Punto and Harris

Well, I made it through the Punto line but didn't bother trying to go through a second time. The line was still pretty long with just 15 minutes left and they were tying to hurry things up. Some guy from the Twins was trying to explain to me that Gardy doesn't like the guys to be late on game days. People were trying to have Punto pose for pictures which was holding up the line. I think he noticed I was holding a camera and thought maybe I was going to slow things down.



I did take pictures, but just of them signing. Notice the coolers in back of Harris. Hopefully he warms up before game time tonight. We'll see if either of these guys play tonight. Newly acquired Orlando Cabrera will probably start at shortstop. Casilla will probalby start at second, although Punto has been hitting pretty well lately.

TwinsFest Cap

Tonight I added David's autographed Twins cap to his web site. The player's wives sell grab bags at TwinsFest that include caps, calendars, and stadium giveaways such as bats and bobbleheads. Both John and David got one grab bag and each contained a nice red Twins cap (with a Mountain Dew logo on the back).








David decided to have players sign the bill of his cap if he didn't have other items for them to sign. He ended up getting Nick Blackburn, Brendan Harris, Nick Punto, Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain on it.

I have pictures of Punto and Blackburn signing it.

Nick Punto Signs With The Twins

Yesterday Nick Punto signed a two-year deal with the Twins. That's good news, I think. He's great defensively and fun to watch. Offensively, he's okay. 2007 was a horrible year for him so hopefully that won't be a trend.

We got Punto's autograph last year at TwinsFest. I got him on a card as well as an 8x10.





Today in the mail I received a return from Gene Freese. He signed a 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1964 Topps.

Stocking Up For TwinsFest

No mail today, of course. I didn't write any requests either. I planned to last night, but I don't really have many cards to send out. Instead, I ordered some "supplies" for TwinsFest.

If you click on the link to see the TwinsFest information, you have about a 1 in 4 chance of seeing a picture of my son with Joe Nathan from last year's TwinsFest (shown here). They randomly display a bunch of pictures and once in a while Johnny is there reaching to get back a magazine that Joe signed for him. Actually, it was signed for me. Johnny and I were sitting in Paul Molitor's line and we were very early, probably by about two hours. We heard some people saying that Joe Nathan's line was nearly empty. Johnny had already had Joe sign something the previous day, so he ran down to get my magazine signed while I held our spot in the Molitor line.


Anyway, I ordered six Twins mini batting helmets from a guy on eBay. The dark blue helmets look really sharp when signed with silver pen. Last TwinsFest, Johnny and I got each got one signed by Tony Oliva, and David got one signed by Nick Punto.

I also ordered 6 Rawlings "Circle R" bats. They are pretty plain, full-sized bats that are good for autographs. Last year I got Paul Molitor and Harmon Killebrew to sign this type of bat. Of course, I ordered a dozen Rawlings Offical Major League Baseballs (romlb), the only kind of ball to use when getting autographs.

Finally, I ordered 10 Rawlings mini-bats. These are great for mid-level players to sign as they are less than $5 each, yet look pretty nice when signed. They also don't take up too much room if you end up with a bunch of them in your collection.

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.