Minnesota Twins and TTM (Autographs Through the Mail)

I went to the Twins game on Wed. April 17^th via my employer. We were up on the Budweiser Roof Deck. Free Twins baseball, free food, and interesting people. I thought it would be a good time. Instead it was cold, raining, and the game was postponed at 7 just minutes before it was supposed to start.

The Twins themselves are about where I thought they would be. Joe Mauer is a superstar, but the rest of the team is ordinary.

I am more intrigued with minor prospects Bryon Buxton, Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia, Kyle Gibson, Alex Meyer, Eddie Rosario, Trevor May, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, and Jose Berrios. All have the look of stars with Buxton, Sano, Arcia, Rosario, and Meyer looking like potential superstars.

I now have signed baseball cards from 466 current and former Minnesota Twins. I also have signed cards from all the top prospects except for Buxton. I have signed cards from all 25 current Twins including Aaron Hicks, Pedro Hernandez, and Eduardo Escobar all of three which I got as minor leaguers.

Since my last post here is what I have gotten via TTM (names highlighted in bold are first-time successes).

Current Twins

Wilkin Ramirez

Ryan Pressly

Samuel Deduno

Liam Hendriks

Oswaldo Arcia – Please to get a response for the first time in 3 years from this future All-Star

Twins Minor Leaguers

Michael Tonkin

Caleb Theilbar

Kyle Gibson

Alex Meyer

Trevor May

Mason Melotakis

Daniel Santana

Former Twins

Al Worthington

Matt Guerrier

Ron Washington

George Mittewald

Eric Soderholm

Bob Gorinski

Orlando Merced

Damian Miller

Gary Serum

Paul Thormosgard

Jeff Cirillo

John Smiley

Tom Burgmeier

Kevin Campbell  

Riccardo Ingram

Steve Brye

Pat Neshek

Phil Nevin

John Butcher – It only 4 years, 1 month, and 12 days

 

Private Signings via Chris Potter Sports

Steve Bedrosian

Bill Singer

In – Person signing at the SportsNewsShow.com show

Willie Banks – Willie was really friendly, and talked with people for several minutes which made spending the money to get his autograph more worthwhile.

My thanks for all the players who responded via TTM!

Twinsfest 2013

On Friday the 25^th I went to Twinsfest for the 10^th straight year. This is the last year Twinsfest will be held at the Metrodome as the dome will be demolished after the end of the 2013 Vikings season, so they can build a new Vikings stadium there. I was planning on going on Friday and Sunday, but made only Friday as the weather and the health of my parents dog prevented me from getting there on Sunday.

Despite only getting to go one day, I got different 34 guys which is my best one day total at Twinsfest and only second all-time behind the 36 guys I got last year over a span of two days.

I had hoped to get Twins Minor League Player of the Year Oswaldo Arcia, but he was a late scratch because he got hit in the head with a baseball while playing in his native Venezuela. Instead I got to meet long-time local sportscaster Mark Rosen who was there hawking his new book.

A wrist band drawing was held again this year to determine who got Joe Mauer and / or Justin Morneau autographs, and for the second year in the row I won the Morneau and lost the Mauer drawing.

I have never had a lot of success getting Mauer at Twinsfest. I got him on ball in 2006 and a card in 2008. I got cutoff in his line in 2009, 2010, and 2011 (despite waiting 3 hours line BEFORE the event even opened in 2010 & 2011). However, I did see Joe walking in the concourse with Rod Carew later in the night and shouted a “Hi Joe, Hi Rod” and got a wave and a greeting back from Joe.

Despite missing out of Mauer and Arcia, I consider my visit to Twinsfest a success. Here is a list of all the players I got with a few notes attached.

Current Twins

Justin Morneau

Vance Worley – told me about how he got his nickname “Vanimal”

Ryan Doumit – has changed uniform number to 18, and is signing all items with #18

Kevin Correia

Jamey Carroll

Mike Pelfrey – seemed very happy to be here, very engaging with fans

Josh Roenicke

Alex Burnett

Joe Benson – was not friendly last year, very engaging this year

Brian Dozier – great looking autograph

Scott Diamond

Jared Burton – lousy looking autograph

Darin Mastroianni

Ron Gardenhire (2 cards) - fearing he will fired soon, I got signed all his cards I wanted

Glen Perkins (card, photo) - was signing with Gardy, so I got 2 autos from him

Anthony Swarzak

Tim Wood – no-one seem to know who he was, but I knew

Casey Fien - praised the look of the card I had made of him

P.J. Walters

Drew Butera - also praised the look of the card I had made of him, very friendly

Liam Hendriks – very friendly and engaging with everyone loving his Aussie accent

Tyler Robertson

Cole DeVries – He liked the homemade card I had him, except the picture was from a game he gotten shelled in. He thought that funny. Very friendly guy.

