Catching Up on Returns

It's been a busy week and when I finally had a couple of minutes last night, I was getting errors trying to update the blog.  I have a couple days worth of returns to catch up on.

Wednesday, I received a couple cards from Dick Drago, who signed his 1972 and 1973 Topps.

Also on Wednesday, I received a 1955 Topps signed by John "Windy" McCall.

Yesterday, I received a 1972 and 1978 Topps signed by Joe Ferguson, as well as a 1956 Topps signed by Jose Santiago.

Very sad news today:  Harmon Killebrew's battle with cancer is nearly over and he is entering hospice care.  You can read the statement here.  Killer is a favorite of mine, and my son's all-time favorite.  He has been the kindest player we've ever met and will be a huge loss to all Twins fans.

Card Show Finds

I had to drive up north of the Twin Cities today to meet my in-laws who had watched my sons for the weekend. On the way back, my sons and I stopped at a card show at Har Mar Mall. This is one of our favorite shows since there are usually a lot of dealers with a nice mix of vintage stuff, Twins and autographs.

Today there were only a few dealers so at first we were disappointed. However, one dealer had a nice selection of Harmon Killebrew photos, with several of them signed. My older son John is a huge Killebrew fan so he was very interested. This particular dealer's father is a photographer who has photographed Killebrew since the 60's so he has a lot of unique photos, rather than the typical ones you see from photofile, etc.


John picked a signed 16x20 (only $40!) and he and I each bought a black & white, 11x14 unsigned photo. John's picture shows Killebrew with Hank Aaron, and mine is a picture of Killebrew sitting in the dugout alone.

Although the show was pertty small, we were happy with what we found.

Are the Tigers Crazy?

I think the Detroit Tiger's have lost their minds. They released Gary Sheffield today. Sheffield has 499 home runs. Even though he's 40 years old and apparently his bat speed has slowed considerably, getting his 500th home run this year is inevitable. The Tiger's are in rough shape. The pitching staff is in shambles, and the 12% unemployment rate in Michigan has the team very concerned about ticket sales.

I can't think of a better ticket seller than the opportunity to see someone hit their 500th home run. They already owe him $14 million, why not use him as a ticket draw this season? Only play him during home games to guarantee that the home crowd will get to witness the event. I don't get it. I guess the Phillies are interested. Good for them.

No returns again today. It's Tuesday, so what would I expect? I wrote another four requests today but then ran out of envelopes. I'm up to 66 requests for the year, which is about 24 short of being on track to send out 365 requests for the year.

I read an article in the Star Tribune today about Harmon Killebrew giving Justin Morneau some advice on hitting more home runs. Killebrew basically told him to stand closer to the plate and pull the ball more. Morneau said he tried it but it wasn't comfortable and he doesn't want to give up hitting for average to get more home runs.

If it were me, I'd listen to Killebrew. He hit 573 homers. I think he knows a thing or two about hitting.

Morneau used to sign through the mail. He has signed for me twice. The first time, I think he was playing with Rochester. Then in 2004 he signed his 2003 Topps Heritage via the Twins for me. Killebrew also used to sign through the mail, occasionally for free. I received three cards signed by him through the mail over the last few years. He still signs through the mail, but now requires a contribution to his charitable foundation.

TwinsFest - Harmon Killebrew

I have posted a few things already that Harmon Killebrew signed for us at TwinsFest, including my 2008 Goudey. In all, we got five autographs from Mr. Killebrew. Johnny got a mini helmet, Sport Magazine and 1955 Topps signed. I also got a 1955 Topps signed, as well as the 2008 Goudey.





When all four of us were in line, David had him sign my 1955 Topps, and I had him sign Johnny's mini helmet. When David handed him my rookie card, Mr. Killebrew asked David if he knew what it was. David shrugged his shoulders so he told him it was his 1955 rookie card. He then asked David if it was his Dad's. Busted.



I've posted some pictures of the signed items here as well as a few pictures of Mr. Killebrew signing.


Bad news for the basement. The small water line that goes to the drinking water and ice machine in our fridge started leaking and damaged the drywall ceiling above my desk. The plumber came and shut off the water leading to the fridge and will replace that line next week. The ceiling looks pretty bad. They may have to cut holes in it to replace the line too.

TwinsFest Comes to an End

I had a very successful day today at TwinsFest. I went alone since my boys had a hockey game (which they won).

