Category: IP

Twinsfest 2015 – Day 3

My expectations were exceeded in the first two days of Twinsfest so anything I got today would be icing on the cake. Traditionally Sunday is the day I take the kids so they can have fun and get excited for the upcoming Twins season and this year was no different. I picked up Caden’s friend Cayden at 7:05am and the four of us headed to Target Field. It was a little colder this morning than the previous two but we waited and at 9am entered Target Field. We were about 40th or so in line so we were in good shape. I thought maybe I could get through Joe Mauer’s line twice. While waiting in line, Caden’s friend Noah showed up and I offered him $10 if he would get a card signed by Joe Mauer with me. He was all over that so Noah and I went to the Mauer line and Caden and Cami went to Ervin Santana’s line. Ervin puts #smellbaseball on a number of his Twitter posts and Cami thought it would be cool to ask for the incription on her baseball. He did not let her down! He signed it on the ball and she was STOKED! Caden got a card and they both got the others in the line. When they were done, Cami came over to the Mauer line with me and Caden and Cayden walked around for a really short time. While the kids were getting Ervin, Noah and I got Joe. We then got back in line and Cami joined us and the three of us got Joe. Then Noah left to get someone else and Caden joined us and Caden, Cami and I got Joe. I could not believe it! I needed about 40 or so Mauers and finished the weekend with 17 signed cards. The third time I went through the line I told Joe he was on too many cards that I needed signed and he said “You are coming up with some good ones!” I handed him a card with him and Roy Halladay in the Topps Heritage set and he said he had never seen that card. That was pretty cool. Joe was very friendly and talkative which was really neat. After that, Caden and Cami headed to the Brian Dozier, Michael Tonkin and Tyler Duffey line and I headed to the Jordan Schafer and Nick Gordon line. I stayed in the same area and got the following players in the next group; Ricky Nolasco, Eddie Rosario and Trevor May. The kids went through the Kurt Suzuki, Ryan Pressly, Kohl Stewart and Blake Schmit line. Caden got Pressly on a ML Debut ticket for me. I joined Cami for the next group with Phil Hughes, Tommy Milone, Max Murphy and Tom Quinlan. Caden hung out with his friends and ended up getting in the line later on on his own and got a REALLY cool card signed by Hughes for his collection. The kids went to the Pop a Shot area to shoot hoops with some Twins players. While there, Cami joined them and Oswaldo Arcia was standing behind her. She was draining shot after shot and I saw Oswaldo look over at the other player and mouthed “WOW!” It was pretty cool. Once they were done, Caden and Cami each got a card signed by him and Cami got a picture. Cami then did the Speed Pitch and hit 32 mph! At this point I figured I was done and I would let the kids do what they wanted to. Turns out Caden and Noah and Cayden went in the Tony Oliva and Miguel Sano line while Cami and I went ot the Oswaldo Arcia, Eduardo Escobar, Jorge Polanco and Mark Hamburger line. On the way there, we headed to the Twins Wives table again and Cami got Danny Santana on a couple cards. Cami went through the line and got an autograph from each. We then headed down to the vendors and I talked to a couple of my favorite guys and Cami wanted to go to the Metropolitan Club and check it out. She saw that Paul Molitor was in the Selfie Station and got a photo with the Hall of Famer and new Twins manager. Once we spent a few minutes in that area we decided to walk to the boys and on the way there took a tour of the Twins clubhouse and then Cami took a few swings in the player’s batting cages. She did pretty good! We found the boys and I took one final photo of Cami in the lower level of Target Field. We headed home tired but really excited.
The tally for the day includes:
Ervin Santana: (Cami) OMLB w/”#smellbaseball”, (Caden) 2014 Topps
Butch Davis: (Cami) Index card
Frank Quilici: (Cami) 1972 Topps Twins Team, (Caden) 1971 Topps
Mike Kvasnicka: (Cami) Index card
Cole DeVries: (Cami) Index card, (Caden) 2013 Topps
Joe Mauer: (Me) 2010 Allen & Ginter, 2012 Allen & Ginter, 2006 Topps Heritage, 2007 Topps Heritage, 2008 Topps Heritage, 2009 Topps Heritage, 2009 Topps Heritage All Star, 2011 Topps Heritage All Star, 2010 Topps Heritage High Powered Battery, 2010 Topps Heritage All Star, 2014 Topps Heritage, 2014 Topps Heritage Batting Leaders (WOW! What a day!)
Brian Dozier: (Cami) 2014 Topps Heritage, (Caden) 2011 Topps Heritage High Number
Michael Tonkin: (Cami) Index card
Tyler Duffey: (Cami) Index card
Jordan Schafer: (Me) 2009 Allen & Ginter, 2014 Topps
Nick Gordon: (Me) 2014 Bowman Chrome, 2014 Topps Insert (with Kyle Schwarber)
Taylor Rogers: (Cami) Index card
Kurt Suzuki: (Cami) 2014 Topps Update All Star, (Caden) 2014 Topps Update
Ryan Pressly: (Me) MLB Debut ticket w/”MLB Debut”
Kohl Stewart: (Cami) 2014 Topps Heritage Minors, 2014 Topps Pro Debut, (Caden) 2014 Topps Heritage Minors, 2014 Topps Pro Debut
Blake Schmit: (Cami) Index card
Ricky Nolasco: (Me) 2014 Allen & Ginter, 2014 Topps
Eddie Rosario: (Me) 2014 Topps Heritage Minors, 2014 Topps Pro Debut
Trevor May: (Me) ML Debut ticket w/”ML Debut”
Phil Hughes: (Me) 2 @ 2014 Topps, (Cami) 2014 Topps, (Caden) 2014 Topps Heritage, 2011 Allen & Ginter Future Stars
Tommy Milone: (Me) 2014 Topps Heritage, (Cami) 2014 Gypsy Queen, (Caden) 2014 Topps Heritage
Max Murphy: (Cami) Index card
Tom Quinlan: (Cami) Index card
Tony Oliva: (Caden) 1969 Topps All Star
Miguel Sano: (Caden) 2011 Topps Heritage Minors
Oswaldo Arcia: (Cami) 2013 Topps, (Caden) 2014 Allen & Ginter
Eduardo Escobar: (Cami) 2014 Topps
Jorge Polanco: (Me) ML Debut ticket w/”ML Debut”
Mark Hamburger: (Cami) 2011 Bowman Chrome
Danny Santana: (Me) 2 @ 2014 Topps