Bobby Cuellar

Future Twins

(The free minor league station was continuously busy, but I got 4 guys)

Alex Meyer – the Twins top pitching prospect seemed pretty friendly.

Trevor May

Nate Hanson

Austin Malinowski

Former Twins

(This year’s list of former Twins was pretty weak, but I got 5 guys)

Ron Coomer

Brian Raabe

Tom Quinlan – played only 4 games as Twins, never got a hit with them, and would not sign a card for me through the mail. The only reason he was there is that he is from Minnesota and he was a big-time high school hockey and baseball player.

Bert Blyleven & Dan Gladden – I found them as I was leaving the event. They were just sitting there with no line. I decided to have them sign some cards. Blyleven look up at me and said “What took you so long?” I said “I was getting Alex Meyer’s autograph” Bert responded “Alex Meyer!?” We then had a nice conversation about Alex and his future with the Twins. Bert even signed my card in blue and did personalize it, two things he rarely does.

The General Manager

I ran into Twins General Manager Terry Ryan the field, and he signed a card I had made of him. Nice man. Hopefully he can get the Twins back to their winning ways soon.

Update on my current and former Twins autograph baseball card collection.

I got returns from former Twins Adam Everett, Kevin Campbell, and John Butcher in January. Add them in with the guy got at Twinsfest that I did not have (Jared Burton, P.J. Walters, Tom Quinlan, Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Correia, and Vance Worley), and I am up to signed cards from 451 different Twins.

Final Thoughts

I always loved going to Twinsfest at the Metrodome, and will take away a lot of good memories. I hope the find somewhere nice to host Twinsfest 2014 which I am already looking forward too.

Twins Autograph Collection

With returns from Carl Willis, Rich Robertson, Bobby Darwin, Camilo Pascual, Matt Walbeck,Frank Quilici, David West, and Chris Parmelee, my autographed baseball card collection of current and former Minnesota Twins continues to grow. I have 437 different players, and roughly 722 total signed cards.

7 of those cards were of Ben Revere, who was a great signer thru the mail. I was sure that I would soon have more signed Ben Revere cards than any other Twin (I have 10 signed Alexi Casilla cards). Then the Twins went out and traded Revere.

I like the pitchers (Alex Meyer, Vance Worley, and Trevor May) they got in return for Revere, and Denard Span - who had been traded earlier in the offseason. We need young, power arms to help solidify our starting pitching which has been the worst in baseball. I also like that Worley has a cool nickname “Vanimal” and that he has a history of signing cards through the mail (TTM)

I am sure Worley will be at Twinsfest along with candidates to replace Span / Revere in center field – Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson, and Darin Mastroianni. Hicks and Benson don’t sign through the mail, but I got both of the at fee minor league table the last couple of years. Mastroianni signed 4 cards for me at an appearance at the Twins Pro Shop in Roseville. Those cards look a fair bit different than the one he “supposedly” signed for me though the mail.

The signing of free agent pitchers Kevin Corriea, Rich Harden, and Mike Pelfrey (none of whom signs thru the mail) do not inspired me as they don’t have power arms. Hopefully the Twins can do more to improve the team for 2013; otherwise they should go into total rebuilding mode and trade Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau.

Christian Ponder

Something happened to me that is never happened to me before, and likely will not happen again. I was the first person in line at an autograph signing. It happened on 11/30 at a Schneiderman’s Furniture store where Vikings QB Christian Ponder was appearing.

I missed the previous signings he had done at the other Schneinderman’s locations, so I got there extra early – like 3 ½ hours early. Luckily, they let me sit in one of their recliners while I waited. Easily, the most comfortable autograph signing I have ever been at.

My Trip to Nashville

In 2001 I took a trip to Nashville where I was going to visit the Grand Ole and the Country Music Hall of Fame. My first day there I became seriously ill, and ended up in the ER. I was forced to go back home the next day without seeing anything. To say I was not happy was an understatement.

 

I always wanted to go back, and this spring I got a call from my brother telling while attending a charity function hosted by his friend Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak, he’d won a tour of the Titans training facility along free tickets and field passes to a Titans game. Needless to say I was elated with he invited me to join him.

 

I flew down to Nashville with my dad on Friday the 26^th. That night we attend the Grand Ole Opry. As a huge fan of country music I was thrilled to finally get to visit the Opry. John Conlee, Eric Paslay, Jean Shepherd , Little Jimmy Dickens, Jesse McReynolds, Steel Magnolia, George Hamliton IV, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Jimmy Wayne, Riders in the Sky, Ralph Stanley, Joe Diffie were the acts playing that night. All of the acts were great, but Mr. Dickens was the hit of the night with several hilarious jokes.

