Twins 2015 Prediction and TTM Update

It has been slow going in my pursuit of autographed Minnesota Twins cards since Twinsfest. I did add Paul Powell, Jim Meritt, and Yohan Pino thru the mail (TTM) to give me signed cards from 521 current or former Twins. I also received returns from Jim Thome, Michael Restovich, Ricky Nolasco, Tommy Milone, and Ryan Doumit.

I hope to have more success with the season starting. I will be buying some of the new 2015 cards and sending them to current players. As they seem to do every year the Twins put someone on the team I never expected would make it and those guys never have any real baseball cards. This year it is Blaine Boyer and Shane Robinson who made the team, and I cannot find any cards of them, so I created some on my computer. Hopefully they are good signers.

Predicting how the Twins will do this season is purely guess work. Unforeseen problems like Ervin Santana 80 game suspension for using steroids can quickly mess up any prediction. Still I hope that Danny Santana, Kenny Vargas, and Oswaldo Arcia take the next step in their growth as players and become young stars. I hope Brian Dozier moves his game to All-Star level, and that Joe Mauer returns to All-Star level.

I am rooting for Phil Hughes to continue to pitch like he did last year, and for Tommy Milone to pitch like he did 2012. I also hope Kyle Gibson has a good year, and that Ricky Nolasco bounces back. I really hope to see young prospects like Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Alex Meyer, Trevor May, and Michael Tonkin make it up to the big club to stay.

I hope a lot, but I know better. The Twins will have another tough season where they lose at least 85 games. Hopefully though the young players grow and become better, and we get some excitement watching the games this year. 

Twinfest 2015

I attended Twinsfest 2015 which marked my 11^th year straight year of attending Twinsfest. With crowds down from previous years, I was able to hit 10 of the 16 autograph stations on Friday night which produced 48 signed baseball cards. I took it a bit easier on Sunday and secured 8 signed baseball cards (got 3 guys for a second time).

I almost always get a cold after Twinsfest and this year was no exception. Now that I am feeling better, below is a list my successes with some commentary.

Current Players (including manager):

Paul Molitor (manager), Danny Santana, Phil Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Oswaldo Arcia, Ervin Santana, Glen Perkins, Tommy Milone, Kurt Suzuki, Eduardo Escobar, Jordan Schafer, Kyle Gibson, Mike Pelfrey, Brian Duensing, Tim Stauffer, Caleb Thielbar, Carey Fien, Aaron Hicks, and Kennys Vargas 

Nice to add Ervin Santana, Tim Staufer, Tommy Milone, and Jordan Schafer to my collection of signed Twins cards. I now have signed cards from 518 different current and former Twins players. Great to add more signed cards from Phil Hughes, Danny Santana, and Kennys Vargas. Glen Perkins commandeered an Eric Fryer card from a fan to add to his own collection, the fan received an extra autograph for free from Perkins in exchange (you get only 1 autograph from each player each time you pay to go through the line). The Torii Hunter autograph lines were the longest of the weekend which did not surprise me as he was and still is one of the popular Twins of all-time.

Propsects:

Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Kohl Stewart, Alex Meyer, Nick Gordon, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Trevor May, A. J. Achter, Logan Darnell, Max Murphy, Treysen Vara, Tanner Vara, B. J. Hermsen, Tyler Duffey, Mark Hamburger, Nate Hanson, Taylor Rogers, Stephen Pryor, Blake Schmit, Jason Wheeler, J. R. Graham, Brandon Peterson, Eric Fryer, Mike Kvasnicka

The Twins have a lot of good prospects. Buxton, Sano, Stewart, Meyer, Gordon, Polanco, and Rosario all have star potential. Stewart signed his full name which he has not done on the certified autograph cards he signed for the card companies. Rosario’s autograph is a mess, and has certainly gone down hill from when he started in the minors. I needed Achter for my Twins collection as he spent a brief stint up with the big club.

I expected the Buxton and Sano lines to be real long and people did line up 2-3 hours ahead of time. However, once that group moved through the line, there was no more line. Few if any people joined the line when the signing started. I was able to show up at the Paul Molitor and Byron Buxton signing with 15 minutes left in their signing time, and did not have to wait in any line. I even got to stand around and chat with them because there was no one behind me. I had a similar experience in the Sano line. I understand the prices for the Buxton and Sano were higher this year, but both were signing with big names (Sano with Twins legend Tony Oliva, Buxton with Paul Molitor). I suspect once both men get up to the Twins and start showing what they can do, the super long lines will be back again.

Alumni & Coaches

Tony Oliva, Tom Quinlan, Gene Larkin, Dan Gladden, J. T. Bruett, Joe Vara, Neil Allen, Gene Glynn, Butch Davis

Pretty spares list of alumni players this year. Corey Koskie & Roy Smalley were supposed to be there on Friday, but they cancelled out. I wanted to get Koskie so I was disappointed to learn he had cancelled. Gladden showed me his 87 World Series Championship ring which looks good. I had a nice chat with new Twins pitching coach Neil Allen who seems like a nice guy.

I also got a chance to talk with Twins TV play-by-play man Dick Bremer in the hallway. He seemed like a nice guy. He even asked my name and where I was from.

Overall it was another good time, and I look forward to the upcoming Twins baseball season.  

Get on TV at the Twins Game

Monday the 18^th I had the privilege of attending the Twins – Royals game complements of my employer. We had a gathering up on the Budweiser Roof Deck which is a unique place to watch a game.

Highlights included getting rained on during the game, watching Twins GM Terry Ryan dump a bucket of ice water on Twins owner Jim Pohlad (it was for an ALS charity), and seeing one of my favorite Twins – Oswaldo Arcia – hit a massive home run off the flag pole in right field.

The best highlight though was when I got to be on TV. How? I had moved down from the Roof Deck as game went on. I was in center field in the ninth when Trevor Plouffe hit a deep fly ball. I realized it was coming close to me and sure enough went for a home run. In the above picture I am under the word “Porch” on the sign that says “usbank Home Run Porch”. I am giving the old fist pump in celebration. The home run made it 6-4 unfortunately the Twins still ended up losing.

Still I had a good time, and I came to learn that the Home Run Porch is not a bad place to watch a game. The view is good, and the seats are cheaper. Now that the Twins are getting some of the young guys like Danny Santana, Kenny Vargas, and Oswaldo Arcia some playing time, the last few games this year should be interesting.