Today is always a bittersweet day. The final day of Twinsfest is exciting because it is Twinsfest but you know it is the last day. Both kids headed down with me today. Caden hung out with his friends for most of the day and Cami hung out with me for almost the entire day except when she went through a few lines for herself. I used today to finish off some players and to talk with a few friends. We arrived at Target Field around 7:30 this morning for the 9am opening. We went to the Brian Dozier line right away and I was able to knock off a couple Dozier autographs I needed. Then Caden took off with his friends while Cami and I walked to other lines. The next stop for us was Byron Buxton in the Twins Wives line. We each got a card signed. Cami went off to another couple lines while I got in line for Joe Mauer at the Twins Wives line. I had to wait a couple hours for that line to start but Cami was able to get through a pair of lines and got me a few items. When she arrived back the first words out of her mouth were “Well that was embarrassing!” I asked her what she meant. When she gave Aaron Slegers his debut ticket and asked him to inscribe the ticket ML Debut dated August 16, 2017 he said his debut was on August 17, 2017 and did not inscribe it. I told Cami that we were both right. His debut WAS on the 17th but it was the make up from the night before that was rained out so the correct ticket was the 16th. Oh well. It is signed. He probably thought she was crazy. We got through the Mauer line at the Twins Wives line and headed to the service level where we each went through a couple different lines. I headed to the Gonsalves/Mejia/Berrios line and Cami went to the Enns/Chargois/Rooker line. Once I finished the line I was in I headed to the Enns/Chargois/Rooker line and ended up running into Caden who was in that line too. After that I went and spent a fun time chatting with my friend Tony S and his son Spencer. Caden and Cami ran around to a couple more lines and we called it a day. The final day’s totals for me are (including items Caden and Cami got for me but not including things they got for themselves):
Brian Dozier: 06/01/2017 Topps Now
Joe Mauer: 06/01/2017 Topps Now, 2008 Topps 287
JT Chargois: 2 @ 2013 Bowman Chrome BCP137
Alalberto Mejia: 2017 Topps Now Wild Card, 2017 Topps Heritage 550
Byron Buxton: 11/10/2017 Topps Now, 2017 Wild Card Topps Now
Eddie Rosario: 09/13/2017 Topps Now
Jose Berrios: 2017 Wild Card Topps Now, 2017 Topps Heritage 566
Royce Lewis: OMLB
John Curtiss: 2 @ 2015 Choice
Travis Blankenhorn: 2016Bowman Chrome BCP185
Stephen Gonsalves: 2017 Bowman BP44, 2017 Topps Minors 191, 2014 Bowman BDPP49
Gene Glynn: 2 @ Minor League team issues
Garvin Alston: 1997 Fleer 582
Brent Rooker: OMLB, OMLB w/”2017 1st Round Pick”
Alex Kirilloff: OMLB
Fernando Rodney: Debut ticket
Dietrich Enns: 3 @ Debut ticket with “MLB Debut”
Lewis Thorpe: 2 @ 2014 Bowman BP32 (1 smudged)
Max Kepler: OMLB
Category: Caden
Twinsfest 2018 – Day 2
Today started around 7am when Caden and I arrived at Target Field. We decided to start with the Dozier/Buxton/Kaat line which started at 10:45. I ended up being number eighteen in line. Caden went back around the thirties to be with his buddies who were also there. I place a pair of cards down to Dozier and told him to pick one. He signed them both and looked at me and said “I won’t tell if you don’t tell” as they are really supposed to sign just one. From there I headed to the Gibson/Romero/Adrianza line. After that, I went right back in line at the same autograph station and got Granite/Gonsalves/Wade. From there I headed to Kyle Gibson in the Twins Wives line. I went through that line twice to finish all my Gibson needs. Caden and I headed to the Kepler/Rogers/Garver line and then back to get more Kepler autographs in the Twins Wives line. I finished off the day with Kirilloff/Jay/Rooker line. It was a fun day and Caden hung out with his old man for a lot of it. We headed home to start getting ready for our final day tomorrow. The items I got signed were (including items Caden got for me but not including things he got for himself):
Brian Dozier: Wild Card Topps Now, 10/03/2017 Topps Now, 2017 Allen & Ginter 77
Byron Buxton: 10/03/2017 Topps Now, 09/14/2017 Topps Now
Max Kepler: 07/02/2016 Topps Now, 2017 Road To Opening Day Topps Now, 2017 Allen & Ginter 300, 2017 Topps Heritage 313, 2016 Topps Heritage 717
Ryan Pressly: 2017 Topps 568
Alan Busenitz: Topps Now Wild Card
Zack Granite: OMLB, debut ticket with “ML Debut”
Kyle Gibson: 2015 Gypsy Queen 127, 2016 Topps 561, 2017 Road To Opening Day Topps Now
Fernando Romero: 2017 Topps Heritage Minor 107, 2017 Topps Minors 149 (streaked), 2017 Bowman BD134
Ehire Adrianza: 2014 Topps US105, 2009 Bowman BP16 (smudged)
Stephen Gonzalves: 2017 Topps Minors 191, 2017 Bowman BP44, 2017 Topps Heritage Minors 2
Lamonte Wade: Generic card
Brent Rooker: 2018 Bowman BD122, 2017 Bowman RV-MIN
Tyler Jay: 2017 Topps Minors 43, 2017 Topps Heritage Minors 158, 2017 Bowman BP114
Zach Duke: 2015 Topps US178
Alex Kirilloff: OMLB
The Buck Stopped Here
Byron Buxton made an appearance today at the grand opening of Tria in Woodbury. Since it was so close I decided to go there with the kids. We got there around 10am which was about a half hour before he was to start signing. We were told we were somewhere in the 200 range of people lined up. The line went really slow but it was because they took photos of each person with Byron before he signed their autographs. It was quite unique how they did it and I thought it was cool. We got up to Byron around 11am and Cami went first for her photo. Caden and I then joined her and we got a photo of the four of us. Byron then signed a card for Caden and a pair of photos for Cami and I. Cami and I then left and Caden stayed back with a couple of his buddies as they were going to the Twins parking lot for pregame and then go to the game. Cami and I went home for a little bit and then headed to the Twins game. We ran in to Caden and his buddies in the Metropolitan Club and Caden said he got Jason Castro and Bartolo Colon as they entered the parking lot. Pretty fun day for all of us!
A Fair Time
Today was the first day of the MN State Fair for me. I took the kids along and we had a good time. It worked out that Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario were there and we got a few autographs from both of them. The kids got me a couple cards I needed as well as items for their own collections. The cards I ended up with were:
Byron Buxton- 2017 Topps Now Road To Opening Day
Byron Buxton- 2017 Topps Now 08.18.2017 13.85 Seconds Inside the Park HR
Byron Buxton- 2017 Allen & Ginter #33
Byron Buxton- 2017 Topps #590- Triplet of Twins card that was already signed by Eduardo Escobar (now it just needs Sano)
Eddie Rosario- 2017 Topps Now Road To Opening Day
Eddie Rosario- 2017 Topps Now 06.13.2017- 3 HR Game
Eddie Rosario- 2017 Topps Now 06.13.2017- Franchise Record 28 Hits
Eddie Rosario- 2017 Topps Heritage #80
Eddie Rosario- 2017 Topps #304- Team card already signed by Eduardo Escobar
Cami got a couple photos signed by Buxton and Caden got a Buxton card for his collection.
We all had a great day at the Fair but to get to meet Twins players makes it so much more fun!