Minnesota Twins TTM Autograph Update for Most of 2020

2020 started out great for the Minnesota Twins and for my collecting of Minnesota Twins autographed baseball cards. Sadly 2020 did not progress well for either. The pandemic cut the Twins season short and when they did play they looked underwhelming. They managed to make the playoffs, but lost yet again.

Roster changes will be needed are already underway with the rival of Alex Kirilloff and Brent Rooker. I luckily got both of them to sign for me when they were back in the minors. I had hoped to send out a bunch of cards to Twins minor leaguers this season, but the minor league season was cancelled. We will have to see what the baseball season (both Major and Minor) looks like in 2021.

Alex Kirilloff, Brent Rooker, Edwar Colina, and Aaron Whitefield were all guys who I got as minor league and made their debut with the Twins this year. It pays to send to minor league guys. I now have signed baseball cards from 685 current and/or former Twins. Below is a list of my successes:

Sean Poppen

Randy Dobnak

Ryan Jeffers

Tom Norton

Larry Pashnick

Jose Berrios

Jake Cave

Zack Granite

Luis Gomez

Jason Tyner

Mike Trombley

Wayne Granger

Dan Graham

Chuck Nieson

Mike Milchin

Jack O’Connor – responded after 8 years 3/1/2 months (3035 days). This is my second longest wait for a card to be return. R.A. Dickey returned a card to me after 3065 days.

Dave Engle – responded after 8 years 2 months and 29 days (3008 days)

John Ryan Murphy – responded after1001 days

Hopefully, I will get a few more by year’s end.

Twinsfest 2020

Twinsfest 2020 was another successful outing for me and my growing collection of autographed Minnesota Twins baseball cards. This year the Twins reduced Twinsfest from 3 days (Fri-Sun) to 2 (Fri-Sat). I hear this will be way it is going forward with the 2 days being Saturday and Sunday. I like the 3 day event, but to quote a Rolling Stones song “you cannot always get what you want but if you try sometime you get what you need.” I tried to get several autographs when I went on Friday night and it mostly worked out.

What did not work out was my health after the event as I promptly caught a cold. This not the first post-Twinsfest cold I have caught and I eventually get over them.

I secured cards signed by 27 different players/prospects/coaches. The highlight was getting new Twin Josh Donaldson. I arrived early to his line only to find I was the 200^th person in line. If he was signing alone I would not have worried, but he was signing with new Twins Rich Hill, Alex Avila, Tyler Clippard, and Matt Wisler (all of whom I needed), so I became concerned about how the line would move. Luckily the Twinsfest people handled things great and I made it through the line with 10 minutes to spare. Josh seems like an enjoyable guy.

It was also great to add Jake Odorizzi (making his 1^st Twinsfest appearance after skipping last year), Devin Smeltzer, and the enjoyable and friendly Sergio Romo. I hear Romo wander through the event both days greeting fans at random. People in Minnesota love the guy and he says he loves it here.

I think one of keys to succeeding at Twinsfest is picking a couple autograph groups you definitely want and let the rest develop as you go. Other people have other strategies, but this one has worked out for me.

Here is the list of autographs I got (all were on cards):

Jake Odorizzi
Trevor May
Sergio Romo
Lewis Thorpe
Jorge Alcala
Dakota Chalmers
Luke Raley
Brusdar Graterol
LaMonte Wade Jr.
Cody Stashak
Devin Smeltzer

Alex Avila
Tyler Clippard
Rich Hill
Matt Wisler
Josh Donaldson

Torii Hunter
Corey Koskie
Eddie Guardado
Tommy Watkins
Travis Blankenhorn
Ryan Jeffers

Rocco Baldelli – the manager
Ehire Adrianza
Jorge Polanco
Fernando Romero
Mike Bell – new bench coach

I am now up to signed cards by 674 current and former Minnesota Twins. Hopefully Twinsfest 2021 goes as well.

P.S. – Since my last TTM update in December 2019 I have gotten current Twin Sean Poppen who not only signed my cards, but included a note of thanks, and former Twin Tom Norton.

Minnesota Twins TTM Autograph Update for the Second Half of 2019

It was a tough year for my TTM (through the mail) autograph collection. I have gotten only 23 returns out of 52 send outs. That 44% success rate is by far the worse I have ever had. I only received 3 returns from the current Twins this year and only 4 returns from Twins minor leaguers. Those are both yearly lows for me. However I am now up to signed cards from 664 current and former Twins.