Here are a few of pictures of my Opry visit:

                                           Little Jimmy Dickens

                                           Steel Magnolia

                                           Sweethearts of the Rodeo

                                          Joe Diffie

Saturday morning we visited the Tennessee Titans practice facility where we got a tour of the facility and watched practice. Afterwards I got a chance to meet Coach Mike Munchak. Coach Munchak and my brother’s other friend Bruce Matthews have always been gracious enough to get me tickets when their teams have played against the Minnesota Vikings. I met Mr. Matthews at this year’s Viking – Titans game, but had never met Coach Munchak before. He was a gracious man, tolerating my endless babbling about how great it was to meet him, and thanking him for all the past tickets he had gotten me.

Here is a picture of Coach Munchak and me:

I also got to me star Titans running back Chris Johnson, and former Viking and 5x All-Pro offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson. Mr. Hutchinson was a great person, and I really enjoyed meeting him.

                                           Chris Johnson and me

                                           Steve Hutchinson and me

Coach Munchak, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Hutchinson all autographed the free Tennessee Titans yearbook I had received as part of my tour. Coach Munchak also autographed a football card I brought along for him to sign.

After our enjoyable trip to the Titans practice facility, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. As a country music fan, it was a pleasure to see all the displays featuring the greats of country music.

Sunday we went to the Titans – Cols game. We were able to go on the field before the game. I was able to do the same at the Titans – Viking game up here, but I must say it was more enjoyable in the open air of LP Field. I prefer open air stadiums to domes, it just seems more real to me somehow.

The game featured the Colts young star quarterback Andrew Luck who as fate would have it, played high school football with my nephew. I remember back when Andrew was a sophomore and junior in high school having seen him play and thinking this kid is pretty good. He is indeed as the Titans found out when he rally the Colts to a win. To bad, I was rooting for the Titans.

Titans lost aside, it was great trip, and helped me purge that bad memory from 2001. Thanks to my brother and Coach Munchak for making the trip possible!
                                    

Brian Dozier Comes Through

Today's mail brought 3 signed homemade baseball cards from current, former, and future Minnesota Twin Brian Dozier. Dozier was the Twins starting shortstop for a good part of 2012 till he was replaced by Pedro Florimon. There is a lot of talk of Florimon starting at short in 2013 with Dozier playing either second or third. Time will tell how that turns out.

In my previous post I reported I was 10 out of 25 sending to current, or at least current at the time, Twins. Now I am 11 out of 25. Thanks to Brian Dozier for taking the time to sign my cards.

Update on My Autographed Twins Card Collection

I am now up to 431 signed baseball cards from current and former Minnesota Twins. I need only 227 players and I will have them all.

On September 8^th I went to the Festival Foods in Brooklyn Park where Josh Willingham and Drew Butera were signing autographs for free. How popular is Josh Willingham now? I got his autograph at Twinsfest this year, and the line was not bad. On 9/8 I showed up 2 hours early and was the 115^th person in line. The line was equally long behind me by the time they started signing. I guess hitting 30+ home runs makes you popular.

In my August 12^th post I stated I was 3 out of12 with current Twins, but was not 100% correct. The Twins have turned over their roster so much that some guys I sent to when they were current Twins are now former Twins. So I am actually 10 out of 25. Below are players who were current Twins when I sent to them: 

Jamey Carroll - signed

Chris Parmelee - signed

Cole De Vries - signed

Casey Fien - signed

Darin Mastroianni - signed

Clete Thomas - signed

Pedro Florimon - signed

Scott Diamond - signed

Rene Rivera – signed (added a signed card of his own)

Matt Carson - signed

Ryan Doumit

Carl Pavano

Jared Burton

Alexi Casilla

Liam Hendriks

Brian Dozier

P. J. Walters

Sameul Deduno

Luis Perdomo

Esmerling Vasquez

Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Jason Marquis

Sean Burroughs

Eric Komatsu

Matt Maloney

I need a signed card of Burton, Walters, Deduno, Perdomo, Vasquez, Nishioka, Burroughs, Komatsu, and Maloney, so I hope they come through, but at the moment it is not looking good.

I have Doumit, Pavano, Casilla, Hendriks, Dozier, and Marquis, but sent them different cards in hopes they would sign. All these guys have a good history of signing, so we will see if they come through.

