Category: IP

My most favorite weekend of the year started early. I got to the parking ramp to wait in line around 7:20 am. While waiting, I ran into Jake A who will be my son Caden’s manager for his summer intern with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters Northwoods League team. I have known Jake for years and he is really helping Caden kick start his baseball career. After that my brother and his wife arrived and got in line with me. I am not sure what time that was but it was quite a bit before the doors opened at 9 am.
Once inside, we went to the Carlos Correa autograph line. I was number 144 in that line. When I got to Carlos, my friend Shelley was his handler and I got to say hello to her. Carlos signed by 2023 Topps #US305 card that was already signed by Jose Miranda thus completing that card. While waiting in line in the parking ramp, the family in front of me was waiting for Carlos as well and they only needed one autograph so the dad offered to get one for me. He got the 2024 Topps team card #692 signed for me. My sister-in-law, Sherry, got my 2024 Topps card #400 signed for me. The day was off to a great start with THREE Correa autographs! Our plan next was to get to the Byron Buxton line but I found out they stopped handing out numbers so I decided to cut my losses for that and head to the Pablo Lopez/Joe Ryan line which was starting after the Buxton time slot concluded. I got there and was the fourth person in line! My brother, Ryan, and his wife, Sherry, headed to get Austin Martin as my brother wanted his autograph. So I gave Sherry a 2024 Allen & Ginter Martin card #259 to get signed for me. They said that Austin loved that card as it was the first time he saw it. They also got generic cards signed by Mickey Gasper and Cole Sands for me there. They then came up to wait in line with me. We were able to get to enter the Lopez/Ryan line and I was #10! (others joined the few people in front of me much like my brother and his wife). I again saw Shelley and said hi to her and got to Pablo. Pablo was really cool. He signed both my 2024 Topps #651 and 2024 Topps Heritage #26 even to the dismay of the helper saying one per person. He looked up at me and smiled as he handed them back to me. Sherry got my 2024 Allen & Ginter #321 signed by Pablo. Then I got Joe Ryan and he signed his 2024 Topps #175 for me. My brother and his wife and I split up. I saw my good buddy Rob then and we exchanged our annual bro-hug which had an even more special meaning this year and chatted a quick moment and I headed on to my next station. My brother wanted Simeon Woods Richardson so I told him I would head down and get in line for Willi Castro for him and he went to Woods Richardson. There he got David Festa to sign a baseball for me. On my way to get into the Castro line, I stopped by the Luke Keaschall and Zebby Matthews line. There was nobody in line for those guys like fifteen minutes into their time slot! I got Zebby on a debut ticket and Luke on a baseball. I left and jumped into the Castro line. While waiting in line I saw my friend Fred so we chatted a little. My brother and his wife showed up and we got into the Champions Club. I decided then to skip the line and get in line for the last station of the day for us. Sherry got a 2024 Topps #568 Trevor Larnach signed as well as a baseball signed by Emmanuel Rodriguez for me! Afterwards they walked around and I waited in line. While in line, my friend Shelley stopped by and we chatted for a half hour or maybe even more. I worked with Shelley’s husband years ago and have recognized Shelley over the years but didn’t really meet her until the connection with her husband and I was made. We see each other at Feed My Starving Children and the ballpark often. She works in the IT area for the Twins and as such, volunteers at Twinfest each year. She always gets the stations with the top players. Then my brother and his wife showed up and we entered the area where the last station was. We were numbers three through five in that line. In this line I was able to get a debut ticket signed by Kody Funderburk and Sherry got two 2024 Topps #538 cards for me. Justin Topa signed a pair of 2024 Topps #US47 for me and a single for Sherry for me. I asked him if his knee was good and he said it was! Sherry and I then got a baseball signed by Marco Raya as did I and another baseball signed by Charlee Soto, again, same as I did. Somewhere along the line today, Sherry got DaShawn Keirsey to sign a generic card for me.
The three of us were gassed by the end of the last group of autographs. We had not eaten since before the parking ramp so we stopped and got some food. While sitting down to eat, Rob stopped by and we chatted at least a half hour. Rob was my original season ticket representative back in November 2000 and our relationship has turned from one of business to personal and he is a guy I can always count on in life and that means a lot to me. It is always awesome to spend time with him.
This was my sister-in-law’s first Twinsfest. She was awesome helping me out but the coolest thing was that, while my brother and I collected ink on cards and balls and tickets, she collected smiles. She took individual photos of each player and there were some really cool personalities. She loved that! I asked her what she though of it on a scale from 1-10 and she said 12! That made my day. I love sharing the great game of baseball with people and the last few years she has gotten into it and enjoys the game.
I only have a couple minor regrets about the weekend… Tony S was not able to set up his ticket table as they really limited vendors this year so I was unable to see him. Cami was off in college so she could not come but was with me in spirit and smiles. She loves Twinsfest almost as much as I do! And, I really wanted Walker Jenkins on a baseball but his line was too long, as was Byron Buxton’s, so I skipped that. That’s it. If that was my only regrets, I did ok!
Special thanks to my brother and his wife for all the help and company and companionship this weekend! Can’t wait for next year! Go Twins!