Denard Span in Person

Today my younger son and I headed out to Family Fresh Market in Hudson, Wisconsin (about a 30 minute drive) to go see Denard Span. He was scheduled to start signing at 11:30. We arrived at about 9:30 and were about 12th in line.

Rather than have us stand around and be in the way of all the shoppers, they gave us numbered tickets to come back later and get in line. We bought my son a "giant cookie" and went and sat in the car for about a half an hour. My son didn't really seem to trust the whole ticket system and wanted to go back and stand in line, so we did.

My older son was playing in his second State Tournament game so he couldn't make it. He won his first game last night, and had a 2-RBI bloop single to center field to help his team to an 11-8 victory. Today didn't go quite as well, although he had a solid single, stole second, and then third, and scored on a passed ball. They lost 6-3. He's a catcher, and also had a nice play where he caught an attempted bunt and threw back to first base to catch the runner who had left early. He has one more game this evening, and if they win, he'll have some games tomorrow.

Anyway, since he couldn't make it, the first time through the line I got a bat signed for him. My younger son got a ball signed. Since we were so close to the front of the line, and Denard showed up a little early, we were through the line before it was even scheduled to start. We went back to the car and I got a bat for myself, and my son got a 2008 Topps Heritage card. The line was pretty long by this time but we thought we'd give it a try.

We got through the line a second time and there was still about 15 minutes left. Denard recognized my son and said, "Back again"? After getting through the second time, there was still 15-20 minutes left, so we decided to go through one more time.

Again, Denard recognized my son and asked him if he was cutting in line (jokingly). We had a successful morning, getting through the line three times and getting two bats, a ball, a mini helmet and two baseball cards signed. Well worth the drive and the wait, and a fun day for my son to meet his favorite player.

Span and Casilla

Today I received a couple of signed cards that I bought from a fellow SCN contact. I bought an Alexi Casilla signed 2007 Topps and a Denard Span signed 2008 Topps.


Speaking of Span, my younger son and I are going to go to a signing he is doing on Saturday while my older son plays his State Tournament games. I'll get a bat signed for him since he can't go.

Tomorrow my family and I are going to the Twins/Yankees game at the Dome. The Yankees creamed us last night but lead just by a run tonight, since Joe Mauer just hit a solo home run (to left field of course) to pull within one.

TwinsFest Mini Helmets

Tonight I finished assembling the wardrobe in the basement. Now I can really start arranging the basement and hopefully start hanging some pictures and especially my MetroDome banners.


I took a few pictures of some more items that my younger son, David, got signed at TwinsFest last weekend. He got two mini helmets signed. One by Denard Span and one by Mike Redmond.


I was able to get a picture of Denard Span handing the helmet back to David, but I don't have a picture of Mike Redmond signing his. Redmond's line was the one we darted into at the absolute last minute and barely had time to get our items out of our backpacks and ready for the players to sign.

Items From TwinsFest

Tonight I started the long process of cataloging all the items we got signed at TwinsFest. This involves scanning the flat items such as cards, magazines and pictures, and taking photos of the larger items like mini helmets and bats.



I then update the web site of the owner (me or one of my two sons) with the items. For my sons' web sites, I also include a picture of them getting the item signed, if I was able to get one.


I have photos of them getting most of their items signed, but occasionally there isn't enough time. For example, on the first night of TwinsFest, David and I decided not to go to the station containing Scott Baker, Mike Redmond, Alexi Casilla and Matt Guerrier because the line was too long. We went up to see Kent Hrbek and Tony Oliva instead. after getting through that line, we went back to the Dome floor to meet my wife and other son. We walked by the Baker/Redmond/Casilla/Guerrier station again, and there was nobody in line and only 5 minutes or less left. We ducked under the ropes and got right to the front of the line, struggling to get a mini helmet, photo and cards ready for David, and my items ready as well. We were a little slow, but got our items signed. In this situation, I had no time to take any photos, unfortunately.

Tonight I got a David's cards and photos scanned in. I had a lot of photos of him getting these signed, including Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, and Denard Span, which I have included here.