Below are the players that came in after my last post on July 1^st.

Tony Fiore (signs only 1 card)

Dave LaRoche

Ehire Adrianza

Sam Dyson

Stan Perzanowski

Juan Centeno

Dwight Siebler

Sal Campisi

Brett Merriman

Brant Alyea

Cotton Nash

Mark Wiley

Wander Javier

Mitch Garver

Jason Maxwell

Chili Davis from 2012 & 2013 – (signed differently than I have seen him sign in the past)

In-person signings

Taylor Rogers – free (he also posed for a picture with me)

Marwin Gonzalez - $

Luis Arraez - $

The Davis returns were the 2^nd (2829 days) and 4^th (2479 days) longest waits I have had for a return. R. A. Dickey took over 8 years (3063 days) to return my card making it the longest wait. Bob Twesbury was 3^rd with 2655 days. My shortest return was Eric Fryer who amazingly signed and returned my card in 2 days.

I hope to get some more returns this year or early next year. If not, I hope 2020 will be a better year for doing TTM.

Minnesota Twins TTM Autograph Update for the First Half of 2019

The first half of 2019 has not been very productive in regards to getting TTM (thru the mail) autographs from current, former, and future Minnesota Twins. To date I have signed cards from 655 different Twins. Below is a list of my successes so far this year:

Current or Former Twins

Chase De Jong sent out in 2018

Matt Walbeck

Tom Johnson

Jim Kaat sent $10 and got 2 cards signed

Felix Jorge

Scott Leuis

Minor Leaguers

Brent Rooker sent out in 2018

Luke Raley

Edwar Colina

Michael Davis

Four minor leaguers – Luis Arraez, Ryan Eades, LaMonte Wade, and Lewis Thorpe were promoted to the Twins in the first of 2019. I had gotten all four back when they were minor leaguers. This is why you want to collect minor leaguers because some end up becoming major leaguers.

There have been two in-person signings so far this year:

Jonathan Schoop - free

Willians Astudillo – cost $$

I hope things pick up for the rest of the 2019, but at least the Twins are playing real well.

Twinsfest 2019

Last Friday I made my annual trek down to Target Field for Twinsfest 2019. My father came with me and we spent all our time trying to get autographs. I ended up getting signed cards from 36 players/prospects and 8 coaches including new manager Rocco Baldelli. I picked 9 players I did not have yet for my collection which means I now have signed cards from 651 current and former Twins.

I sold a Zach Littell card to a guy in need and used the money to buy a Martin Perez thinking I would send it to him in the mail. Guess what – Martin Perez showed up as an unannounced guest allowing me to get his autograph in person.

One complaint about this year was the number of players missing. Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, Jose Berrios, Addison Reed, Jake Odorizzi, Willians Astudillo, Tyler Austin, and Ronald Torreyes all skipped Twinsfest this year while Kyle Gibson was sick. Missing several top current players put a damper on things, but I tried to make the best of it and came away happy with my successes.

Here are my successes (All were on cards unless noted – players listed twice mean I got 2 cards of theirs signed):

Trevor Hildenberger

Taylor Rogers

Zach Littell

Ehire Adrianza

Jorge Polanco

Rocco Baldelli - mananger

Tony Diaz - coach

Wes Johnson – new pitching coach

Bill Evers - coach

Martin Perez

Chase DeJong

Andrew Vasquez

Stephen Gonsalves

Mitch Garver

Max Kepler

Jason Castro

LaMonte Wade

James Rowson

Alex Kirilloff

Alex Kirilloff – He whiffed on signing my 2018 heritage. I saw he whiffed on another guy’s 18 heritage too. Maybe he does not like the card or he had a bad sharpie?

Brent Rooker

Brent Rooker

Travis Blankenhorn

Travis Blankenhorn

Jeremy Hefner - coach

Derek Shelton - coach

Fernando Romero

Michael Pineda

Gaberiel Moya – great looking auto

Michal Reed

Ryan Jeffers

Royce Lewis

Royce Lewis – Do not get his 2018 heritage signed in silver – it does not look good. Blue, gold; or black are not the best answer either. It is a nice looking card, but not much of a place for him to sign well.

Nick Gordon

Nick Gordon

Jonathan Schoop – I told him my name is Jonathan too. He loved that we spell it the same way.

