My Son's 2014 All Star FanFest Autographs

I found a little more time to get some of our FanFest autographs scanned.  This weekend has been very busy as both my sons have baseball tournaments. 6 games between them so far.

Our first line of FanFest was Gaylord Perry.  My son got a ball signed and I got a 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game signed for him as well.

As I posted before, we were luck to get through the Juan Marichal line as well.  Again, my son got a ball signed and I got him a 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game signed.

 After Marichal, we went through the Orlando Cepeda line.  John got another ball signed.

The next line was Randy Bush, and John got a bobblehead signed for me.  I'll post my autographs later.  Then, John went to the Jim Perry line.  He got through that line twice in the time it took me to get through the Doug Mientkiewicz line once (Minetkiewicz was 25 minutes late).  Then we both went through the Perry line again, so John got three autographs from him, including a 1964 Topps, a John Wheeldon SuperValu giveaway print, and a SGA 1965 World Series bobblehead.

That's it for my son's autographs.  Next I'll post the few that I got.

Cole DeVries Return

Last week I sent a card to Cole DeVries who lives here in Minnesota.

Today I received the 2013 Topps Heritage that he signed for me.

I've been taking some pictures and scanning some of the autographs we got at FanFest but I'm not quite done.  I'll probably complete it in the next couple of days and post them then.

All Done

I made it through the Doug Mientkiewicz line after my son had been through the Jim Perry line twice!

Then we went through the Perry line again.

We bought a few souvenirs and a few bags of mini donuts and headed home.

It was a pretty long day but we had fun. We ended up with:

Gaylord Perry x2
Juan Marichal x2
Orlando Cepeda x2
Randy Bush x2
Doug Mientkiewicz x1
Jim Perry x4

It wasn't nearly as crowded as I feared it would be. I'd compare it to a Sunday crowd at TwinsFest.

Later this week I'll post pictures of our autographs.

Where Is Doug?

So far, Doug Mientkiewicz is 25 minutes late for his autograph signing.

Made It Through The Randy Bush Line

I got both my bobbleheads signed (Thanks to my son). Now I'm waiting in my last line of the day: Doug Mientkiwicz.

Waiting For Randy Bush

We got through Cepeda's line quickly, then walked around a bit. Now we're waiting in line for Randy Bush.

My son is going to help me out in this line and get one of my bobbleheads signed for me.

I got cards signed for him at the Perry and Marichal lines.

Wow, That Was Close!!

We were in good shape with about 10 minutes to go in Juan Marichal's line when Sid Hartman shows up and sticks a microphone in Marichal's face, bringing the line to a grinding halt.
We ended up being the very last two people to get his autograph.

We grabbed something to eat, looked around at the stuff for sale, and now we're in line for Orlando Cepeda.

He starts signing in just over an hour. There are about 50 people in front off us.

Jack Morris On The Radio

While we're waiting for Juan Marichal, we're listening to Jack Morris on KTWN.
We're getting close, and there's just under 30 minutes left. I think we'll make it.

Waiting For Juan Marichal

The line's pretty long. We're trying to calculate if we'll make it or not.

Gaylord Perry

We got through Gaylord Perry's line quickly and he offered to pose for a picture with my son.

All autographs also come with MLB authentication.

In Line For Gaylord Perry

There are about 30 people in front of us so maybe we'll have a chance to see Juan Marichal after this.

In Line For All Star FanFest

We're about 20 minutes early and standing in line to get in.

This sure beats the 20 below wind chills we usually endure at TwinsFest.

Harmon Killebrew Signed Bobblehead

At the Valley West card show today I picked up a Harmon Killebrew signed bobblehead, with JSA authentication.

It's the Stadium Give Away (SGA) version of the 40th anniversary of the 1965 World Series team.  I have the Hurricane Katrina set version signed already, but this was offered at an attractive price so I bought it.

I also bought the Jim Perry version, unsigned, for my son to get autographed at the All Star FanFest tomorrow.  I'm hoping to get Randy Bush to sign both his Twins World Series bobbleheads.  Anything else will be a bonus.

Tom Brunansky 1985 All Star Bobblehead

I walked by a coworker's desk yesterday and noticed a Tom Brunansky bobblehead that was recently given away at Target Field.

