I reached out to Mark Cooper via SCN (psugator1 on SCN) when he posted he had some success at Twins spring training getting a couple autographs. I asked which he got and it turned out that he got a Byron Buxton card signed that I need. I bought it and it showed up today. I added the 2019 Allen & Ginter #263 to my collection!
A #1 Pick!
Paul Skenes was the number one overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft. Legends Memorablia/Major League Alumni Marketing announced a signing with him so I bought a ball. This is probably the best way to get an item as it has the MLB hologram on it and you are acquiring it right from the source. My ball arrived today and is a great addition to the collection!
A Triple Play
When I saw a Facebook post by John Wilkey showing a bunch of Twins cards, I was skeptical because in just about every post like this I have every Twins card listed. This time I was excited to find the following:
2020 Topps Heritage #74 Lewis Thorpe
2020 Topps #US-180 Ben Rortvedt
2019 Bowman Paper Matt Wallner #BD6
I did not need the Wallner for my set but since it was a nicely signed 1st Bowman card, I picked it up too.
What is cool about the other two is that they are the last two I needed for each of the two players!
A Walk-Off Winner!
August 6, 2023. This was the date of the last Twins game Cami and I attended before sending her off to college. We had a fantastic time at the game and the ending really was a nice send off for her to remember until she came back home after her first school year in Phoenix ends in May, 2024. The game was tied going into the ninth inning. The Twins were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks which was cool since Cami was going to go to college at ASU in a week so we were cheering for a good game. They did not disappoint. In the top of the ninth Christian Walker hit a solo home run off Caleb Theilbar to take the lead. That lead did not last long! The first batter for the Twins in the bottom of the ninth was Max Kepler and he delivered a solo home run of his own to re-tie the game at three runs apiece. After a walk to Jorge Polanco, hometown player Matt Wallner came up jacked a walk-off home run to right center!
Cory Provus, as usual, had an awesome call of the homer. I sent a ball to him and asked him to write his call on it to commemorate Wallner’s walk-off. I received that beautiful baseball today along with a note on the back of his business card apologizing for the delay.