Twins vs Rockies... and Sesame Street!

The Colorado Rockies have not played a game in Minnesota since 2017. That was before I was living here, so I didn't get to go. The Twins last played in Colorado in 2014. I didn't go to any of those games either, but watched them all on TV. From Englewood. The Twins were supposed to go back to Denver in 2020, but Covid killed that version of the schedule.

But in 2022, the Rockies would be in town for a three game series in June. Laura and I got tickets to the game on Saturday June 25. When the schedule came out, it was an early afternoon game. For some reason, it was switched to a night game, so it could be nationally televised. Better for us, but it's kind of baffling why the executives at Fox deemed a Twins Rockies match-up, worthy of a nation-wide audience. For me, it would be my first time seeing the Rockies play the Twins, in Minnesota in almost 30 years. 

Before the Colorado Rockies flew to New York to open their inaugural season against the Mets, they stopped in Minnesota to play a couple of exhibition games against the Twins. I've talked about those games before, so that's not a today story.

I just wish I had a ticket stub for the June 25, 2022 game. Now everything is phone based, so we had tickets, but they weren't tickets. Just something that was read off our phone screens by a scanner. I'd rather have something printed on paper that I could have scanned myself...

Like cards!

Figured the rare live Twins vs Rockies event was a good excuse for a story about said game, and a chance to write about some of the new cards I've picked up over the last couple months. Meaning, I have another bunch of new singles to scan!

Still not going through any of the the new opened wax from the last few months. The big hits were pulled, and the rest of it returned to the wrappers and put on a shelf for sorting later. Joining the rest of the 2020 and 2021 cards I haven't looked at since the day I opened them.

Laura wasn't feeling well today, and we got a late start driving down to Target Field. We usually park in Ramp C, just beyond the centerfield walls. The game hadn't yet started when we arrived at the ramp, but the lower levels were all full. Finally finding some open spaces near the entrance to the roof. Why not drive up to the back of the giant Twins logo? There's elevators right next to it. Plus, I've never taken a picture of Target Field from this vantage point...

Wish it were cloudy, as the sun wasn't my friend for this shot. Wasn't easy to line up either, since the walls on the ramp roof are taller than me. All I could do was hold my phone above my head and try for a shot, without seeing what I was taking.

But I still like it. 

Before taking the elevators down to street level, I took a shot of Downtown Minneapolis. Target Center -House of Mediocrity and the Timberwolves- sits in the center. Opened in 1991, and was tan and light blue in color, until a couple of years ago, when it was painted brown and darker brown. 

To represent that it's past it's expiration point, in ownership's minds.

I did not know today was Sesame Street Day at Target Field!

Well, this changes things! In addition to showing off some new cards I've purchased, now I'm going to have to add in some of my favorite Sesame Street videos! Something new to talk about! Now I'm more interested in writing this story!

Couple months back, someone shared a link to this video, in the Dr. Demento group on facebook. I'm sure I'd forgotten about this at least 40 years ago. Immediately I plopped into into one of those wonderful YouTube to .mp3 converters, so I could add this to my work I-tunes playlist. Everything I like, in chronological order, where they fit into certain periods of my life. That playlist is 27 and a half days long now...

Speaking of 27...

Justin Morneau wore jersey number 27, during his rookie season of 2003. The former American League MVP was on his way to becoming an elite player, until his career was sidetracked by a severe concussion, in 2010. Morneau was was still good, but not to the level he was at before. Minnesota traded Morneau to Pittsburgh, at the trade deadline in 2013. He then played two seasons with the Rockies, and a partial season with the White Sox, to finish his career in 2016. From there he moved to the broadcast booth, eventually becoming the dry -but informative- primary sidekick to play by play with Dick (Bremer).

A recent visit to the LCS came as they were pricing some newly arrived singles. Shortly after walking in the door, I'm asked it I have any interest in these, for $2 a piece. Absolutely! Even though I already both the 2001 Bowman and 2001 Topps Update cards, they're significant enough to warrant duplicates. 

2004 SP Authentic Chirography - Jacque Jones

A $5 pickup, numbered 54/60. Love finding stuff like this, from the years (1997-2004) I didn't collect as much.

