1965 World Series Pennant

No returns again today. Earlier in the week, I received a 1965 World Series pennant that I bought on eBay. It's in surprisingly nice shape. I'm not sure how to display it. I think there are some plastic holders in the shape of a pennant, but I'm not sure if this one will fit.


I'm just getting ready to watch the Twins on TV after being at the game for last night's exciting game. Hopefully the Twins don't need to score 11 runs every game to win. The bullpen seems to be struggling. I know a rookie pitcher that would love to help out.

Here's 8 year old David from last season, striking out 3 batters on nine pitches.

Kubel Pulls It Out!

Johnny and I were the only ones that stayed to the end of the game from our group. And it's a good thing we did. Kubel hit a grand slam in the 8th to complete the cycle and go ahead by 2 runs. Nathan shut down the Angels in the top of the ninth for an 11-9 Twins win. Kubel's homer was an amazing upper deck blast to right center field.

I really didn't think the Twin's had a shot and coming back from this one, but they proved me wrong. Here's a picture of Johnny and his new hero, Kubel, from a couple of years ago.

Returned Home To Some TTM Returns

When I got back from my trip today, I had three returns waiting for me.

First, I was relieved to see that Bobby Richardson signed and returned the 1959 Topps Run Preventers card already signed by Bob Turley and Gil McDougald. I got lucky on this one and all three of them signed it in the same color, so it looks pretty nice.

Jim Davenport signed his 1960, 1964 and 1969 Topps in black sharpie. The '69 smeared a little, but not too bad.

Lastly, Eddie Fisher signed his 1960, 1961 and 1964 Topps in ballpoint.

I don't have too many outstanding requests right now. I'll have to take some time and send out some more. I might try to send to a few current players. I find that early in the season is a pretty good time to get some successes.

The Twins have been pretty disappointing so far. They're giving up way too many runs. Tonight they face Roy Halladay and the Blue Jays, which will be a struggle, I'm sure.

Carl Pohlad Passes Away

Long time Twins owner Carl Pohlad passed away yesterday at the age of 93. I've heard a lot of people complain about how cheap he was and that he didn't spend enough money on the payroll. I've always gotten some satisfaction that the Twins could perform well with a payroll so much lower than other teams. Also, I'm pretty sure you don't become a billionaire by spending a lot of money.

Anyway, I believe that his children have been running the team for quite some time as his health hasn't been very good in recent years, so I don't expect any changes in the way the team is run.

On a brighter note, I received one return in the mail today. Paul Foytack signed a 1959, 1960 and 1961 Topps for me. His pen looks like it's running low on ink, but they turned out okay.

I also noticed a few additions to the lineup at TwinsFest posted on the Twins' web site. Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young were added. I was really happy to see that because I need Young on an 8x10 and I don't have Gomez on anything yet, so I'll try to get him on at least one item, depending on how long his line is.

I'll probably get Delmon Young on a 2008 Goudey if I get in his line twice. Last year I got him on a 2007 Topps Heritage as well as a baseball.


I also noticed that they added Jim "Mudcat" Grant. I haven't seen him at TwinsFest the last two years and was happy to see that he'll be there. I have had him sign some items through mail-order signings including a 1965 Twins bobblehead, an 8x10 and a 1958 Topps. I'll try to get him to sign a 1965 Topps for my set.

Will Casey Blake Become a Twin (again)?

About the only interesting chatter I'm hearing from the Twins is the fact that they're showing some interest in Casey Blake. The Twins are one of 8 teams that are showing an interest in him, so if it becomes a bidding war, the Twins will surely lose. Casey signed this 2004 Topps Heritage for me through the mail during the 2005 season.

Blake is from Iowa, and I've read that he is interested in returning to the Twins organization. Blake was with the Twins before being released twice, once in 2001 and again in 2002. I actually don't remember him being with the Twins. According to his stats on mlb.com, he played in 29 games split between the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons.

