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
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
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.