I was 10 out of 20 on Twins minor leaguers this year. Below are my results:

Chris Herrmann - signed

Angel Morales - signed

Travis Harrison - signed

Levi Michael - signed

Evan Bigley - signed

Pedro Hernandez - signed

Eduardo Escobar - signed

Jose Berrios - signed

Dereck Rodriguez - signed

Daniel Santana - signed

Eddie Rosario

Miguel Sano

Hudson Boyd

Madison Boer

Oswaldo Arcia

Tommy Stuifbergen

Danny Rams

Bryon Buxton

Adam Walker

Kennys Vargas

It should be noted I got Sano and Rosario through the mail last year. Herrmann and Escobar have since been promoted to the Twins, and are now considered current Twins.

Hopefully my success percentages get a little better next year, but I am grateful to all the players who did take the time to sign for me.

Creating My Own Baseball Cards

In my December 6, 2011 post I wrote about creating my own baseball cards. Some current and former Minnesota Twins players simply do not have many or even any baseball cards which can present a problem for someone, like me, trying to collect an autographed baseball card of every living Minnesota Twin.

My first attempt at designing something looked like this:

I have about 25 of these type cards signed, and they look okay. That said, I thought I could do better, so I used Scribus 1.4 to create this:

Now I had plenty of white space available for the player to sign in. That worked great for the older players who did not have the most stable signatures and for players with bigger hand writing, as they did not try in vain to squeeze their autographed into a small space.

I have about 30 signed cards of this design, and I liked them well enough. However, finding clear yet small enough pictures like the above one of Scott Diamond was not easy, so I decided to experiment with some new designs. Here is the first one I came up with again using Scribus 1.4:

I got 2-3 of these cards signed, and they looked decent, but they are kind of plain. I fired up Scribus once more, and tried to get creative. Here is my end result:

I like it. It looks like something one of baseball card companies might have designed. I have not gotten any of these signed, so I have no idea how autographs look on them, but we will find out soon enough.

I hope to design some back for these cards, and to continue to create new designs. If I come up with anything worthwhile, I will try to post them here.

Another Update on my Twins Autograph Baseball Card Collection

Continuing my string of successful TTM autograph request, I receive signed cards from former Twin Doug Mientkiewicz. I also got signed cards from prospect Chris Herrmann - who included a note of thanks - and super prospect Jose Berrios.

Twins Need Middle Infielders

The Twins started the season with Jamey Carroll as their starting shortstop. Then supposedly dissatisfied with the play of Alexi Casilla at second base, the Twins called up shortstop Brian Dozier and shifted Carroll to second. Dozier was hailed a top prospect who was the “shortstop of the future”.

The Dozier & Carroll combo last till Trevor Plouffe, who had displaced Danny Valencia at third base, was injured and Carroll was moved to third with Casilla reinstated at second. This lasted till Tsuyoshi Nishioka was recalled and inserted into the lineup at second. Nishioka was a bust last year at second, and this year proved to be even worse. As it stands right now, Nishioka’s career Win Above Replacement (WAR) is -2.5, the worst of any player in Twins history. In other words, Nishioka’s is the worst player in Twins history.

Nishioka was promptly demoted, and Casilla reinstalled at second till Plouffe returned from his injury. Supposedly Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was set to go with Carroll at second, Dozier at short, and Plouffe at third. The Twins front office had other plans, and demoted Dozier even though there are only 2 ½ weeks left in the minor league season, and Dozier would almost certainly be right back with the Twins in September.

Now Pedro Florimon – a career .249 hitter in the minor leagues - has been summoned to be the new “shortstop of the future”.

Personally, I would have left Dozier the minors and brought him about now when he could play with less pressure –with the season lost - then he experienced earlier this year. Carroll should have been left at short and Casilla at second till then. Nishioka has no business even being with the Twins. While Florimon might be a great fielder he can’t hit which as been the argument used against Casilla for years.

Let’s face facts, the Twins have no shortstop at the major or minor league level worthy of starting for them in the foreseeable future. The only second basemen worth anything in the system is super prospect Eddie Rosario who is playing well, but is in low A ball, and is at least 2 years away.

The Twins have no middle infielders worthy of a major league roster spot outside of Carroll who is best as a backup. While the Twins search for starting pitching this off-season, they also need to search for a new starting shortstop and second basemen.

Update to the Update on My Autographed Twins Baseball Card Collection

I knew when I published my post on Sunday that I would get signed cards in the mail from players I had listed as not responding. Sure enough, I got Chris Parmelee back on Monday along with 3 lesser minor league players (Pedro Hernandez and Eduardo Escobar – the 2 guys acquired for Francisco Liriano – and Evan Bigley). Thanks much to these gentlemen for signing for me.