Even though I said I wasn't going to buy them at the rate I picked up last year's version, I've still been picking up the 2022 Topps Silver Pack singles I like, as I find them.

Of course I'm going to buy any Twins cards from the set.

And I'll never turn down an Expos card that looks like this...

Also buying any random players with a photo that catches my eye. Except Aaron Judge. I pulled Judge from a pack. I wouldn't pay the current market price for Judge cards.

And I fell for the immediate post No Hitter hype and paid $3 for this Reid Detmers rookie. I've liked Detmers since he was drafted in 2020. And thought the No Hitter in early May was a sign he was going to quickly become the star pitcher Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani need. (Well, the whole Angels team…) Detmers went back to AAA for a start and has pitched slightly below average for the Angels since that game. Coincidentally, they went on a long losing streak, fired their manager and are one of the more disappointing teams in baseball.

Staying in the American League West, I joined a Break at the LCS that included a box of 2022 Panini Absolute, a box of 2022 Topps Tribute, and a box of 2022 Topps Sterling. This was a higher end product break than they usually do, so it's more of a gamble. There was a box of 2022 Topps Series 2 thrown in, so you could at least walk away with some commons, if none of the high roller stuff hits.

I drew the Houston Astros... 

Blehh...

Well at least it will be fun to watch...

And I got nothing but crappy Astros Topps base cards, with the exception of Silver Pack bonus cards! Typically they throw in a few of the Topps Box Topper Bonus packs, from product they pack out in the store. Since 2002 Topps Series 2 was the hot release at the time of this break, they threw in a bunch of 2002 Topps Silver Packs. Which were relatively Astros heavy! 

They didn't notice it during the break. I didn't notice it after I brought the cards home. Only when I scanned the card, did I notice the Jake Meyers is a Gold Refractor. To the naked eye, you really can't tell a difference between it and the base. But Meyers is numbered out of 50. Now I feel better about how I fared in this break!

No difficulty in noticing the Green Refractor Jose Altuve, numbered to 99.

Before Meyers, this was my big hit of the Astros break.

A couple of years ago, I found that Laura was getting too wrapped up in watching the live coverage of the early Covid pandemic, on the 24 hour cable news cycle. After several days of it, I had to find something to counter all the negative reality she was consuming. To improve the quality of my "not at work" time, if nothing else...

While doing the dreaded weekend shopping at Target, I found these for $10 each!

Sesame Street Old School DVD Vol. 1 (1969-1974) & Vol. 2 (1974-1979).

After coming home, I put them in the PS4 we are using as a DVD player, and announced that we were watching Sesame Street instead of CNN, for the rest of the day. At least the political statements will be simple and subtle, and done with puppets made of colorful felt. Instead of...

You know, I can totally relate to falling down that same current events rabbit hole. Even today, I'm finding myself watching a little too much coverage of the January 6th hearings. Coupled with the rulings vomited out of the Supreme Court over the last few weeks. I'm disgusted and outraged with what the Lying Fat Orange Blundercunt did after the 2020 election. And I'm equally horrified by what the right wing religious wackos, said Blundercunt appointed to the Court, have done to the future of this country. I enjoy living in the 21st Century and don’t want to live in 1850, but that’s where we as a nation are...

I NEED SOME GOD DAMN SESAME STREET!!!

So I put in one of these DVD's, and settled down to write this story.

America's slide into fascism has definitely picked up speed over last 19 months, but at least I can still watch Jackie Robinson teach kids the alphabet!

And now we're right back talking about baseball!

I never found any packs of 2021 Topps Chrome Update in the wild, so I never bought any of the cards. However, the LCS had a few Purple Refractors from the set, deemed must purchase as soon as I saw them.

Trevor Larnach was having a decent season as our everyday left fielder, and Nick Gordon has become a dependable utility player, for the 2022 Twins. 

Alex Kirilloff started slow and was demoted to AAA St. Paul for about 6 weeks. He's been hitting better since his recall in mid-June.

Despite leaving late, Laura and I were sill in our seats by first pitch. She was wearing a Twins hat and Rockies shirt, to show her split allegiance. To not show favoritism to either of my two favorite current teams, I had to represent the Expos, wearing my Vladimir Guerrero jersey. 

