I bring the kids to Friday and Sunday Twinsfest days but Saturday has traditionally been the day my buddy Shane V and I hang out without the kids running around. This year was no exception.
I got down to the ballpark around 8am and was in a little better spot than I was Friday night. It seemed as though Friday has turned into the busier day compared to Saturday which in the past was the busy day. Joe was signing right away so I went to his line. I was able to get through his line four times getting a baseball card signed each time. I then got in the line for Brian Dozier and that is where Shane showed up and met up with me. We were able to get a couple Brian Dozier cards signed and JR Graham cards while I got a ticket signed by Graham with “ML Debut”. We then headed to Trevor Plouffe’s line and waited. We got some Plouffe and Tom Brunansky cards signed. After this was done we headed to the Phil Hughes line and waited for that to start. Once we to the table we got Hughes, Danny Santana, John Hicks, and Pat Dean cards signed. After this I lost Shane on the way to the Trevor May line. I got Trevor to finish my 2014 All Star Game program that was already signed by Jose Berrios and Kris Bryant. That is now done with all three players on the cover having signed it! I then found Shane again and we got in line for Neil Allen and his group. This is where one of the funniest encounters with a player I have ever had happened. The 04.20.1987 Sports Illustrated magazine has a title of “What They Make” and listed a few players and their salaries on it. I happened to be flipping through some of my SI’s this winter and came across this issue and looked at it and was floored to see Neil Allen on the cover. Smack dab in the middle! I knew I had to remember to bring it to Twinsfest for him. As Shane and I get to him and hand him the magazine, he looks up and says “That’s a lie!”. I said “What? You didn’t make $1.26 million in 1987?” as stated on the cover. He says “Do you believe everything you read?”. He goes on to tell us a story about how his (now) ex-wife’s lawyer brought the issue into court and showed it to the judge and said “This is what he makes and this is what he should pay”. He had Roy Smalley and Butch Davis laughing like crazy as well as Shane and I. He says his mom has about 80 of that issue sitting in her closet. Then he says he and his ex-wife had a love/hate relationship… he loved her and she hated him. We all laughed and Butch Davis says “Yeah but she LOVED your money!” It was hilarious. I got Roy to sign the 1987 Twins Sports Illustrated and we each got Butch to sign a couple cards and Mudcat Grant signed a baseball and we headed on to see my buddy Rob who works for the Twins. I did not have a chance to meet up with him Friday night and I found out he was not working on Sunday so Saturday was the only time I could see him. We sat down and the three of us chatted about a number of things. It was real nice to see him and hang out for a few minutes catching up. We left to head up to the Alex Meyer line and as we walked by the Blyleven line, I noticed nobody was in it. I was afraid that Bert would personalize my scorecard to me so Shane said he would get it signed so he went in with it and it was Bert and John Gordon at the table and nobody in line. What happened next for Shane was a memory he will not forget. The scorecard was the actual scorecard that Lanny Frattare used when he broadcast the Pirates game on August 16th, 1980. Bert threw a complete game shutout striking out 12 Expos batters. I waited outside and listened to the three of them talking about keeping score and the game. They chatted for about five minutes about it before someone else got in line and Shane had to move on. Shane said it was awesome how each person keeps their own scorecard and the detail and personal style. The scorecard turned out awesome and Shane got a real nice memory. After that we headed to Alex Meyer’s line. Shane got Alex on a couple cards and I got a ticket with ML Debut. I also got a baseball signed by Mitch Garver and Oswaldo Arcia signed some cards for us. On the way to the car, we stopped at the Twins Yard Sale. I picked up a dvd of the All Star Game that was at Target Field as well as a really cool printed photo of the ballpark. I got a couple other small things but one thing I got that was cool was one of the back lit signs that hung in the concourse of Target Field. I have one from the Metrodome and I bought the one that has Josh Willingham connecting on a swing. This wrapped up Shane and my annual Twinsfest tradition. There was still one thing left to do. We headed to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Afterwards I dropped him off at his car and headed home. I was pretty pleased how Twinsfest was going for me this year. A special thanks to Shane who kept me company while helping me get autographs… as he calls it “being my mule”. It was great catching up with him and keeping our tradition going. Thanks brother! I got home and again emptied my bag and updated my spreadsheet and got ready for the final day of Twinsfest 2016.
Category: IP
Twinsfest 2016 – Day 1
Twinsfest 2016 started off great. I took the day off and picked Cami up from school at 1:45pm. After I let the receptionist know I was here to pick her up, I went outside to wait. I turned around and she was walking out with a smile from ear to ear and had a skip in her step. She gave me a high five and was so excited to get going. We then headed over to pick up Caden and his buddies from school. I let the receptionist know there that I was ready to pick up Caden, Cayden, and Noah. One by one they showed up in the lobby with smiles on their faces. We all piled into the car and headed to Target Field.
