Category: Uncategorized

Today was the final day of the Sports News Show for the winter weekend.  The highlight for me was having Gary Gaetti there.  So, here is my Good, Bad and AWESOME part of the show today.

The Good:
I was able to meet Joel Bradley at the show.  He brought an Ichiro baseball that he got for me through a volume discount deal.  I met Joel via SportsCollectors.net and it was really nice to meet him in person.  He seemed like a great guy.

The Bad:
This was not all bad but it was bad for me.  Another member on SportsCollectors.net, Heidi G, asked if I would be able to get a couple bats and balls signed by Danny Valencia since I was going.  I offered to help because the items were not already signed and if something happened, I would not feel AS BAD as if something happened to something she already had signed.  I had her six tickets as well as my single ticket for Danny to sign his only Topps baseball card out there.  When I got to the table, I was informed that Danny would not be signing his rookie card because he was “under contract”.  I do not know what kind of douchebag would not sign a baseball card (except Albert Pujols but at least he EARNED the right to put that restriction on after winning multiple MVP’s and being one of the best players in the game) but when I said I did not have anything else to get signed, the ticket taker said “There are people all over selling his items” to which I replied “I do not want anything else signed” so I ended up getting a refund.  That was a real downer.  I was able to get Heidi’s bats and balls signed.  Danny asked where I got the bats with his name on them and I told him I had no idea and he laughed like I was the jerk.  Whatever.  If he was not so relied upon for the Twins infield this season, I would wish him what he deserves.  What a punk.

The AWESOME:
When the list of people showing up was listed, my heart skipped a beat when I saw Gary Gaetti’s name.  I am down to needing just Gaetti and Dan Schatzeder on my 1987 Twins team ball.  When I got to Gary, he signed the last three cards for me that I needed his autograph on to complete my run of his Twins cards and I told him I have been working on this team baseball since 1987.  He asked if I got all the autographs myself which I told him I did.  He said that there are a lot of balls he has seen that he did not sign that are out there.  He offered to sign the ball with his autograph that he used back in 1987 (the wide G’s).  That was pretty cool.

After getting Gaetti on my baseball I headed home.  It was neat to meet Joel in person as well as get Gaetti on my team ball after working on it for over 22 years!  One more to go!

This evening FanHQ in Ridgedale sponsored a signing with JJ Hardy.  I needed him on a couple cards for the sets I am working on and I was thinking about sending the cards in because it was a long drive from my house to Ridgedale.  When a collector on SCN contacted me asking for help in getting three of his Brewers programs signed, I decided that I would go.  Tickets were $10 per item so I ordered 6 tickets and had them reserved for me.  Good thing I did too as they sold out.
With Amy in Dallas, TX for work, the kids and I decided to go up and visit my parents since we were on that side of the Twin Cities and had a nice two hour visit with them.  We then headed to Ridgedale.  We got there, picked up the tickets and got in line.  It seemed that we were one of the last ones in line that there were a number of people already there before he started signing.  I had brought a baseball for the 6th item to get signed but while we were waiting in line, Cami asked me for a picture for her to get signed.  So, we bought a cool photo of Hardy batting at Target Field.  She was pretty excited to add that to her collection.
We left and got home around 7:30 or so stopping for dinner along the way.

Today was the Twins Legends game.  It was awesome.  The Twins really did a great job in getting people to show up and play.  It was the highlight of the Twins 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend.

Cami wanted to go to the game today so she and I headed to the game a little earlier than normal since they were giving away fedora hats and I thought it would be something Cami would love.  I was right!  We go to the ballpark with enough time to get a hat.  We then headed to the Sunday Kids Autograph event.  It was Trevor Plouffe and Alex Burnett signing.  I think in all the times I got autographs when one of the kids were with me, there was only one time that I had them get an autograph for me.  This was the second time.  I talked Cami in to getting a card signed by Alex Burnett for me for my autographed Twins baseball card collection project and she was really excited to do that for me.  She got her ball signed with “Cami, All the best, Trevor Plouffe”.

We then headed to our seat and enjoyed the Legends Game.  On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 20.  I had so many memories of watching these guys play as a kid.  Corey Koskie hit one out in batting practice which was cool to see he is healthy (a concussion ended his career) and able to get on the field.  Jim Perry, the 1970 AL Cy Young winner, even hit the ball and put it in play.  The highlight of the game was Kent Hrbek “sliding” for a foul ball.  He ended up taking out a divot the size of a basketball when he tried to
slide for a ball and just stuck.  It was hilarious and they kept showing the replay of it through out the three inning game.  Afterwards they interviewed him and he said he thought he was on turf and thought he would slide.  I sure hope this becomes an annual or semi-annual event because it was certainly a highlight.  The Twins won the game that was played after the Legends Game.  I have been to over 500 games in my life and never saw where a runner was called out for touching the third base coach but it happened today.  In fact, it was the final out of the game with the Twins winning.

As always, it was a great time at the ballpark with my “baseball girl”.

Today Cami and I headed to Byerly’s in Edina for an appearance by Alexi Casilla.  Cami brought her ball along and I brought a 2010 Topps card.  We were suprised at how long the line was but it moved pretty good.  When we were waiting in line, a couple people behind us was Ben W.  Ben and I have traded quite a few times via Pat Neshek’s website.  It was nice to see him.  He is really a nice guy and a great collector.  When we got to Alexi, we asked if he would write “To Cami” on it and even provided a sheet of paper so he would know how to spell it.  His assistant said name only today and Alexi apologized and signed her ball.  He signed my card and we went back to get some of the Joe Mauer malts to bring home.  While walking back there I heard a mom tell her son that there was a Twins player signing autographs.  I had brought an extra card along so I gave it to her to have Alexi sign it for her son.  She thanked me, we checked out with our malt cups and Cami wanted a Caribou Carmel Iced Mocha so dad bought one for her and we headed home.