Former Tampa Bay Ray and Pittsburgh Pirate, Chris Archer, was pitching for the Twins tonight. He has no Twins cards yet, and I don't feel like digging through Rays cards now. So here's one of our other young starting pitchers (and recent card pickup), who was doing surprisingly well, before also going down to injury.

2022 Topps Bailey Ober

Another visit to the LCS saw a bunch of 2015 Bowman Yellow Parallels, added to the team sorted singles boxes. Pretty sure the Yellow Parallels were added to retail Blasters and Jumbo packs in 2015. Either way, I picked up a nice stack of Bowman Yellow 1st cards, to file in where appropriate. One of them was...

2015 Bowman Yellow - Giovanny Urshela

Urshela has done a fine job in replacing Josh Donaldson at third. At this point in Donaldson's career, there isn't a great difference in offensive production, and Urshela has been a slightly better defensive player. Had no problems with Donaldson, or the Twins acquiring Urshela to replace him. Gio has played up to my expectations so far.

2021 Stadium Club Chrome - Gilberto Celestino

Not sure how many of this card I already have, but it was worth a $2 price. There are at least 6 boxes worth of unsorted 2021 Stadium Club Chrome on my shelf, that I'll get to eventually. Celestino has been a great caddy to Byron Buxton in center, and filled in well at the other outfield spots. Still very young, I don’t like that he's losing so much playing time, riding the bench in Minnesota, than getting key plate appearances in AAA. He's very talented and should be starting. But there's no place for him to start consistently here, and he's proven his value in his current role. 

2018 Bowman Chrome Refractor - Nick Gordon

$2 for Buxton's other caddy?

That's not even a question!

2021 Leaf Draft & 2021 ProSet Baseball - Jose Miranda

Miranda caught everyone by surprise with his monster 2021 season, split between AA Wichita and AAA St. Paul. Promoted to the big leagues in May, he's held his own after a slow start. Showing some power while filling in at both first and third base. Miranda has very few cards to this point. These are my first Miranda cards, coming from Panini's small prospect boxed sets. Both of which were picked up back in April, at Book Review, in the Hillcrest Shopping Center, Rochester, MN.

A few days ago, I learned the man that owned and ran this store died of a sudden illness. Book Review is now closed. Which is sad, he was a nice and helpful guy, and his store was pretty damn cool!

2019 Bowman Chrome Refractor - Royce Lewis

Lewis made his Major League Debut in May 2022, when shocking Twins shortstop Carlos Correa got hurt. Lewis played a great shortstop in Correa’s absence, showing why the Twins thought so highly of his ability to stick at the position. Batting .300 with 2 home runs in 12 games. After Correa came back from the Injured List, Minnesota tried putting Lewis in center field, keeping his bat in the lineup, while Buxton DH'd. He caught a fly ball in the first inning with no problem. In the second inning, he made a leaping catch against the wall... 

And tore his ACL...

The same ACL he tore in February 2021, causing him to miss the entire season. This time he will be out another year... Guess now is the time to pick up more of his cards with people now dumping them. I'll still pay $3 for this without batting an eye. 

Perhaps the Twins need to coat the outfield walls of Target Field with Nerf. Those walls keep taking Buxton down, and have now wounded Royce Lewis...

You know what this calls for?

Richard Pryor was a really odd choice for Sesame Street...

At least he put a little more personality into the alphabet than Jackie Robinson did.

I don't have many new Rockies cards to show off. Anything new that I've picked up is pretty much still trapped in the wrappers they were first revealed in. The Rockies box of team sorted singles, at the LCS, doesn't keep much for new arrivals. No one brings in Rockies cards, and I buy pretty much anything that shows up as soon as it is placed inside.

Now with their biggest star is gone, I'm reduced to picking up the old Nolan Arenado's that still show up...

Like this 2020 Topps 2030 insert and a 2014 Gypsy Queen, for a buck a piece.

Or this beautiful 2021 Panini Spectra Charlie Blackmon. Blackmon is still with Colorado. Filling the DH role in the lineup. Which is probably best for him at this stage in his career. His 2022 numbers are up from the last 2 years, so it's good that the last standing "Face of the Franchise" is still up to the task.