We got to the ballpark around 2:45 and the skyway line was backed up to the doors at the parking ramp. We were in good shape. Once we got in, the boys wanted to go to the memorabilia dealers because a couple of them needed to look for some items to get signed. I had given Caden a $50 bill to buy what he wanted and to get whatever autograph lines he wanted to get in. Cami and I got in Glen Perkins’ line and waited for it to open. Once we got to the table, we got Stuart Turner to sign a couple cards each and Brandon Kintzler to sign an autograph card. Then we got to Byung Ho Park. He signed a baseball for each of us. Once done, Cami said “gomabseubnida” which is thank you in Korean. Byung Ho’s eyes got real big and he smiled and said “OOOoooo!” just like when Cami thanked Kennys Vargas in Spanish last year. It was pretty neat and brought a smile to both faces. We then got back in the same line and waited for the next group. The boys met up with us at which time Caden informs me he lost the $50 bill I gave him. I could tell he felt really bad but I still gave him grief. That kid… Cami took off for the Dozier, and others line and the boys and I stayed in the Mauer line. We went through and each of us got cards signed by Joe and some by Jose Berrios who was with him. I got a baseball signed by Jose. The boys then went down to get in the Buxton line and I walked over to meet up with Cami. She loves Brian Dozier so she was really excited to see him. We then met up with the boys in the Buxton line. They all helped me get all the cards of Byron signed as well as Eduardo Nunez. Cami and I each got Nunez to sign the 08.11.2011 Sports Illustrated magazine signed. I asked him if he signs a lot of those magazines and he said he does and laughed. After that I let the kids run around while I chatted with my friend Tony S who I see at Twinsfest each year as well as my buddy Joel B who I see way more often but is still fun to see him at his table. Joel gave me a piece of the baggie that was in right field at the Metrodome. He was able to obtain a piece and saved me a 1′ square. Thanks Joel!
We all headed home and I dropped off each of the boys and we got home around 11. I emptied my bag, updated my spreadsheet on what I got done, packed up for tomorrow, and went to bed looking forward to Day 2.
A First and a Gift
Today was bittersweet. It was the last game of the 2015 season for the Twins. It was the first time in a long time they were playing meaningful games all the way up to the final weekend. The season certainly exceeded my expectations.
As was our Sunday tradition, Cami and I headed to the game early enough for her to get autographs in the kids autograph area. Today it was Logan Darnell and JR Graham. I had just received a Twins Topps Heritage High Number set a few days ago and in it was JR Graham. I happened to put one in the pile of cards we take to the game just in case and it paid off! Cami got Logan on a signature card and when she got to JR, he looked at it and said it was his first MLB rookie card. He had not seen it before then! Cami asked if he would sign it with first time I sign this card or something like that and he did! He signed his name on the front and on the back wrote “10-4-15 1st RC signed J.R. G”. It was pretty cool! She was really excited.
Later on during the game Cami asked me if she could go to the restroom and I let her go. When she came back and had a Kennys Vargas signed baseball in her hand. She was stoked and told me an usher noticed her volunteer shirt (she had volunteered at the Twin Cities Marathon with Amy earlier that morning) and asked what she volunteered for. She told him and he asked if she volunteers anywhere else and she mentioned her family goes to Feed My Starving Children about once a month. The usher said keep up the good work and gave her the baseball. Later on he came to our seats and explained why he did it and why her. I am always proud of the kids and their volunteering so this just reaffirmed to Cami that she is doing the right thing.
The Twins lost the game but afterwards Cami ran the bases and we walked out looking forward to being back there in January for Twinsfest.
Let It Sano
Even though the Twins were officially eliminated from post season play, today was a great day. It started with Caden and I having high hopes for a miracle that the Twins could win their final two games and the Astros and Angels would lose theirs as we headed to Target Field. The game was pretty close until a couple bad plays led to the Royals scoring four runs in an inning. The Twins ended up losing the game and any chance at the post 
season. Caden and I had a blast at his final game of the season. After the game we headed to my friend Joel B’s place and got him and we headed to Ridgedale where Fan HQ was having a signing with Miguel Sano. I had a couple things I wanted signed with inscriptions and since Miguel’s English is not too good at this point, I figured the only way to get an inscription is at a paid event. We got there and hung out.
When it was our turn Miguel signed my ML Debut ticket with “MLB Debut”, first home run ticket with “1st MLB HR” and a baseball with “Let It Sano”. All three turned out awesome and I could not be happier with how they look. It was fun hanging out with Joel and his daughter Eve too.