When I saw a Facebook post by John Wilkey showing a bunch of Twins cards, I was skeptical because in just about every post like this I have every Twins card listed. This time I was excited to find the following:
2020 Topps Heritage #74 Lewis Thorpe
2020 Topps #US-180 Ben Rortvedt
2019 Bowman Paper Matt Wallner #BD6
I did not need the Wallner for my set but since it was a nicely signed 1st Bowman card, I picked it up too.
What is cool about the other two is that they are the last two I needed for each of the two players!
Author: Kevin
A Walk-Off Winner!
August 6, 2023. This was the date of the last Twins game Cami and I attended before sending her off to college. We had a fantastic time at the game and the ending really was a nice send off for her to remember until she came back home after her first school year in Phoenix ends in May, 2024. The game was tied going into the ninth inning. The Twins were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks which was cool since Cami was going to go to college at ASU in a week so we were cheering for a good game. They did not disappoint. In the top of the ninth Christian Walker hit a solo home run off Caleb Theilbar to take the lead. That lead did not last long! The first batter for the Twins in the bottom of the ninth was Max Kepler and he delivered a solo home run of his own to re-tie the game at three runs apiece. After a walk to Jorge Polanco, hometown player Matt Wallner came up jacked a walk-off home run to right center!
Cory Provus, as usual, had an awesome call of the homer. I sent a ball to him and asked him to write his call on it to commemorate Wallner’s walk-off. I received that beautiful baseball today along with a note on the back of his business card apologizing for the delay.
A Tough Signer
The April, 27, 1981 Sports Illustrated magazine pictures the Oakland A’s starting five pitchers inside their locker room. It shows Rick Langford, Steve McCatty, Brian Kingman, Matt Keough, and Mike Norris posing together. It is really tough to find this magazine signed by any of them much less all of them on the same issue. I was fortunate enough to get Mike Norris to sign one years ago and then found a seller selling an issue with Steve McCatty’s signature on it. Coliseum Kingz (Carlos Lopez) recently had a signing with Norris so I sent in the issue signed by McCatty already and received it back today. Mike Norris signed it perfectly. I now have two down and three to go! I know this one won’t ever get completed but it is ready if the other three decide to start signing.
UPDATE: I received a message on this post from a buddy of mine that Matt Keough has passed away. So, now I know this one will NEVER be completed! I guess that makes Matt a REALLY TOUGH signer now!
Singing A Great (Vogel)song
I have been fortunate to have had some awesome replies to my autograph requests to people over the years but today has to rank right up there with one of my favorites.
Over all the years of my collecting, Rich Reese has always avoided signing his 1965 Topps Rookie card. Rumors persist on how he does not sign it because he is listed as Dick Reese, or another rumor that he did not like the card… whatever the reason, I had only seen that card signed once and that was from the mid-1960’s because he signed it Dick Reese. When it was the last card I needed for the 1965 Twins set, I wrote him a nice, heartfelt letter and made a small sticker in the same size, color, and font and placed it over Dick Reese which said Rich Reese. Amazingly, he returned it to me signed with a note that it was the only one he signed. He said he has turned down his daughter when she asked for him to sign one.
I had an equally amazing response from Ryan Vogelsong today! Ryan is pictured on a 2017 Topps card as a Twin. I am not sure if it was photoshopped or taken in spring training but he is shown in a Twins uniform. Over the years since his retirement, he has had a few private signing events and I always sent in the card and it would always come back unsigned that Ryan refused to sign it because he never played for the Twins. I thought maybe it would be a hold in my collection. Back on February 8th I received the 2017 Topps Phil Hughes card from a private signing and that left the Vogelsong card as the last card I needed for my set. I decided to take a shot. I wrote a real heartfelt letter on what baseball means to me, especially Twins baseball, and my family. I wrote about how I remember him signing with the Twins and was excited because of his success with the Giants. I wrote about how my family went to Florida spring training games in five of the previous six springs prior to COVID and I am sure I saw him warm up under the walkway overhang bullpen area. I also included a printout of my 2017 Topps Twins set with every card signed but his. I put it in a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope and sent it to him hoping for the best. I do not know what it was that led him to sign my card and return it to me but I cannot thank him enough. My 2017 Topps Twins team set is complete! I had a rough couple days at work and to open the mail and see this made things turn around for me. THANK YOU Ryan! You made my week if not month or even longer! I love my hobby!