Jonathan Schoop

C. J. Cron

C. J. Cron

Jake Cave

Kohl Stewart

Lewis Thorpe

Adalberto Mejia

Trevor Larnach

Trevor May

Tyler Duffey

Blake Parker

Matt Magill

Akil Baddoo

Minnesota Twins TTM Autograph Update for the Second Half of 2018

2018 ended with me having signed baseball cards from 642 different current or former Minnesota Twins.

One of the Twins I gained actually came to me in 2009 when I sent Nelson Cruz a card and he returned it signed. Cruz was not with the Twins then, but in December 2018 he agreed to sign with the Twins making him my 642 Twins player.

Current or former Twins who signed for me TTM (thru the mail) in the second half of 2018:

Kennys Vargas

Taylor Motter

Bartolo Colon – surprised but happy to get this one

Fernando Romero

Johnny Field

Mitch Garver

Ehire Adrianza

Taylor Rogers

Logan Forsythe

Neal Cotts

Jim Winn

Johnny Sutton

Pat Borders

Jack O’Connor

Twins prospects who signed for me via TTM in the second half of 2018:

Landon Leach

Jhoan Durn – included some signed cards of his own

Jorge Alcala

Ernie De La Trinidad

Cody Stashak

I also got a return from Hall of Famer Juan Marichal. I included $5 with my request.

Willians Austdillo of the Twins returned my card unsigned.

I got a signed card for Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyus Jones. I don’t have many signed Wolves cards, but Tyus is from Minnesota so that added to his appeal. He sent an extra card along with the two I had sent him.

I was able to go to two in person signing at Cub Foods store (they are a Twins sponsor) in 2019 and was able to get signed cards from Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco. These free in person signing are become less and less frequent. I am not sure why that is, but it is kind of a bummer.

Hopefully 2019 will not be a bummer for me in my quest to get a signed card from every living current and former Minnesota Twin. I also hope to get more returns from Twins minor leaguers this year because some minor leaguers become major leaguers.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Minnesota Twins TTM Autograph Update for the First Half of 2018

I have had decent success so far this year getting TTM (thru the mail returns) autographs from current, former, and future Minnesota Twins. To date I have signed cards from 626 different current or former Twins. I have signed cards from 34 minor leaguers including 24 of the top 30 prospects (I have requests in to the other 6).

One thing I have found is that when sending to Class A and Rookie League minor leaguers players some of them tend to sign in ink pen. Since most of them don’t have real baseball cards yet, I create one of them on photo paper and another on thick regular paper or cardboard. That way if the ink pen does not work on the photo paper (which sometimes it has not or is hard to read) it will work on the other card.   

Current & former Twins I have gotten back so far in 2018:

Fernando Rodney

Brandon Kintzler

Adam Wilk

Tim Meliville

Bobby Wilson

Bombo Rivera

Tyler Kinley

Ryan LaMarre

Josh Rabe

Logan Morrison

David Hale

George Tsamis

Tim Corcoran

Benj Sampson

Matt Magill

Twins minor leaguers I have gotten back so far in 2018:

David Banuelos

Zack Littell

Hector Lujan

Luis Arraez

Brusadar Graterol

Derek Molina

Royce Lewis

Charlie Barnes

Williams Ramirez

Jean Carlos Arias

Jose Miranda

Jordan Balazovic

Ricardo de la Torre – did not return my cards, but sent his own signed cards

DaShawn Keirsey

Ryan Jeffers

Lewin Diaz

Tyler Jay – actually sent to him in 2017, he returned them signed this year

Hopefully the rest of 2018 goes as well.

A Lesson in Autograph Collecting

After winning the 2004 Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the American League, Johan Santana was viewed by Twins fans as a lock to get into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. When he won again in 2006 people thought him destined to be an all-time great like Tom Seaver or Steve Carlton.

When Justin Morneau won the 2006 A.L. MVP he was viewed as the left handed hitting Harmon Killebrew. Morneau like Santana was on the path to the Hall of Fame. So too was Torii Hunter and maybe Joe Nathan. Joe Mauer meanwhile was going to challenge Johnny Bench as the greatest catcher in baseball history.

