After the last two day of Twinsfest, I had already decided I had accomplished way more than I ever thought and it was all about the kids and what they wanted to do. I did have one request though. I had to get Paul Molitor for a friend of mine who happened to get a Jesus Montero debut ticket signed for me at the Mariners Fanfest.
The three of us got to the Metrodome and got our wristbands. I asked the kids if they wanted to all win together or hedge our bets on the wristbands. I told them that if they won either Mauer or Morneau, they could keep them but if I won, I was going to get a card signed I needed for my sets. They decided to hedge our bets and each of the three of us got a different color for each player. As we were walking down to get in line, I heard my name and looked up and there was Mike (mudpuddlehuddle from Neshek’s website who I met the day before). Mike introduced me to nellanad (from Neshek’s website– funny how everyone refers to the person as their login names!) and he was kind enough to let us stand with them so we could get inside and out of the cold sooner.
We got inside the Metrodome and headed to Carew’s line. Caden wanted Rod Carew, Justin Morneau and Ben Revere on baseballs. Cami wanted Joe Mauer and as many as she could get on her Twinsfest 2012 baseball. I tried to talk Cami out of Carew on her ball and to get me a card but she wanted him on her baseball so that is what she got! I got a really cool 1972 Topps In Action card signed and Caden got his baseball and Cami got her ball signed. Carew side paneled Caden’s ball which was kind of a downer but oh well. Caden was ok with it. We then got Brad Radke on a couple cards and Cami’s baseball. While signing, I told Caden that Brad likes to fish and lives in Florida with a “You still live in Florida right?” and he said yes and asked if Caden liked to fish. We told him Caden’s cousin Will lives in Venice, FL and we visited him this last spring training and we had fun. Brad was really cool.
While in line for Carew and Radke, it turns out that the wristband Cami had on was chosen in the Morneau lottery! Caden’s face had a frown when he heard that because he was hoping his would win. Caden and Cami worked out a deal that Cami would get Justin’s autograph for Caden if he would give her Mauer if he got his color called. They decided that was a good plan so we got in line for Morneau. Justin asked the kids if they were having fun and signed the ball for her.
We wished him luck this season and headed to Corner #1.
At Corner #1, I paid for just two of us to get autographs as I was starting to see the bottom of my wallet. I had spent over $550 after 2 1/2 days and still had a few more stations to go! So at Corner #1 I had Caden get my autographs on cards and Cami got each guy on her baseball. Brian Raabe asked if they were having fun and signed two cards. Rick Stelmaszek signed a 1975 Topps card. When Gene Glynn saw his cards I had he said “Utica! I have not seen one of these in a while!” and took his time looking for just the right marker to sign them for me. We got to Al Newman and he signed three cards for us. I mentioned to him that Cami had seen him back in 2008 and he signed cards for her then. I think he thought that was cool.
Again, Corner #2 was short so we headed over there. I had just a card for Rene Tosoni and Cami was going to get the other two on her ball. When we got to Tosoni, Caden gave him my card and he signed it. Cami handed him her ball and he signed it for her and then she got Josh Willingham and Nick Blackburn on it. I told Josh that I read a really nice article online about his charity efforts at his home state of Alabama. He seemed pleased to hear that and said he would have to look for it and check it out.
We then heard that the wristband color for Joe Mauer was the color Cami had so with Caden getting Justin Morneau on a ball, Cami could get Mauer and both would be really happy. We headed up for Joe and when we got in there, I told Caden to tell Joe what he got for Christmas. He told him MLB 2011 The Show (the “Well Played Mauer” commercials) and Joe said “Very nice!” I then told Joe that Caden really beats me up when we play and he replied that he would probably beat him too! Caden just smiled.
We then knew we had to get in line for Paul Molitor so we headed there. Once we were up there, I handed Paul Greg’s card (1987 Topps Brewers Team Card already signed by two) and Paul signed it and said “Oh yeah. You can see a sliver of my face in there.” I asked him if he signed many of those and he said not too many and that he does not see that card that often. I thought that was cool. It turned out really nice and I was pleased that I was able to help out Greg. Terry Steinbach then signed a photo for Cami.
Caden really wanted Ben Revere on a ball so we headed over to that line. It was Jamey Carroll and Ben Revere together. I was down to hardly any cash and one last new baseball. Cami had gotten cookies before we got to Ben and Jamey so I decided I would handle the baseballs for the kids so they did not grease and chocolate them up. I got to Ben and gave him a ball and asked him to put “Gibby Award” on it and he did. Ben won a Gibby Award for his phenomenal catch in center field. For Caden, it was mission accomplished on the day! Jamey signed Cami’s ball and asked her what kind of cookies she was eating. She offered him one and he said no thank you. He looked at me and said “She look’s happy. A happy kid is a happy dad!” That was pretty funny.
Now I was down to about $8 in my wallet so we walked down to the field and the kids tried a couple of the games and Cami got a balloon figure thing and we headed home.
This years’ Twinsfest was awesome. I have not had a Twinsfest this good since the early 2000s. I am already looking forward to Twinsfest 2013!