It was an amazing weekend that exceeded my results by a whole day. It was fun to see the players all excited to see the fans. I saw Torii Hunter walking the halls a few times and he was smiling from ear to ear and giving hugs with everyone. It truly is great he is back with the Twins.

We cannot wait for Opening Day!

Twinsfest 2015 – Day 2

After last night’s excitement, I hard a hard time falling asleep. I think the last time I saw the clock it was around 1:30am. I got up at 6am and got ready and headed to Target Field to meet up with my buddy Shane. Shane and I have our tradition where we meet up on the Saturday of Twinsfest and hang out. I got to Target Field around 7:30am and was probably 50th in line. Not bad. The weather was so much nicer than in years past so the wait was fine. Once the doors opened I headed to Joe Mauer’s line and Shane went for Ervin Santana and Jordan Schafer. Shane then headed to Mauer’s line and we went through again with and I went for another card while Shane got a ball done. We then headed to the Danny Santana, Brian Duensing and Eduardo Escobar line. After that we decided to get something to eat. While eating, I saw Kurt Suzuki was signing for a minimum $20 donation to the Twins Wifes Group so I saw that as an opportunity to knock off the three card I needed for the $60 donation. We then split up and I headed to the Kyle Gibson, Alex Meyer and Neil Allen line. Shane and I then met up in the Oswaldo Arcia, Caleb Thielbar and JO Berrios line. We went to the Ricky Nolasco, Tommy Milone and BJ Hermsen line after the previous line was finished. We were in that line real early so we split up for the next group because Shane really wanted Phil Hughes and I need Tony Oliva. While waiting in the Oliva and Byron Buxton line, just behind me was Mike E (mudpuddlehuddle on Pat Neshek’s website) was standing behind me. We chatted a little and he asked me if I had anything I needed done for Tony Oliva as he was just getting Buxton. I actually had a pair of older magazines and jumped at the chance. A few years ago I sent Mike a couple dollars as he was going through an adoption. Mike remembered that this long later and told me he never will forget it. That was one of my highlights of Twinsfest… that he remembered it and STILL appreciate it. He was real excited to help me out. Shane got me a Sports Illustrated magazine signed by by Dan Gladden in the line where he went. After that is was off to the Trevor May, Jorge Polanco and Mark Hamburger line. Shane helped me out in this line with some items I had to get signed. After we were done, we headed to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner and a little more reminicing. It was an awesome day from start to finish (minus the phone call from Amy that the dog got into some mouse poison while visiting another home– he is ok after a trip to the Pet Hospital ER). It was great spending the day with Shane and catching up on things. I miss not seeing my buddy Russ. He is another buddy who would hang out at Twinsfest with us. Hopefully next year we can get back to the old Gang of Three.
What I added to the collection today included:
Joe Mauer: 2014 Allen & Ginter, 2014 Gypsy Queen
Jordan Schafer: 2009 Allen & Ginter, 2014 Topps
Danny Santana: 2014 Topps, 2014 Topps Heritage
Eduardo Escobar: 2 @ 2014 Topps
Kurt Suzuki: 2014 Topps Update, 2014 Topps Update All Star, (For my buddy Greg) 2010 Bowman
Kyle Gibson: 2014 Gypsy Queen
Alex Meyer: 2 @ 2014 Topps Heritage Minors
Neil Allen: 1981 Coca Cola, 1989 Topps
Oswaldo Arcia: 2013 Topps Heritage High, 2014 Topps Heritage
Caleb Theilbar: 1st ML Win ticket w/”1st ML Win”
JO Berrios: 2 @ 2014 Topps Heritage Minors, 2014 Topps Pro Debut
Ricky Nolasco: 2014 Topps Heritage, 2014 Topps
Tommy Milone: 2014 Gypsy Queen
BJ Hermsen: 2009 Obak, 2010 Topps Pro Debut
Tony Oliva: 1966 Dell Sports Magazine, September 1970 All Star Sports Magazine
Byron Buxton: 2013 Topps Heritage Minors
Dan Gladden: 10.26.1987 Sports Illustrated
Trevor May: ML Debut ticket w/”ML Debut”
Jorge Polanco: ML Debut ticket w/”ML Debut”, 2 @ 2014 Topps Update
Mark Hamburger: 4 @ 2011 Bowman Chrome

