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.
Category: Caden
An Awesome Day!
Today was an awesome day. It started with Cami and I heading to Ridgedale Mall where Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas were signing autographs at Fan HQ. I had purchased my tickets a while ago which was great because they sold out. Fan HQ did a great job because English is not their primary language and inscriptions were offered. What they did was wrote down the inscription on index cards so you could give them to the player so they knew what to write. We got to Kennys first. He is a big strong man! I handed him a ticket from his ML Debut game and the index card with the inscription and he signed it. Then it was a baseball card for Cami. Then it was a baseball and then a final ticket from his first home run game with inscription. Cami then said “Gracias!” and Kennys looked up and his eyes got real big and went “OOOOooooooOOOOOooooo!” and smiled as he was surprised Cami knew (a little) Spanish. That was Cami’s most favorite moment of the whole day. We then went to Danny and got him on a ball and a card for Caden and lastly a ticket from his first home run game with inscription. Shaun H did a great job running the signing at Fan HQ. Cami and I walked away with smiles from ear to ear and an awesome memory.
Once we got home and got the mail I found a couple packages of signed stuff. The first was an envelope I sent in to a Gregory Polonco signing in Pittsburgh through 1st and Goal Sports. In it was a ticket signed by Polonco with MLB Debut on it. It looks phenomenal.
The last package I opened was from my friend Paul C in Florida. He has been working the Instructional Leagues for me down there and mailed the following blue ink sweetspot baseballs from the Rays prospects:
Taylor Guerrieri with “2011 1st Rd”
Andrew Toles
Kean Wong with “Go Rays!!”
Willy Adames with “Go Rays!!”
Casey Gillaspie
Another great batch of baseballs from Paul! He texted me today and told me he already got me three autographs from my current want list I sent him!
All in all it was an AWESOME day of adding items to the autograph collection!
2014 All Star Fanfest Day 3
Today was an awesome day. We got up early and met up with Cayden’s family and drove to the Convention Center for a day of fun. We got there well before the gates opened so that we would be sure to get the Tony Oliva bobblehead they were giving to the first 1000 people through the doors. We knew that Andrew McCutchen was going to be there today but was not scheduled to sign autographs but was going to be at the Skills Diamond. The event happened to be a parent/child ballgame with a rubber wiffle ball. From the previous time Cami partook in the clinic, I knew we needed to sign up right away so we headed to get our waiver stamp and sign up for McCutchen’s time slot. I had absolutely no interest in playing the game but for each kid, they needed a parent to sign up for the parent side. So, for Cami’s sake, I signed up. Everyone ran around until it was time to show up for the clinic. I was soooo nervous. I have not swung a bat in 15 years or so! The kids batted first with Cami being the second batter. She ripped the ball and McCutchen told her “Wooooo! You have a nice swing!”. When it was my turn to bat, I swung on the first pitch Cutch threw me and popped out to second base. Cami ripped a single in her second at bat. When it was done, Andrew signed autographs for the kids. Cami got a baseball signed by McCutchen and a memory of being on his team she will not forget.
We then headed to the MLB tv booth where John Smoltz was signing autographs and taking pictures with people. The line was long the the person running it came up to Cami and asked who she was with. I thought it was strange but Cami responded “Dad, my mom and my brother.” She then cut the line off right after us. It was really cool. Caden was running around and we could not get a hold of him so Cayden took his place. We got three baseballs and a Sports Illustrated signed by Smoltz. He could not have been nicer.
We walked around a little more and Cami made a commercial for Fox Sports North. A little while later we called it a day and headed to Target Field for the Home Run Derby.
We did not get any more autographs the rest of the All Star Week but kind of chilled the final day. We got to the Red Carpet Parade and watched all the players come down the parade and then went to the All Star Game. Some of the players we saw were Robinson Cano, Yu Darvish, Aroldis Chapman, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Matheny, Andrew McCutchen, Yasiel Puig, Giancarlo Stanton, Pat Neshek, Glen Perkins and Kurt Suzuki. Mike Trout tossed Cami a mini foam ball with “Troutstanding” on it. One of the funnier things was when Cayden’s brother Josh yelled to Clint Hurdle to “Raise the Jolly Roger!”. Clint yelled back “Who said ‘Raise the Jolly Rancher?'” I don’t know if he was kidding or not but it was pretty funny.
The All Star Game was awesome. Our seat mates Heidi & Bob got to take the big flag out on the field before the game. To see Derek Jeter make his final appearance and the game end up with the Twins battery of Glen Perkins and Kurt Suzuki was really special. The entire All Star week was awesome and gave us memories we will never forget.
2014 All Star Fanfest Day 1
Wow! What a fun day! Today started with Caden, Cami and I picking up Caden’s friend Cayden and heading to the Minneapolis Convention Center for the 2014 All Star Fanfest. We got there at 7:30am and were about number 15 or so in line. When we entered, the kids each got a mini bobblehead of TC, the Twins mascot. We then walked around to get an idea how things were laid out. We then got in the line for Juan Berenguer’s autograph. Cami got him on a mini bat (a Fanfest theme of hers) and Caden and I got him on a card. He inscribed “Senor Smoke” on mine as requested. Then we went to Tim Laudner‘s line and again, Cami got him on her bat and Caden and I on cards. We then got Corey Koskie’s autograph on each of the same three things (bat and cards). After this we got Frank Quilici. Cami got him to sign her mini bat and he signed a card for me. Frank saw I had my phone out and invited Cami around the table to take a picture. He is ALWAYS one of the nicest people to meet. People always talk about how nice Brooks Robinson and Harmon Killebrew are/were to fans. To me, Frank is right up there with those two guys. He is truly a nice man! Later we got Kevin Tapani on the same items. I spotted Scott Leius walking around and Cami asked if he would sign her mini bat. With a wink and a smile he nodded yes and signed it for her. That was pretty nice. Also, at some point during the day Caden and Cami was able to get Jack Morris for their collections.
In between all this we made Pepsi Can Coolers with our pictures on them, played Home Run Derby and fielded grounders in the activities areas and checked out a whole bunch of stuff. Cami made the first of two Topps baseball cards with her picture on it. Caden did a pitch speed contest and hit 59 mph which was good enough for third place in the kids age group. Cami also did a diamond clinic and was featured on the big screen! Cami did the Under Armour station where she ran, jumped for a ball and swung a bat and each station was photographed and she got a picture at the end of doing it.
We all stayed the entire time… from the opening moment to when they announced they were closing up shop for the day. We did not want the day to end!