Always been a Charlie Blackmon fan. Here he is hitting a Chris Archer pitch to shortstop, where Correa threw him out, to Kirilloff at first. In the bottom of the first Laura expressed confusion. The scoreboard listed Blackmon as a DH, and she thought Blackmon was playing second base, because the Rockies second baseman also had a big beard and a mullet…

But that would be...

2019 Bowman's Best - Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers is the Mini-Blackmon, a second baseman who's a few inches shorter than Charlie.

Later she was confused again, by another Rockie with a beard and a mullet. But that was left fielder Connor Joe (the Asian Blackmon). Connor Joe is quickly becoming my new favorite Rockie, and I really should have dug through my 2022 Topps or 2022 Heritage packs for Connor Joe cards...

So we'll go with this... A screen capture of Connor Joe, from the Rockies promotional video to show the brand new Nike Brand Hometown Series by Nike alternate Nike uniforms. On Sale Now!!! This picture doesn't do those uniform's horribleness justice. They're white and a lighter shade of Forest Green. These Nike Hometown Series outfits are just plain awful. 

2022 Gypsy Queen Teal Autograph - Deivi Garcia

Here's a card that was recently pulled out of a retail pack, and Top Loadered immediately afterward. I have a few Garcia autographs now, so I hope he pans out beyond the typical Yankee hype. This one is numbered out of 150. 

2022 Gypsy Queen Autograph - Curtis Terry

Terry (or U T 2) has not yet played for the Twins. He appeared in a few games for the Texas Rangers last season, and was signed as a minor league free agent over the winter. Currently playing outfield with the St. Paul Saints, I was amused that Topps Photoshopped a Twins jersey on him, and had it printed in time to be inserted into packs. It's not a sticker autograph, so Terry signed the actual card. Interesting window into the timing of when cards are printed. This one set me back $10. Which is a little steep for a non-prospect, but I liked the card.

Good to know!

There’s the Colorado Rockies dugout. Not a whole lot of players inside were Rockies when Laura and I were watching them every day, living in Englewood, Colorado.

I miss Englewood, Colorado...

2021 Stadium Club - Ryan McMahon

McMahon was just getting established in the league in 2017 and 2018. I didn't think much of his first couple years in the Majors. Rockies management was high on him, but I didn't see it. He's played mostly third base since Arenado was traded, and done a decent job there, replacing a superstar.

2021 Topps Heritage - Garrett Hampson

Hampson was a third round draft pick in 2016, and made his debut with the Rockies in 2018, shortly after we moved to Minnesota. I remember the name. He's been an average utility player, with some power, for the Rockies. He played center field for Colorado today. 

2021 Topps Update - CJ Cron

Cron, a former Twin (2019) played first base for the Rockies. He was also the only Rockie to get a base hit during today’s game. Minnesota won 6-0 on a one hit combined shutout, by Twins pitchers: Archer, Jharel Cotton, Griffin Jax and Tyler Thornburg. 

This video amused me as a kid... Two little girls are playing with their dollhouse, when two cats invade the house and wreck everything. A few years ago, I read the dollhouse in this video was built by Jim Henson, for his daughters. The two cats belonged to Henson's family and the entire video was shot in his living room.

A few years back, I used this screen capture from it as my facebook avatar.

I think it rules.

Above our seats, there was a monitor showing the instant replays, extra helpful for balls and strikes. Minnesota got their run in the bottom of the first. Luis Arraez hit a double, followed by a Byron Buxton triple. I thought the rout may be on, but (Rockies pitcher) Antonio Senzatela got the next three batters out.

Doing stuff like getting Carlos Correa to ground out to third.

Max Kepler behind him, didn't get a hit either.

2016 Finest Refractor - Carlos Correa

I'll now buy a Carlos Correa card when I see a nice one that's cheap. $2 for a 2016 Finest Refractor is a purchase I'll make today that I wouldn't have six months ago. Next year, when Correa is playing for a new large market team, I'll still buy any and all of his Twins cards I can find. Just because of the novelty of us signing him.

Joe Ryan pitched the night before this game (he did well, even though he didn't get the win), and was being interviewed on the TV broadcast. We were able to see that on the monitor above, but it had no volume, so we couldn't hear what he was saying. Ryan came to the Twins from Tampa, in last year's Nelson Cruz trade. Quickly becoming my favorite Twins pitcher due to his pitch arsenal and the giant white guy pseudo afro, which has been significantly trimmed for 2022.