Those players also were the obsession of many an autograph collector. To get Santana, Morneau, Hunter, or Mauer’s autograph at Twinsfest you lined up outside the Metrodome a minimum of six hours before the doors opened (many camp out overnight to be first in line). Once inside you had to run for your life to get to player’s line where you sometimes had to wait another 2-3 more hours for the player to start signing, and even then you were not guaranteed his autograph. Of course everyone thought it would be worth it.

Santana, Morneau, Hunter, and Nathan have seen their careers come to an end. When National Hall of Fame voters casted their ballots in regards to Johan Santana candidacy, he got 10 votes (roughly 330 votes were needed). He will not make the Baseball Hall of Fame. Neither will Morneau, Hunter, or Nathan while Joe Mauer has a decent shot at baseball’s highest honor, but Johnny Bench is still viewed as the greatest catcher of all-time.

Yes, Santana, Morneau, Hunter, Nathan, Eddie Guardado, Michael Cuddyer, Brad Radke, and maybe a couple other members of the those 2000’s Twins teams will rightly elected to the Twins Hall of Fame, but they were not great long enough to be one of best in baseball history.

Maybe if Johan Santana never gets traded to the Mets and then injured his shoulder things might have been different. Same with Justin Morneau – if he does not get that concussion in 2010, he goes on to legendary status. Those things happened and the careers of two great players where impacted for the worse.

So what about all those autographs’ people worked so hard for, are they worth anything? Not as much as people thought they would be. It is one reason why I focus on getting an autograph from every player on the Twins not just certain ones. I do not value any of my autograph collection for its dollar worth. I valued it for the memories it provides. This allows me to enjoy my collection and rest my back and neck as I do not have to stand in line 6 hours before a signing event even starts.

Twinsfest 2018

Last Sunday I made my annual trek down to Target Field for Twinsfest 2018. My father came with me and we spent all our time trying to get autographs. I ended up getting signed cards from 34 players and one coach. I now have signed cards from 615 current and former Twins, and since I got several top minor prospects this year, the number of signed cards of current and former could go up.

Here are my successes (All were on cards unless noted):

Zach Duke

Ryan Pressly

Alan Busenitz

LaMonte Wade

Alex Kirilloff

Lewis Thorpe

Tyler Jay

Travis Blankenhorn

Max Kepler

Mitch Garver

Fernando Romero

Torii Hunter

Joe Nathan

LaTroy Hawkins

John Curtiss

Tyler Duffey

Aaron Slegers

Darin Mastroianni

Fernando Rodney

Kyle Gibson

Trevor Hildenberger

Taylor Rogers

Dietrich Enns

J. T. Chargois

Brent Rooker

Jose Berrios

Adalberto Mejia

Stephen Gonsalves

Royce Lewis

Jorge Polanco

Robbie Grossman

Trevor May

Michael Pineda

Garvin Alston – new pitching coach

Roy Smalley – photo

Gonsalves, Jay, and Romero will probably be called up to the Twins sometimes this year while Rooker should rise through the system pretty fast. Lewis is suppose to be a future superstar, and he was quite popular with the fan.s

I thought it was great that I could get new Twins Rodney, Duke, and Pineda. Rodney and Duke might not be with the Twins in 2019.

I was also happy to have gotten Polanco, Berrios, and Kepler. I was not going to get into the Hunter, Nathan, and Hawkins line as it was $30 (most stations were $10-$20), but there was literally no waiting in line so I decided to go for it.

Phil Hughes, Kenny Vargas, and newest Twins Addison Reed did not make it. Hughes and Vargas cancelled out for various reasons which was a bummer as I wanted to get cards signed by them.

On the whole though it was a great experience and hopefully I will be able to make Twinsfest 2019.

Longest Wait for a Return Yet

R. A. Dickey just signed and returned a baseball card I sent to him through mail (TTM). I sent the card eight and half years ago. More precisely it was 3036 days ago. 

Why the long wait? Who knows, but I have heard stories of people getting cards back ten even fifteen years after sending them. My longest wait till now had been five years (Mark Salas). I have had multiple cards come back after four years. One cannot know the reason why it took so long. Maybe the card got lost and then found. Maybe the player just decided now he would sign a bunch of cards he had been saving up. No one besides the player can tell us for sure what happened. The lesson to be learn here is never give up on a card you sent because it just might come back when you least expect it.

I know I am appreciative of all my returns no matter how long they take. Thank you Mr. Dickey for taking the time to sign and return my card!