I have already gotten more autographs (and spent more money!) than I ever would have guessed at this point. Special thanks go out to Shane and Mike for their help. I can’t wait for the icing on the cake day with the kids tomorrow!

Twinsfest 2015 – Day 1

Today was Day One of my most favorite weekend of the year. For the second straight year, Twinsfest was held at Target Field and I was hoping it would be close to what it was last year in regards to the autograph lines. I took today off and since Cami has gotten 100% on every test, quiz, and assignment for the past two weeks (at least), I told her I would take her out of school early if she wanted to go with me. Of course she did so I picked her up around 2:30 and we headed to Target Field. We got in line and was around 60 or so in the Ramp A skyway. Once they opened the doors, we headed up to Joe Mauer and Kent Hrbek’s line. We were able to get through that line twice. I was pumped because I need about 40 cards signed by Joe for all my sets I am working on so to get through the line twice, and for Joe to sign two cards for each of us each time, I was 10% done with what I needed and was pumped! We headed to Kyle Gibson, Mike Pelfrey, Brian Duensing, Tim Stauffer and Gene Larkins line after that. We were early enough in that line that we could shoot over to Paul Molitor and Miguel Sano’s line and be in a great position. Cami conned me into paying the $10 extra for MLB authentication on her Molitor baseball. We then went over to the Glen Perkins, Tommy Milone, Aaron Hicks, Eric Fryer and Mike Kvasnicka line. A couple really cool things happened in this line. The first was when I got to Eric Fryer I asked him to sign the ticket I had to his first homerun game with the inscription. He asked me if I knew who threw the ball. I told him I had no idea and he looked at me and said “Tommy Milone” who was sitting three people before him. Tommy heard that and looked and nodded. That was pretty cool. Then we got to Glen Perkins. Cami asked Glen to sign his All Star update card from last year with “2014 ASG”. He asked ASG and asked if she knew what it meant and she said “All Star Game! I was there!” He signed it and then I got a couple cards signed by him. I follow him on Twitter so I asked him when he was going to invite us over sometime for his smoked ribs (he has a smoker) with a smile and he looked at me and kinda thought for a second and said “It’s kinda a spur of the moment thing” and smiled and winked. His response was awesome! Cami and I then headed down to the lower level because she wanted her most favorite Twins player Kennys Vargas’ autograph. We got in line and when we got to the table, Kennys was first and there was kind of a log jam of people so I told Cami to go stand next to Kennys and I will take a picture. Cami said “No dad. They said no posed pictures.” and Kennys saw us and waved her over and I took an awesome picture of the two of them. It REALLY made her night and was probably the highlight of Twinsfest for her. We got Kennys’ autographs and moved down the line through Kohl Stewart, J.R. Graham, Butch Davis and JT Bruett. After that we went to see my friend and fellow ticket collector Tony Swann. Tony lives in Chicago and is collecting a ticket from all the games Carlton Fisk played in. He is down to needing just over 100 games. Amazing. Even more amazing is how kind and thoughtful Tony is. Tony is on the lookout for Kirby Puckett tickets I need and gave me a full ticket to the game Puck hit HR #123. He also gave Cami, and one for Caden, a Kirby Puckett ticket strip from his weekend celebration in 1997. Thanks Tony! We swung by my friend Joel’s table and Cami talked me into getting a jar of Domepourri. We then headed to see my friend Rob M who works for the Twins. We had a real nice chat and closed down Day 1 of the weekend long party. We headed home for some much needed rest.
The full tally of what Cami and I added to our collections today included:
Joe Mauer: (Me) 2011 Gypsy Queen, 2012 Gypsy Queen, 2013 Gypsy Queen, 2013 Allen & Ginter
Kent Hrbek: (Me) 07.05.1982 Sports Illustrated, Original Metrodome #14 Seat Tag, 1986 7-Eleven, (Cami) 1991 10 Year Reunion card
Kyle Gibson: (Me) 2013 Topps Update, 2014 Topps Heritage, (Cami) 2014 Gypsy Queen
Mike Pelfrey: (Me) 2014 Topps, 2014 Topps Heritage, (Cami) 2014 Topps, 2014 Topps Heritage
Brian Duensing: (Me) 2014 Topps, (Cami) 2014 Topps
Tim Stauffer: (Me) OMLB, (Cami) index card
Gene Larkin: (Me) 1989 Topps, 1991 10 Year Reunion card, (Cami) 1991 10 Year Reunion card, 1987 Topps Traded
Paul Molitor: (Me) 2013 Allen & Ginter, (Cami) OMLB w/MLB authentication
Miguel Sano: (Me) 2011 Topps Heritage Minors All Star SP, (Cami) 2011 Topps Heritage Minors
Glen Perkins: (Me) 2014 Topps, 2014 Topps Update All Star, (Cami) 2014 Topps Update All Star w/”2014 ASG”
Tommy Milone: (Me) ML Debut ticket, 2014 Topps Heritage, 2014 Gypsy Queen
Aaron Hicks: (Me) 2013 Topps Heritage High, 2014 Topps Heritage, (Cami) 2014 Topps Heritage
Eric Fryer: (Me) 1st HR ticket, 2011 Bowman, (Cami) 2011 Bowman
Mike Kvasnicka: (Me) 2011 Topps Pro Debut, (Cami) 2011 Topps Pro Debut
Kennys Vargas: (Me) 2014 Topps Heritage High, 2014 Topps Heritage High, (Cami) OMLB
Kohl Stewart: (Me) 2014 Topps Heritage Minors, 2014 Bowman Chrome, 2014 Topps Pro Debut, (Cami) 2014 Topps Heritage Minors
J.R. Graham: (Cami) Index card
Butch Davis: (Me) 4 different minor league cards
JT Bruett: (Cami) Index card