But I'm picking up all of his 2022 cards as I find them: Topps, Gypsy Queen, Donruss Blue Foil...

2022 Diamond Kings Rookies.

Just look at that glorious mane!

2022 Donruss Pink Fireworks Autograph - Joe Ryan

This one set me back a few bucks. It's my first Ryan autographed card, so I'll justify the price tag. Worth a premium to me for the warm fuzzies produced by seeing the retro-1988 Donruss design. I'm vulnerable when you appeal to my childhood...

More stuff like this!

After the third inning, it was time for a nutrition break. Brought to you by the fine folks running the Kramarczuk's Sausage booth. The bratwurst was pretty good, though not cooked to my preferred state of near-burntness. Laura had a cheddar infused smoked sausage with sauerkraut, but it had Caraway seeds in the kraut, which was a no go for her. 

With baseball, and card collecting in particular, you always keep an eye on what's coming next. From injured players that you hope are coming back to help the team, to recent draft picks, years away from helping the Major League team.

2021 Topps Heritage Minors Autograph - Kalai Rosario & 2021 Prizm Wave Autograph - Jorge Alcala

Alcala was a promising bullpen piece that's been out all year due to injury, but it's such a nice looking card. Couldn't resist it for $10. Rosario was a 2020 4th Round Draft pick, lots of potential, but a risk. Still, that's worth $5 to me. 

Speaking of lots of potential, but plenty of risk, how about a major superstar's baby brother?

Bryan Acuna signed with the Twins as an international free agent, in January 2022. If he ends up being anything like his older brother, Ronald Jr., Minnesota got a steal. Acuna has an autographed Bowman Chrome card that shows him with the Twins. It's only available autographed, so I don't own one. I'd love to, but am unwilling to cough up the $100 plus it would cost to buy one. The 16 year old kid is still too far away from the Majors to make that kind of price commitment.

Panini included Acuna in both of the 2021 Leaf Draft and 2021 ProSet Baseball sets, despite him not having signed with Minnesota when they were printed.

Both of these 50 card sets have identical checklists, and similar pictures. They came packaged in their own Blaster style box, each containing the full 50 card set and three randomly selected autographed cards. I like that idea better than making packs for something like these products. Here's the complete set and three hits that you would have gotten in it were in pack form. $25 a piece is the right price for stuff like this. 

2021 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractor Autograph - Cade Povich

Povich recently appeared in the Twins bin for $10. Mine! Minnesota's 3rd Round Pick in 2021, out of the University of Nebraska, he's been putting up pretty good numbers for High A Cedar Rapids (Iowa). His low 90's fastball and impressive 12-6 curveball could make him an eventual mid-rotation starter. 

2010 Bowman Draft - Alex Wimmers

Maybe better than Wimmers ended up? Well, I liked the tree filled backdrop. I likely have a few of these cards already, but I needed another more than I needed fifty cents...

Attendance wasn't abnormally high tonight, but there was enough that navigating the Target Field concourse was a pain...

And then what happens when people walk slowly in front of you, stop and block your path, then break left in front of you as you were trying to get by?

It ain't bad to get mad!

Still mark out for that duck...

(Can't say it didn't influence Bob...)

Maybe this guy needs to get mad?

2022 Bowman Chrome Hi-Fi Futures - Austin Martin

A $3 pick up the same day I pulled it from a 2022 Bowman pack. Oh well... Martin is repeating the year at AA Wichita, in hopes that it would tap the power in his game. So far, it's had the opposite effect. His slugging is down nearly 100 points from 2021, when it was already low. He's still taking walks, cutting his strikeouts and stealing bases. But the lack of power is somewhat alarming. Austin Martin is too good of a prospect to not put up big numbers, right?

Gotta be a better hitter than Travis Lee!

1999 Skybox EX - Travis Lee

Another 50 cent card.

May already have it.

Whatever...

Besides buying singles, I have been picking up unopened product, although not at the pace of usual years. The cost and availability of new product has been tougher this year, with the price of everything skyrocketing. That being said, I've opened a few 2022 Donruss retail jumbo packs and the equivalent of two Hobby boxes. In addition to a Lars Nootbaar autograph (that I didn't scan for some reason), my last round of Hobby packs included:

2022 Donruss Signature Series - Tylor Megill

Not to be confused with Twins relief pitcher Trevor Megill.

