trainer Tony Cleary.

That 1989 issue wasn’t the first PawSox card set, however. A company named TCMA produced a series of 24 standard-design cards in 1981 that became popular because they had the only minor-league card of Wade Boggs who would go on to five batting championships with Boston and induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Friday’s event is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts, which has backed the giveaway from the beginning, and NESN television.

HALL’S AUCTION: Hall’s Nostalgia will present close to 400 lots of sports cards and memorabilia on Friday at the 301st in the firm’s series of public auctions. Preview opens at 5 p.m. at the Arlington, Mass., Knights of Columbus Hall and auctioneer Denis Briand will begin asking for bids at 7. The full catalog and auction rules, including absentee bidding instructions, are on the www.hallsnostalgia.com web site. Among highlights are many autographed items including a baseball, a magazine, a 1959 Fleer card and photos signed by Ted Williams.

THURSDAY SHOW: Alex and Paul Mancini continue the series of first-Thursday-of-the-month sports collectors shows this week at the Kelly Gazzerro VFW post hall in Cranston (1418 Plainfield Pike). Show time is 6 to 9 p.m.

PAWSOX SIGNING: Outfielder Chris Carter and catcher Dusty Brown of the Pawtucket Red Sox sign autographs on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Your Sports Memorabilia Store in Newport (170 Thames St.).

FAVRE’S BACK: Fans still don’t know whether Brett Favre will stay retired or return for another NFL season, but collectors will continue to find new cards of the star quarterback. Upper Deck includes Favre in its 2008 Football Heroes series and features limited-edition hand-signed cards. Topps has three variations of Favre’s card in its 2008 NFL set; one standard card, another that pictures the QB riding a power mower, and a third that features an image of Green Bay’s legendary coach, Vince Lombardi, above Favre’s left shoulder.