Cami was in town for a couple weeks and extended her stay a few days so she could attend a Twins game. I had tickets to the game tonight so we decided we would go. I also was able to join in on a Twins season ticket holder event that had Travis Adams and Ryan Kreidler signing autographs. So, Cami and I headed to the ballpark around noon. I was able to get Travis to sign a pair of debut ticket and Ryan on a team card (bubbled unfortunately) and a baseball (for my brother). Travis commented “Ooooooo! My debut ticket!” and Ryan said “That’s really cool!”. Both were awesome! We left and headed to my parents place so Cami could see them before going back to Arizona and then back to the ballpark for the game which the Twins won!
Today was an awesome day! I was able to acquire field passes for batting practice and asked my buddy Ron to join me. Ron helped out another buddy and I thought I would take him along as thanks and we had a great memory! We met outside the press gate before the game and after scanning our tickets and giving us badges, we headed on the field. As soon as we entered the area behind the plate, we saw Byron Buxton was signing autographs so we immediately jumped in the small group waiting for his autograph. I was able to get Byron to sign three cards and get a photo. I told him how I felt bad he was not able to play in the all star game (he is injured) but excited for him that he was going to be there for all the events. Then Luke Keaschall signed a card for me. Royce Lewis, the class act he always is, signed a pair of cards and thanked me! He is such a gentleman. Always. Then Brooks Lee signed a card for me. Once we were done on the field for batting practice, we headed up to the Legends Club area and relaxed in the cool, air-conditioned area. It was really hot on the field! Randy Bush was doing an alumni speaking event so Ron and I headed to the 573 Club area and really enjoyed Randy talking about playing and his memories. My pal Rob was the emcee and did not disappoint! After that was complete, we went and got photos with Randy and headed to the seats for the game. The Twins lost but it was one of the most fun evenings I have had at Target Field, besides Twinsfest, ever! The cards I got signed are: Buxton: 2019 Topps #158, 2024 Topps #94, 2025 Topps Heritage #282 Lewis: 2026 Topps Heritage #85, 2026 Topps Now Road To Opening Day #OD-82 Lee: 2026 Topps Heritage #60 Keaschall: 2026 Topps Heritage #116
The last couple seasons, from June through September, the Twins have had an event for season ticket holders where a pair of players sign autographs. Today was the June session and it featured Andrew Morris and Kody Clemens. Amy and I got down to Target Field just as it started. When we got to Morris, Amy mentioned how cool it was how his mom and dad reacted to his Major League Debut. He smiled and commented how cool that video was. For Kody, Amy commented how his HR in the first last night helped her with Pick 3. He smiled and seemed to appreciate the comment. The items we got signed were: Andrew Morris: OMLB & 2 @ 05.03.2026 Topps Now #156 Kody Clemens: OMLB & 2 @ 09.12.2025 Topps Now #699 (one was #47/50) I got the Clemens ball and one of each of the Topps Now cards signed for my brother.
There is a huge card show in St Paul this weekend. Today Kent Hrbek and Kody Clemens (among others) were signing autographs so I decided to go and get the items signed I had laying around for them. I showed up shortly before Kent was signing so I got in that line and waited. When I got to him, I gave him a couple Athlon’s Baseball magazines (1988 and 1992) that featured him on the cover. He signed those and then I had him sign a full ticket from his final MLB game. I asked him to inscribe “Final MLB Game” on it and he did and even added an ! to the end of it! I told him I had a debut ticket signed and now I have bookends of his career. I told him I gave him a debut ticket back at Twinsfest when it was at the Metrodome and he said he remembered that. I wished him good health and he looked at me and said “Thank you very much!” That made me happy since he had a stroke a year or so ago and it is cool to see him getting around so well. I then walked around the show to kill time until Kody showed up. The Twins played a day game today and Kody was to arrive after the game. The show was massive… over 600 tables. And, walking around, it seemed like over half were Pokémon and the like cards. EVERYBODY had slabbed/graded cards too. I had four hours to kill so I walked around and around and around looking at everything. Prior to today I had only seen two 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle cards… one in the late 1980’s at a card show and one at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Today I saw three! They were PSA 1 and 2 with one being sold for $100k and the “cheap” one at $46k. I passed on all three. I did find a couple guys selling baseball cards and one guy had a bargain bin. Since I had so much time to kill, I flipped through his box. I rarely do that at shows because at this point the cards I am looking for not to be found in bargain bins. It turned out to be worthwhile for me this time as I found a 1967 Topps high number card I needed. I also found a Bert Blyleven rookie card in decent shape as well as a Blyleven 1976 cloth issue card. I also picked up a 1967 Topps Tony Oliva in the box. All told the cards were $45. Big spender. There were transactions going down all over the show today in the $10k range and dropped a whopping $45 on cards. About fifteen minutes before Kody was to start signing I went and got in line. Kody showed up like three minutes before he was to start so it was perfect timing. I got to him and put two tickets down for him to sign. He looked at them and said “What do we have here?!” all excited. I asked him to sign one ticket with “MLB Debut” and the other with “3 HR Game” which he also did. I had him use the house gold marker for the HR ticket since it was dark and I only had a blue Sharpie. I made an error hoping the show would have decent markers. It was a dried out gold pen which looks mediocre at best but it works. He then ripped through signing five cards. Those cards are: 2025 Topps #US208 2025 Topps Heritage #658 2026 Topps Heritage #321 and two Topps Now cards from the three home run game on 09.12.2025 #699 and #ODB19. I then hit the exit and was home before Kody was to finish his signing shift. It was a nice, relaxing, fun day!
