What a fun way to start the weekend! I left work and headed home to get Cami as she was going to the Twins vs Royals game with me tonight. She was really looking forward to it as was I. We got to the ballpark and she had it all lined up what we were going to do on the Plaza before the game. First, she wanted to jump on the TC inflatable bouncy thing. Then it was off to get an ice cream cone painted on her cheek (her ‘tat’-short for tattoo- as she called it) and then she wanted to spin the wheel to see if she could win a ‘poster for daddy and his collection’. She ended up spinning and winning a voucher for free Twins tickets. She wanted a book instead and the lady was kind enough to let her choose a book instead of the tickets as we have season tickets already. Then it was off to go inside and watch batting practice.
During my lunchtime at work I picked up a couple of the latest issues of Sports Illustrated with Zach Grienke on the cover ‘just in case’. Cami and I walked in and looked around for Grienke. We found him throwing between starts in the visitor’s bullpen. We sat there and when he was done, he looked at me and I asked him if he would sign. He did not say a word or anything and proceeded to change from his cleats to his running shoes and started doing sprints along the warning track. He stayed out shagging fly balls until the Royals were done with batting practice. As he was running in, I yelled and asked him if he could take a moment to sign my magazine. He turned from his path of running to the dugout and came right to me. He did not say a word or make eye contact but he signed my magazine. I was so excited. Cami was really excited too and asked me if I would ask him to sign her book (the one she got from spinning the wheel on the Plaza). I told her to ask him and she went up to him and he signed it for her and she said thank you. She came back jumping up and down with excitement. During the entire game, she wanted me to take the book out so she could look at it, then put it away and then get it out and over and over. Zach will never know how excited he made Cami and I but it was a gesture that neither of us will forget. In fact, Cami was so excited that shortly after getting the autographs the guy with the wheelbarrow full of dirt came out of the bullpen area and Cami yelled “Hi dirt guy!” to which he, and everyone around us, smiled. This game was the first one for Joe Mauer after his rehab stint after spring training. As a result, Cami and I gave him a standing ovation before his first at bat. It turned out that we were on tv as I got a couple calls from friends and family who saw us! What could be better? Well, Joe deposited a pitch in that first at bat into the lower left field seats and the Twins won the game!
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Adventures in Autograph Collecting