Saturday, January 30, 2010

The k-bro Twins Fest Report: 2010 Edition

I wasn't really planning on going to Twins Fest this year. I usually go every few years, and I went just last year. But it just so happened that I had nothing else going on, and I knew some of my Twitter friends would be there, so I figured "why not?" So Mom and I headed to the Dome and ultimately had a great time.

It was crowded. That shouldn't have surprised me, but I think it was more crowded than previous years. At least it felt like it.

First up was the Cuddyer photo line. We had a great time chatting with the gals in line near us. After a while of waiting, we got worried because the staff guy cut off the line right before us. But we stayed in line, and we were lucky enough to make it in just before Cuddy had to leave. Whew! And, boy, are we glad we made it! He couldn't have been a nicer, more polite guy -- super sweet. And, I have to tell you, he's better looking in person than any picture can do justice. But here's one anyway.

Next, it was time to buy grab bags. I love the grab bags because you can always get stadium-give-away items that they only give to kids. The kids' give-aways are always the best. The grab bags are great also because sometimes you can get an autographed item. I've never gotten a signed item before; I've got one now! Score! It was certainly worth the $15. 
Yeah, I don't recommend ever putting your stuff on the Field Turf -- all this was covered in little black pellets after I took this picture. And that stuff is static-y too, so it ain't coming off.
  1. Joe Mauer and Mike Redmond "autographed" chest-protector-shaped backpack
  2. Mother's Day give-away t-shirt 
  3. Dan Gladden bobblehead
  4. 2009 Team "autographed" bat
  5. 2009 Stats and Information Guide
  6. and the coup -- 2010 Target Field calendar with Pat Neshek's autograph. 
Oh, and when I was standing around near the Hall of Fame exhibit, Denard Span scurried by. When I told Mom, I nearly got flattened by a friend of my son's who was chasing him. I'm glad he did, because he led us to where Denard stopped and chatted with fans for a bit.

Then, we moved to the KSTP 1500 area to listen to Joe Mauer's interview. We weren't the only ones there. And no, he didn't say anything about a contract; nor did they ask him about it. Just the typical "feeling good...working out...ready for the season...like that JJ Hardy and Jim Thome are here...blah, blah, blah."
Joe's the one in the tan sweater.

After that, we headed down to the StarTribune booth because I wanted to meet Howard Sinker (A Fan's View). It was great to shake his hand; I was glad to meet him and thank him for linking to my food donation post back in September. I also got to meet Seth Stohs (SethSpeaks), John Bonnes (Twins Geek), and Topper Anton (Curve For a Strike) at the same time. It was a great few minutes -- I was pleased that I got to meet these guys because I admire their blogs so much. I wished I could just take our group and go have a beer or DQ or something and talk baseball. I think next year the Twins should set up a booth of all the cool bloggers. I'd visit.

We had a lunch break and ran into Betsy (For The Love of The Game) and Katie (KC's Baseball Blog) -- it was fun to see them again.

Then we headed to the photo line again to see who was there. Brendan Harris. Ok. Turns out that he was super nice and friendly too. And he's better looking in person than I thought he was. So I was happy with this photo too.
And after visiting a few more booths, that was about all we could handle. I don't know how people play sports on that stupid, pellety Field Turf. My legs were killing me. But I had a great time.

8 comments:

S.Rail said...

Oh, I miss these guys SO much! :)

Topper said...

That was great when we were all chatting together at the same time! I agree -- we should have a blogger's corner!

And why can't we get DQ and take it with us to get a beer? That would be ideal!

It was great meeting you K-bro!

On the road with.... said...

seriously, a blogger spot would be great. I'd make the trip to see the cool bloggers

Emily said...

You must have been just a few people in front of me in line! My friend and I were the very last two to get a picture with Cuddy.

John said...

It was so nice meeting you and your mom. We talked a lot about a blogger get together during spring training and I think Parker is working on something with Majors. We'll see you again then!

(And I'm all over DQ afterwards.)

Katie said...

It was great seeing you again yesterday! I agree about the meet up spot for the bloggers, I think that needs to be addressed ;-)

And I know what you mean about your legs killing you, mine are so sore today from walking on that "turf" for 8 hours lol

haasertime said...

sad I missed everyone.

Idea for next year: contest where everyone tries to take pictures of humorous Twins player look-a-likes.

writerjoel said...

It should be a good crowd. Besides the normal fare, 20,000 tickets went out to season ticket holders and a good percentage came, I'm sure.

Was overjoyed that the minor league guys got a lot of flesh pressing!