Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Meet Some Twins!
Winter in Minnesota can be a
drag. I was driving around Northern Minnesota on Sunday night and the
temperature reading in my car read ‘-20.’ So, on Monday morning, driving to
work, that same gauge read as low as ‘-31.’ I heard reports from people in the
areas that such readings were as long as ‘-40.’ Now that is cold! At the same
time in the Twin Cities, temperatures were above zero. Temperatures varied from
the Canadian border to the Metrodome by as much as 45
degrees.
But as you know, that is no
reason to stop thinking about baseball. In fact, if you’re a Twins fan, this is
really an exciting time of the year. Why? Hey, you’ve got a few opportunities
to meet some of the Twins players and coaches, and members of their media.
Each year, the Twins set out on
their Winter Caravan, making stops around the Upper Midwest. This year,
starting next Monday (January 12th), the Twins will be doing it
again. The Northwest Tour will include Gardy, Joe Vavra and Glen
Perkins. They will make stops in Little Falls, Wahpeton (ND), Grand Forks,
Thief River Falls, and many stops in between. Yes, Gardy
will be making another appearance in Fargo. I wonder if he will joke about
being more careful with his words there! The same day, the Northern Tour will
begin. Mike Redmond and Matt Guerrier
will travel to Duluth, Ely, Bemidji, Wadena and points in between, also making
several stops over a four day period. The following week, the Central Tour will
feature Kevin Slowey,
Jesse Crain and Bert Blyleven
and they will travel from Rochester to St. Cloud, to Marshall and many other
towns. At the same time, Scott Baker,
Nick Blackburn, Rick Anderson and Dan
Gladden will be working the Southern Tour. They will travel from Northfield
to New Ulm and throughout northern Iowa. For the full press release and list of
communities the Caravan will be traveling, click
here. I have attended three or four of these events (here and here, and here) and they truly are a
lot of fun. The players and others do a very good job connecting to their fans.
Then that weekend (January
23-25), the Twins will host Twins Fest at
the Metrodome. Now again, I have been to the last three Twins
Fest events (2006, 2007, 2008) and thoroughly
enjoyed myself. Twins Fest is an experience that I think all Twins fans should
experience at least once. They have things to do for people of all ages. Sure,
it’s a big collectibles show with cards, pictures, magazines and much more
available. There are going to be over 50 current, former and future Twins
players signing autographs throughout the weekend (specific schedule still to
be determined). There are games and events for younger kids. There is the ball
park concessions (WHAT? Admit it, you miss the dome dog!). There are locker
room and press box tours. There are a lot of events that make it worthwhile. I
am planning on ordering some tickets ahead of time because they are cheaper.
For those of you who have
purchased your copy of Minnesota Twins
Prospect Handbook – 2009 already, consider bringing your copy of the
book to any of these events. Specifically at Twins Fest, there are going to be
many players in attendance that are mentioned in the book. Don’t you think it
would be pretty neat to have them sign their profile? One great thing about
Twins Fest is that players with no major league experience are found signing in
the Down on the Farm section (an area where they highlight each of their
affiliates). As of right now, it appears that 12 minor leaguers will likely be
in attendance (although my guess is that they will add another 3-5 minor
leaguers as well). Those who are listed to be in attendance include Drew Butera, Cole Devries, Brian Duensing, Toby Gardenhire, BJ Hermsen, Kevin Mulvey, Trevor Plouffe, Ben
Revere, Andrew Schmiesing,
Anthony Slama,
Anthony Swarzak
and Steven Tolleson.
That is already a very impressive collection. Each of these players is included
in the book. Other prospects who are profiled in the book, but whose autograph
you will need to pay something for ($5 or maybe $10 for their autograph and
others in their group) include Philip
Humber, Bobby Korecky,
Matt Macri
and Jason Pridie.
And hey, if a player isn’t mentioned in the book, there are two pages for
Autographs in the book as well. Here is a challenge for the most ardent
autograph collector… see if you can get signatures of
each player in the Prospect Handbook. I would be impressed. (Oh, and if you do
get a book signed by any players, I definitely want to hear your stories, or if
they said anything about it!)
For those of your who have not
yet purchased your copy of Minnesota Twins
Prospect Handbook – 2009, or want a few more for your collection, you
can still get yours in time for Twins Fest. To do so, you will need to go to
Lulu.com, do a Search for Minnesota Twins, and purchase it. Another option is
to just click here
and then buy your copies! Of the 210 copies that I ordered to cover pre-orders
and some media requests, I now have just three copies left. So I just ordered
another 80 copies. I should have them before Twins Fest but would not be able
to get them to you on time.
And then the following week,
the final Winter Caravan group will head out. Denard Span, Jason Kubel and Tony Oliva will travel the Southwest Tour. That group will
also head into southwest Minnesota, but also cover most of eastern South
Dakota.
And then just a week or two
later, it will be time for pitchers and catchers to report. Then the other
position players will report. Then the WBC will start and spring training
games. And then Minor League spring training, and before we know it, Opening
Day!
Now don’t you feel just a
little bit warmer?
Any
thoughts? Please leave
your comments or experiences at these events here.