Wow! What a haul! I cannot wait to see what I get tomorrow!

The Final 2014 Twins Game For Us

Today was the final Twins game of the 2014 season that I was going to. Last week when we were discussing which kid was going to go to a Twins game with me I was not so kindly reminded that Caden has only been to four games this season and he wanted to go. It worked out that I was able to leave work early and get home to get Caden. We waited until Cami got home and headed to the ballpark because Oswaldo Arcia and Eduardo Escobar were signing autographs at the Clubhouse Store before the game. I used my Sweetspot card to enter the ballpark a half hour before the non-season ticket holders and was able to catch a little more batting practice. Caden brought his glove and was hoping for a homerun ball. Turns out one of the Diamondbacks hit a ball that bounced into the stands and Caden was able to go over there and found it so he did come home with a baseball. We then got in line in the Clubhouse Store and met up with Caden’s friend Cayden and his mom and two brothers. They were the same family who we went to the All Star Fanfest with on one day. As we were waiting in line, Cayden’s mom asked if I had something else I wanted to get signed and I did have an extra Arcia card so she offered to get it signed for me which was awesome. So, Caden got Cami’s homemade photo card of Eduardo Escobar signed and the 2013 Topps card for Arcia signed. I got a 2014 Gypsy Queen card signed by Arcia and a 2012 Topps card signed by Escobar and Cayden’s mom got my a 2014 Allen & Ginter card signed by Arcia. After that we went down to the right field area to see if we could get anyone else and the only other one who signed while we were down there was again Arcia and Escobar. Dozier signed closer to the dugout though. Caden and I headed to our seats while Cayden and his family sat in their seats. While walking to our seats though we stopped and picked up our season ticket holder bobblehead and a last pair of brats for dinner. We ended up leaving after the third inning though as we had to get Cami at her grandma and papa’s house since Amy was out of town and we all had to get home to get some sleep for the work/school day ahead.
While the Twins record was not anything anyone wants to remember, the memories we made over the season will be something we will.