I don't have his autograph, but the Mets have the better Megill anyways.

2022 Donruss Hit List - Freddie Freeman

Absolutely not a Braves (or Dodgers) fan, but these Hit List cards look amazing. They're numbered to 999, which seems way too many for as cool as it looks. Even picked up a Brian Reynolds 2022 Donruss Hit List on my last visit to the LCS. It was also 50 cents. That's even worth it for a great looking Pirates card!

For some reason, I thought Teeny Little Super Guy was an old SNL sketch.

Sesame Street featured a lot of cool stop-motion animation back in the 1970's.

Finally was paying attention with the camera ready when the Sesame Street Night logo appeared on the out of town scoreboard. Couldn't tell you who was Big Bird's biggest fan though...

Mark Fidrych wasn’t in the house…

Years back, I picked up a used copy of the Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD. It promised clips from all (then) 40 years of the show's run. It was fairly decent, although once everything was overtaken by that crack-head muppet, Elmo, it quickly became unwatchable. Watching this made me decide that Sesame Street was really only good until about 1980.

It came from Tradesmart. An excellent second hand media store, full of used and new movies, music, books, video games, comic books, toys and pop culture nonsense. Places like this were always fun to go kill an hour or two. It was located inside the right half of an old KMart, in Lakewood, Colorado. I was pretty sad when Tradesmart closed in October, 2016. The building sat empty for nearly a year, when it reopened as 2nd & Charles. A store that features the same type of inventory. A quick look at the Googles tells me this location is still open as 2nd & Charles today. That kind of shocks me, but cool.

Featured on the Sesame Street: 40 Years DVD, and a main reason I bought it:

If I was playing in today's game, this would have been my walk-up music.

There's something quite sinister and haunting about this piece of music...

I love it!

Didn't get to see Byron Buxton hit a home run tonight, but I did see his first inning triple to score Luis Arraez. And that was good enough. Since I'm always in the market for new Buxton singles, here's a few more recent additions.

2022 Topps - Byron Buxton

This actually my first 2022 Topps Series 2 card. Picked up out of the Twins bin for $1, in case I didn't get one in the packs I bought, the first day I saw them on sale. Well, I did get one in those packs, so it's a good duplicate to have. Plus it continues Buxton's streak of having really nice looking base cards in Topps flagship sets.

2022 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection - Byron Buxton

Jersey card for $5? Sure!

2022 Topps Tribute Purple Dual Relic - Byron Buxton

Bat chunk and jersey card, serial numbered to 50, for $10? No doubt!

Even if he struck out in this plate appearance.

It was even a pleasant surprise to Buxton gracing the cover of the August 2022 Becketts. National hobby press for any Twins player just doesn't happen very often. I don't think a Twins has appeared on a Becketts cover since Johan Santana in August, 2005. Joe Mauer made the cover of the February, 2003 issue. No one else since…

If you only listen to the audio from this piece, it puts completely different visuals in your head.

Looking straight up, from my temporary seat in the men's room, I found something startling about the Target Field plumbing system. Pipes labeled for ventilation and sanitary sewer flow dangerously close to pipes flowing with soda and beer. Hopefully there's not an accidental switch up at the station, and someone on the club level gets served a frosty mug of ice cold dump, instead of Budweiser...

If we were in Colorado, it would be Coors!

Would still probably taste the same...

Here’s last year's card of today's Rockies starter, since I didn't dig up any 2022 cards of...

2021 Topps - Antonio Senzatela

Senzatela was pitching for Colorado back when we still lived there. Along with current rotation-mates, German Marquez (who pitched Friday night) and Kyle Freeland (who didn't face Minnesota), were three of the five in the Rockies rotation since 2016. Along with Jon Gray, who left for the Texas Rangers, after the 2021 season. The Rockies haven't had great quality starting pitchers, but they've all been there for a while now.

Antonio Senzatela throws a pitch in the 4th inning.

Senzatela kind of sounds like it could be the name of a famous opera singer.

Which brings to mind something like this...

