My Birthday Presents

A couple of weeks ago I ordered my birthday presents.  Since my wife and kids really have no idea what to get me for gifts, I order things and they wrap them up and give them to me. 

This year I took advantage of a Steiner Sports sale.  I bought four signed 8x10 pictures.

First, I got a nice signed picture of Ralph Kiner sliding.

Next, I got a picture of a Jim Bunning perfect game.

I also got a cool picture of Duke Snider climbing the wall to make a catch.

Lastly, I got a dual-signed picture of Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca of Thomson's pennant-winning home run (with Branca being the losing pitcher).  Notice Jackie Robinson watching the action.  Trivia question: Who was on deck, ready to bat after Thomson?

A Couple Of Cards For My Sets

On Tuesday, I received a card I sent in to another Chris Potter signing.  Chris had arranged a signing with Jim Maloney, who signed a 1965 Topps for my set.  I think this brings my total to 348 signed cards for that year.

Today I received a card that I had sent in to a J. Paul Sports signing.  This signing had a lot of players from the 1960 Pirates team.  I sent in a 1958 Topps to be signed by Don Gross.  It has been a while since I added another card to this set.  This is number 346 for my set.  I was surprised to realize that I have more in my '65 set than my '58 set, since I've been working on the '58's much longer.

Ray Herbert Return

Another return today.  Ray Herbert signed his 1955 and 1959 Topps for me in 10 days.

I don't have any recent requests out that I'm expecting back, and don't expect any time to send any for quite a while.  Beginning June 1st, we have one or two baseball games every day for 28 days straight, including tournaments on weekends.  The only days we might not have any games would be on Sundays if my sons don't do well in their tournaments.

Catching Up

I haven't got a lot to share, but I have a few things to catch up on.

First, a while ago my son got back a Carlos Gomez picture signed during Spring Training that the guys at GateX autographs took care of for us.  I had also sent in one for myself, but they weren't able to get that one signed.  Gomez's signature is horrible, like most current players, and he signed it in about the worst spot possible, because it's dark.  Oh well.  The picture itself is really cool.

Today I ordered our tickets for the Twins Autograph Party on June 12th.  $43 each, with "convenience fees".  Ouch.  Johnny and I want to get Killebrew to sign our throwback jerseys, which will be $20 cheaper than TwinsFest.  Johnny also wants to get Killebrew to sign the picture of Killebrew with Hank Aaron, on which he spent his life savings getting Aaron's autograph.  I also have a picture I want signed, as well as a Wheeldon print, but Johnny also wants a bobblehead signed.  My younger son and wife will help get a couple of these other items signed.

Lastly, I wanted to mentioned that Hall of Famer Robin Roberts passed away on May 6th.  I have several autographs from Roberts that I've received through the mail over the last seven years that I've been collecting.  He signed for a small donation for B.A.T. (Baseball Assistance Team).  It's guys like Roberts that I've really enjoyed learning about and writing to for autographs.  I find it much harder to get interested in the guys from the 70's and later, so I find myself becoming a little less interested in the hobby as each old timer passes away.  Eventually I'll probably just collect current Twins players.

I have been very busy lately with my sons' traveling baseball schedules and weekend tournaments, as well as traveling for work so I have not sent out any requests.  I may get a few minutes to send out 2 or 3 today before we head out to my son's baseball game this afternoon.

My First Trip to Target Field

On Wednesday of last week I took a half-day of vacation and headed out to Target Field to watch the Twins beat the Tigers.  A colleague of mine has a pair of season tickets and was called out of town, so he gave them to me and another colleague of mine.  Thanks again Jeff!

The weather was cold and rainy so I was a little worried about how comfortable it would be.  It was also very windy.  We parked at the Fort Snelling Park & Ride and rode the Light Rail to the field.  This was also my first ride on the Light Rail.  It was okay, but VERY crowded.

To my surprise, the game was packed.  Announced as a sellout, it was hard to walk around the concourse due to all the people, and the lines of people waiting to buy food.  The gate we entered was on the other side of the field from where are seats were, so it took us a bit of time to make our way to our seats.  Before heading down to our seats, we grabbed a hot dog and drink.  Nothing fancy, just the plain hot dog and chips.  I didn't take the opportunity to look at all the different food options or sample any.  I did notice the walleye fingers and fries, which I might try next time (for $9.50).

Our seats were in section 104, beyond first base, about a third of the way down the outfield line.  They were great seats.  The best thing is that they were actually positioned facing the infield, so you don't have to sit with your head turned to the side to see the infield, like you had to at the Dome.  We seemed to be somewhat protected from the wind and I was pretty comfortable, although I had dressed for the occasion.

The scoreboard/video screen is amazing!  It's like a giant HD TV.

My favorite part of the stadium is the big neon sign out in center field with "Paul" and Minnie".  I'm glad they included a retro feel to the park, which is also evident by the banners along the fences outside that have giant reprints of Twins baseball cards on them.

My younger son went to last night's game against the Orioles and ran into Tony Oliva on the concourse.  He and his friend got their picture taken with him.  They were pretty excited.

My wife and other son have yet to visit the new field.  We'll do our best to get them there later this year.

Last of My Younger Son's Items From TwinsFest

On Sunday (1/31), David skipped the first two autograph sessions. He hit in the home run derby, played a little whiffleball, got his face painted, and other kid's stuff. We all got in line pretty early for the Hardy/Kubel/Young signing, which also took up a good part of his morning. We got through that line though, which was lucky. By the time the session started, the line wrapped around the big square around autograph stations #1 and #2. So, people who were at the end of the line, could see the people signing, but then had to wrap all the way around the floor and back the other side. My wife said that not everyone in that line made it, which is rare for the stations on the floor.


David had Delmon Young sign a Twins program that he's had for a while. It looks really nice.

He had Kubel sign a picture.


And J.J, Hardy signed a 2009 Topps Heritage.

All four of us went through this line with a variety of items including a bat, some bobbleheads, cards and pictures. Because of this, our hands were full and I didn't get any pictures of the players signing like I usually do.

That left just one line, where Swarzak was supposed to be, but didn't attend. So that left Jeff Manship and Pat Neshek. David had them both sign a bat that he painted at one of the booths on the Metrodome floor.


That wraps up David's items from TwinsFest. You'll notice a lack of Hall of Famer/retired player autographs. David is really only interested in the current guys that he sees play. My older son, John, is really interested in the older players. I'll start showing his items next.

Grady Hatton Return

One return in the mail today. Grady Hatton signed his 1954 Topps.


Today I mailed off a 1954 Topps to Whitey Ford. I also bought a Yogi Berra '54 Topps that I'll send out in a while.