In a recent email from the Twins, I noticed that Brooks Lee and Bailey Ober were going to be at the Team Store at Target Field today. You could get an autograph of each if you bought something and everything but jerseys were half off. Work was really slow so I decided at the last minute to take an early and longer lunch break and head down. I got there just as the event was starting but sat in my car to let the crowd thin out. I went in and found a hat and bought that and got in the very short line for the players. I had purchased Brooks Lee’s first MLB putout baseball last season and thought maybe he would inscribe it at an event like this. I had an index card written out how I would like it inscribed. He completely ignored that request and signed it on the sweetspot with his name. I figured that might happen since he is a Fanatics athlete and they tend to only do extra things when getting paid. I moved on to Bailey. He is really cool and really tall. I told him that this coming season will be my 25th as a season ticket holder and he said that was really cool. I said “I bet you didn’t expect it to be this cold when you signed up for this!” He laughed and said he knew it would be colder but it was not much colder than Charlotte where he came from. He signed my ball on the sweetspot and thanked me for coming. While chatting with Bailey, Brooks commented that he remembered that play… “Matt Vierling. A step and put my glove up.” He was exactly correct. Pretty cool. It was a fun little quick kill and I won’t have to worry about these at Twinsfest.
A World Series MVP
Every once in a while I receive a package that blows me away. Today’s package did just that. I had mailed Rick Dempsey a pair of Baseball Digest magazines that he was on the cover of along with a donation. What he returned was pretty cool. He signed both magazines with “1983 World Series MVP” (World Series spelled out even instead of W.S.!) and three other goodies but the coolest thing was the note he wrote. Part of what he wrote was “I really enjoyed seeing this Digest again. it has a lot of names I haven’t read about in a long time and a lot of memories.” That was pretty neat. He also included signed cards from the two teams he won a world series with (Dodgers and Orioles) and a personalized postcard. It really made my day!
Twins Legends
Kent Hrbek and Tom Kelly. Two names you cannot hear and not think about the Twins and legends. Both have their numbers retired. Both were involved with the 1987 and 1991 World Champ teams. Today I received an envelope from each. Tom Kelly’s contained a ticket from 07.11.1975 from when the Twins played the Yankees at Shea Stadium. TK signed it with “Final MLB Game”. It is beautiful. Another gorgeous item was the new 2024 Allen & Ginter Kent Hrbek #347 card that Hrbie signed in perfect blue Sharpie. Both items are perfect for my collection!
Rolls Royce
At some point during the season, I mailed three Topps Now cards to Royce Lewis at Target Field. I did not write down when that was but it was a happy surprise when they showed up signed in my mailbox today. This was a good ol’ through the mail attempt that was rewarded to me from one of my favorite current Twins players. The cards I received are:
05.29.2023 Topps Now #359
08.28.2023 Topps Now #775
09.04.2023 Topps Now #814
Thanks Royce! Let’s have a healthy and amazing 2025!