Graphin’ With Kevin

Today I headed to the Dome with the one goal of getting my 2007 Allen & Ginter card signed by Torii Hunter.  I was at the Dome early and got a spot right above the Angels’ dugout.  I waited until after batting practice was over and he started signing at the end of the dugout.  I did not think he was going to keep coming down to where I was more in the middle but he did.  I handed him my A&G card and told him how my son will not let me throw out his Hunter jersey.  He looked at me and said “He won’t LET YOU?” in a way to say why do you want to?  I told him it was faded and too small but he says Torii is his man.  Torii laughed and said “You are raising that boy right!”  I asked him if he would sign my 07 Topps Heritage card of his and he said he would.  I ended up getting two Torii cards signed.  That was fun!

This morning was an attempt to get Joe Nathan’s autograph on a photo.  He was appearing at the local AAA headquarters in St Louis Park to sign autographs.  Greg N from Seattle was in town visiting family.  I met Greg online via SportsCollectors.net.  He helped me get some Carlos Silva cards signed I needed for a couple Twins sets I was working on.  I thought it would be cool to get him and hang out for the day trying to get autographs.  Our goal was to start at Nathan and then head to get Cuddyer in Elk River.  There were more people at Nathan’s appearance than I estimated but we waited.  Greg got a nice sweetspot ball signed and I got my photo signed.  He then headed up towards Elk River in hopes of getting both.  It was not meant to be as time ran out on us while on our way.  We headed back towards St Paul to drop Greg off and I headed home.  I did get my team celebration photo signed though and it looks cool.

Today was the 2009 Twins Autograph Party.  It is an annual tradition that I have been to since around 1994.  While the crowds are bigger now, the players are a lot better.  I remember the early years when you could get through every line and make a team signed baseball there were so few people there.  This year, much like last year, was a zoo.
I met my buddy Shane around 7:30 am.  He was there around 6:30 or so.  We met in the Justin Morneau line.  We waited in the sun (I got a real nice burn around my neck and ears) until the event started.  I finally finished my M&M Boys photo.  It is the two of them high fiving after a Morneau home run.  Joe Vavra (the hitting coach) was at the station with Justin.  He is pictured on my 16×20 celebration and he signed by his head on the photo.
Then we headed to the next station where Delmon Young, Nick Blackburn and Jose Morales were at.  I got a card signed by Blackburn and Morales and (finally) a Delmon Young batting glove.  Shane helped me out and got a 16×20 signed by Young and another signed by Blackburn.  The Blackburn photo was a meeting at the mound with the pitching coach.  When he saw the photo he said “That could not have been good!”  That was funny.
Then it was off to the Jason Kubel, Brian Buscher and Steve Liddle.  I got Buscher on the celebration 16×20.  When I got to Kubel, I told him that I donated my other ticket from the game when he hit for the cycle to the Hall of Fame and asked if he would write cycle on the ticket.  He did.  It turned out to be one of the coolest things I got signed today.
That pretty much did it for the active players.  I ended up getting in the Dan Gladden, Frank Quilici and Juan Berenguer line while Shane wanted to get a Corey Koskie ball signed.  I got Dan and Frank on cards and Juan signed a baseball for me that the guy in front of me wanted signed (I helped him out because I did not have anything for Juan).  Shane was able to get a Blyleven card signed for me while he was in the Koskie line.
I then headed to the station with Julio Becquer, Dick Stigman and Tony Oliva.  I got each on a baseball card with Oliva on his rookie card.
All in all it was a fun time and I did ok.  I had a lot of fun hanging out with my buddy Shane and appreciate all the help he gave me.  We ended up staying for the game.  I did have to leave early to pick the kids up (who spent the weekend with my mom and dad and then my brother’s family) but while we were there, we spoke all in baseball clichés.  That was hilarious!

Today Tony Oliva was signing autographs at an appearance at Gladstone’s Window and Door in Maplewood, MN.  I told my buddy Russ that I would help him with the roofing of his house but I would not go up on his roof.  Sounds funny but there was no way he was getting me up on the roof!  The perfect job for me was cleanup!  Russ’ wife and I cleaned up all the old shingles they dumped on the ground while stripping them off.  It worked out well for me and still provided assistance to them.  On my way to his house, I stopped off to get Tony’s autograph.  I had a heck of a time finding the place because it was not in my GPS.  I was able to pull up their website on my cell phone but it did not have a map or directions.  Just the address.  I pulled over and got a map with the address on Mapquest on my cell phone and got to the signing with about 15 minutes to spare.  I got Tony to sign three baseball cards for me.