I knew he was a Minnesota Wild fan, but I didn't think he was really a baseball fan.  So, I asked him if he wanted to sell it and he did.

The quality of the paint is pretty poor.  I wonder if it's mine, or if they're all this bad.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Valley West card show to pick up a few bobbleheads.  One signed, and one unsigned.  My older son and I are going to the All Star FanFest on Sunday, so I'll look for more items to get signed.

I'm mostly interested in getting bobbleheads signed by Randy Bush and Doug Mientkiewicz, but we're also going to see Al Newman, Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal, Gene Larkin, Fergie Jenkins, Orlando Cepeda and Jim Perry.  Not a bad line up!

I have no idea what to expect for crowd size or if I'll be able to get autographs by all of them, but since Randy Bush is signing for 2 hours by himself, I should be able to add his signature to my 1987
World Series bobblehead set.

Anyone else going?

Justin Morneau Bobbleheads

Today I stopped by FanHQ at Ridgedale Mall to pick up the Justin Morneau bobbleheads I dropped off earlier for their private signing with him in Milwaukee.

They did a great job and they both look really nice.  Now I need to get Mauer to sign his. 

I'm making pretty good progress on my bobblehead collection and am hoping to add a couple more at the All Star FanFest next weekend.  I'm going Sunday so I'm hoping to get Randy Bush on his 1987 bobblehead as well as Doug Mientkiewicz on his SGA bobblehead.

Josh Willingham Cleats

Earlier this week I stopped in to FanHQ at Ridgedale to drop off a couple of Morneau bobbleheads for a signing they are having.

While I was there, I took a look at a pair of Josh Willingham game-used, autographed cleats that I had seen on eBay.  I had been considering them, but the price in the store was significantly less than on eBay so I bought them.

I also bought a blank Metrodome seatback to use as a project piece at next year's TwinsFest, like my boys did this year.  I was jealous of theirs, so I decided to start one of my own.

I haven't sent out any requests for a while so things will continue to be slow.  I should get back my Morneau bobbleheads next weekend though.

1997 Twins Team Ball

I recently received a 1997 Twins team ball that I bought on eBay.  This wasn't a great team.  Their record was 68-94 and they were 4th place in the American League Central.  Just one game ahead of the Royals.

Sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

There are some interesting signatures on this ball though.  Paul Molitor, Chuck Knoblauch, Dick Such and Todd Walker are the ones I was interested in.

I got this ball for less than the price of a new, unsigned major league ball, so this isn't going to pay the for my retirement.

 Tom Kelly (sweetspot), Scott Aldred (left) and Scott Stahoviak (right)

 

 Eddie Guardado, Rick Aguilera, Mike Trombley, Greg Colbrunn, Frankie Rodriguez, Chuck Knoblauch, Rich Becker

 Denny Hocking, Todd Walker, Terry Steinbach, Greg Swindell, Matt Lawton, Pat Meares

 Roberto Kelly, Todd Ritchie, Marty Cordova, Paul Molitor, Ron Coomer, Greg Myers, Ron Gardenhire

Bob Tewksbury, Rick Stelmaszek, Brad Radke, Chris Latham, Scott Ullger, Gregg Olson, Dick Such

There were several signatures that I couldn't identify, but the great members over at sportcollectors.net helped me out in no time.

Gene Stephens Return

On Saturday I received a return from Gene Stephens that I sent back in February.

Mr. Stephens signed two 1956 Topps (I had enclosed one for him to keep) and a 1959 Topps.

Don Johnson and Bob Duliba Returns

Yesterday I received a couple returns.

Don Johnson signed his 1952 Topps for me and also included a signed note.

Bob Duliba signed his 1960, 1963 and 1964 Topps.

Updating The Basement

I recently changed out the Joe Nathan signed jersey that used to hang on my wall with a Jason Kubel jersey.  I'm really happy to see Kubel back with the team, and he's playing pretty well.  He's no Gold Glove outfielder, but he's good enough and he's brought some offense to the team.

I have signed jerseys from Rod Carew and Torii Hunter that I'd love to display, but I just don's have the wall space.