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.
Category: IP
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.
What a Base!
Today was a Sunday and that meant it was Cami’s turn to go to the Twins game with me. Cami decided not to do the kids autograph line like she usually does and instead wanted to go down to the right field foul territory and see who was signing. She ended up getting Casey Fien and Ryan O’Rourke on a baseball that will be the start of her 2016 Twinsfest baseball.
If that isn’t cool, get this story. I could not make this up if I tried! Back on August 1, Cami was a Grounds Crew Buddy and was assigned to second base. That meant that at the end of the 5th inning, she ran out with a member of the grounds crew to change bases. Her job was to carry the new base to second, pull out the old one, put the new one in place and jump on it. As she was running off she said hi to Eduardo Escobar and he waved back to her. Fast forward to today’s game and, what has become our tradition, we look at all the cool things at the game used kiosk. The person working there today asked if he could help me with anything. I said “I have a long shot” and he said try me. I told him I was looking for the base from August 1st. Not just any base either but SECOND base. He said “I have a base from August 1st” and flipped it over to see it was second base. Wow. Fate. I checked the hologram and found out it was the base that was used at second base from innings 6-9 on August 1st. What are the odds. I went to our seats to think about it (it was $300 because it has the special tags on it for the 50th anniversary of the 1965 team on it). Later on I told Cami was going to go to the restroom and would be back soon. I ran down to the kiosk and bought it. She was so excited when I came back with it. She said it is her birthday present for the next two years! I figured I could not pass up the opportunity that was so amazingly put in front of me. What are the odds?