I arrived about 5 minutes before the doors opened and the line outside was not too long. In fact, there were far fewer people there today than yesterday, which was nice. First, I got Ron Gardenhire to start off my 2009 team ball by signing on the sweet spot. At the same station, Tom Kelly signed a bobblehead from my 1987 Twins set. In all, I got three of these signed this TwinsFest (also signing were Roy Smalley and Kent Hrbek). I got through this first line very quickly, probably 15 minutes into the first seesion.

Then I went into Harmon Killebrew's line, even though he wasn't signing until the second session at 11:00. I didn't want to miss the chance to get him to sign my 2008 Goudey (pictured). I waited an hour and a half until that line started moving, and was done in about 20 minutes. Then I went through a line containing Corey Koskie and Phillip Humber. Twice. Jim Grant was also supposed to be in that session but he was a no-show.

After Koskie and Humber, I got in a line for Jason Kubel and Delmon Young. Young hadn't been there the previous two days so I thought the line might be pretty bad. It wasn't. I got through that line twice as well.

Even after going through the Kubel/Young line twice, I still was able to get down to the Dome floor to go through a line with Nick Blackburn, Craig Breslow and Brendan Harris. When I got through that line, I went immediately back to the end of it for the next session, which was Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey and Jesse Crain. After that line, I went back upstairs (there are a lot of stairs to go from the Dome floor to the concourse, my legs are going to be sore tomorrow) and got in line for Joe Nathan. After Nathan, I was going to leave, but noticed that the Perkins/Slowey/Crain line was almost empty again so I headed back down and got all three of them on my team ball.

Whew. We have a tradition (okay, it's this was only our third year, but we've done it every year) to lay out all the items we got autographed for the three days on our kitchen table and take a picture. This is no small task. Between the four of us, we got over 100 autographs.


Today's highlight was getting Harmon Killebrew to sign my 2008 Goudey card. He hadn't seen it before and took a look at it and we talked about it a little bit. Maybe I'll send him one. I ended up getting a really nice picture of him signing it.

Over the next few days or weeks I'll highlight some of the items we got and the pictures I took of my kids with the players.

TwinsFest - Day Two

Day two of TwinsFest went much better for us than day one. First off, we arrived right as the doors opened, and had to wait about 10-15 minutes while the line outside filtered into the Dome. We immediately went to Harmon Killebrew's line. Mr. Killebrew is my older son's favorite player of all time. To make up for yesterday's Mauer/Morneau debacle, my younger son and I joined Johnny and my wife in line. My younger son has no interest in anyone that isn't currently playing and that he hasn't watched play himself. So of the four autographs we got, three were for Johnny. Johnny and I each got our 1955 Topps rookie cards signed (mine is pictured), and Johnny also got a magazine and a mini helmet signed.

Johnny and my wife also got Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Tony Oliva, Brian Buscher and Craig Breslow. Meanwhile, David and I got Nick Blackburn, Mike Redmond, Denard Span, Brian Buscher and Craig Breslow.

Later we switched and I went with Johnny to wait in a very long line for Joe Nathan, which we got through surprisingly quickly, while my wife took David to go play some games on the Dome floor. Johnny and I then went to a line with Matt Guerrier, Brendan Harris, and Nick Punto. At the last minute, David decided he wanted to go through that line too, and just made it.

During the morning, I was able to get Johnny a signed ball by Bob Feller, who was on hand, and told me that the weather was almost as cold as the time he spent on a particular trip in the Navy during World War Two somewhere near Russia. Also, Ferguson Jenkins was there, signing at a booth so I got Johnny a ball from him as well. Again, David had no interest, and preferred to pay five dollars to spin a wheel for a 1:40 chance to win a prize that he didn't even really want. But he really loves it. Hopefully it doesn't turn into a gambling problem.

All in all, an exhausting day. The place was more crowded than I have ever seen it. The busiest time appears to be Saturday from 11:00 - 2:00. During this time, you might as well be standing in a line somewhere because it's just too crowded to move.

A few no-shows were disappointing. Michael Cuddyer is sick. Alexi Casilla didn't show today, although he was there yesterday, and Delmon Young has not been there either.

I'm going back again tomorrow. So far I have gotten two more bobbleheads signed from my 1987 Twins set, including Roy Smalley and Kent Hrbek. Tomorrow I hope to add Tom Kelly as well. Other targets include Cory Koskie and Harmon Killebrew.