Blake is 35 years old, so this seems like another attempt by the Twins to find an aging player to resurrect his career with the Twins, such as Brett Boone, Craig Monroe, Livan Hernandez, Eddie Guardado, etc, etc, etc.

I'd prefer to stick with Brian Buscher at third, even though he's a left-handed batter and I think the Twins want some more righties in the lineup. This picture is of Brian Buscher and my younger son, at a signing at the Twins Pro Shop in Apple Valley in July of 2008.

We'll see if this interest turns into any action. If Blake doesn't work out, maybe the Twins will call Mike Schmidt or Brooks Robinson.

Twins Hot Stove League

Well, I finally got around to packaging up the bobblehead for Frank Viola from the 1987 Twins set. I'm a little nervous about mailing it because if it's lost or broken, I don't know how I'll replace it. It's a little more complicated to mail than cards or even a ball. I use two priority mail boxes, a smaller one inside with my address as the "to:" address, and a larger one that will contain the other box to be shipped off to Florida. My older son also wanted to get a ball signed so I am sending that along with another donation. It will probably cost about $16 shipping there and back.


This year's off-season (a.k.a "Hot Stove League") is a little boring for the Twins. No potential blockbuster trades like last year when Johann Santana was on the trade block. But there are some moves that need to be made. Nick Punto and Adam Everett have filed for free agency, leaving a few holes in the infield. Neither offer a tremendous amount of offense, but both are solid defensively and Punto is Mr. Web Gem. There is talk of needing a bigger bat to add to the infield, most likely at third base. With Tolbert, Buscher, Harris and Casilla, there seem to be enough infielders already. Punto seems like the logical choice as a utility infielder, if he's willing to take that role.

There's been some talk of trading Cuddyer to get a big-hitting third baseman. I really like Cuddyer and would hate to see him go. I'd rather trade Delmon Young who really doesn't appear to be playing up to his potential. With Gomez, Span, Cuddyer and Kubel, the Twins seem to have plenty of other outfielders.


We'll just have to wait and see what happens. The "Home Plate" channel on XM Radio is definitely less exciting than last year.

The cards shown in this post are all from the 2007 Topps Heritage set. I really like them because they are styled after the 1958 Topps set which I also collect. I received the Cuddyer card through the mail last season. I got Young and Everett to sign these cards at TwinsFest last year.

Bobblehead Sets

I'll be leaving town this evening for the weekend, so I won't see what I get in the mail, if anything, for the next couple of days. Today I wanted to highlight my signed bobblehead set projects.

I purchased a ten bobblehead set consisting of players from the 1965 Twins team that lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. I currently have 6 of them signed, including Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Frank Quilici, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Jim Perry and Camilo Pascual. I think the only living player I don't have signed in this set is Jim Kaat.

I've included a picture of the Camilo Pascual signed bobblehead that I got via a mail order singing with Bob Corcoran.



I also purchased the 1987 set of Twins bobbleheads, the first Twins team to win a World Series. I bought these online the day they went on sale on the Twins web site. I think they sold about 400 sets, and they sold out in 8 minutes. It was tough to get through to the site, but I was lucky enough to buy one before they sold out. So far, I have signed bobbleheads from this set by Bert Blyleven, Dan Gladden, Tim Laudner, Jack Morris and Al Newman. I've got a long way to go on this set, as there are 25 players in it. Of course Kirby passed away before the set was released, so it will never be complete. Joe Niekro has also passed away. My favorite in the set is Juan Berenguer, which I got signed at a Dick's Sporting Goods appearance in September of 2007 (during a tornado warning, but that's another story).

I've also included a picture of my older son, John, at this event with Juan Berenguer and Kevin Tapani. Also at this signing were Nick Blackburn, Jesse Crain, Jason Kubel, Scott Leius and Tim Laudner. Due to the poor weather, the turnout was very light, so we got a chance to take some good pictures with the players and my son got some tips on blocking balls in the dirt from Tim Laudner (John is a catcher).