More great stop-motion animation from the earliest days of Sesame Street.

Here's a great card from the later days of the Montreal Expos...

1999 Upper Deck - Vladimir Guerrero

I know I have this card. Probably 3 or 4 of them by now. But for 50 cents, it's worth adding another. 

2021 Leaf Lumber - Pedro Martinez

This beauty sat on a shelf at the LCS for several visits before I noticed it's high Expo-ness qualities. Unlicensed, so it had no logos. But those are Montreal's old road jersey stripes on the arms. And that’s definitely Pedro’s Montreal era mullet. Serial numbered 1/25, it's certainly going to mine, even if it's $30. 

This one's got some really weird lyrics to get stuck in your head at work...

Which it does…

Couldn't see a whole lot of the stadium seating areas from our seats, but there was a pretty decent attendance for a Saturday night. Those here didn't get to see much offense from Colorado. But they probably weren't here to see that.

While not an offensive juggernaut either, the Twins have had decent run production all season. They've also received almost no contribution from slugging first baseman, Miguel Sano. Before getting injured in late April, Sano was batting a meager .093, with 1 home run in 65 plate appearances. He struck out in 21 of those. Actually a slight improvement over his normally astronomical strikeout totals. 

Sano is currently on a rehab assignment, and could be activated by the Twins in the next couple of weeks. Why? I'm not sure… Everyone who has replaced Sano in the Twins lineup this season has played better than him. Minnesota is in first place, and trying to take the division title. Who do you take out of our lineup and replace them with someone far worse? I get that Sano is being paid $10 million plus for 2022 (Sano’s 2023 contract option for $13 million will absolutely be turned down), so the Twins would like to recoup some value from it, but at this point I’d just cut him loose and take the salary hit.

Twins collectors seem to be on that page...

2015 Elite Future Threads - Miguel Sano

The Twins boxes at the LCS have been filling up with decent Sano cards, since he went on the injured list. I’ve probably picked up 20 or so Sano’s, of varying quality, for far less than they used to go for. 

Minnesota definitely needs to bring back those sweet pinstripe alternate uniforms… 

2016 Gypsy Queen Autograph - Miguel Sano

That is one of the least scribbley Sano autographs I’ve seen. 

But that’s enough about Sano. Perhaps I’ll do a big Sano Whatever once his Twins career is over.

Let’s talk about a Twins player (and Sano replacement) who is the anti-Sano is every possible way...

2021 Topps Gold & 2022 Gypsy Queen Burnt Umber - Luis Arraez

In the context of Gypsy Queen, I like that the parallels numbered to 399, are called Burnt Umber. And the Topps Gold are simply Topps Gold. One of Topps worst designs EVER, numbered to 2021. In the case of Luis Arraez, it's still worth $4 to me. Just as the Burnt Umber was worth the same price. I may have even gone $5 on the Gypsy Queen. It's a very nice card.

2004 Leaf Exhibit - Rod Carew

As is this one. Which set me back $10... But I'd never seen one before, and it was numbered 40/50. I did like how Donruss was using that very old school Twins logo on cards in 2001-2005. Would like to know which stadium this photo was taken at, can't recognize it. A year on the photo would help. Doubt it's much later than 1970.

Carew has worked with the Twins as an assistant batting coach, on and off, over the years. Over the last few years, he's spent a lot of time working with Arraez, and it's paying off. His batting average has been hovering around .350 this year, and he's leading the league in on base percentage. Arraez has seen a modest increase in power, and has played a decent first base, as an unlikely replacement for Miguel Sano.

2017 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autograph - Luis Arraez

Strangely enough, this card has been sitting in the case of my favorite LCS, for several years. I finally decided to buy it a week into the 2022 season. Since I already had an Arraez autographed card, this one seemed less important. Mainly because I thought the signature looked sloppy, and it took away from the card.

2020 Topps Baseball Stars Autograph - Luis Arraez

A couple of years ago, I bought this Arraez autograph, from the same case as his 2017 Bowman Chrome 1st (a much stronger "investment" card than this one), because I simply liked it more. This one was $25, the Bowman Chrome was $30. Which played zero part in my decision.

When you look at the two signatures, it's like they are from two different people.

Luis Arraez' signature is still evolving. This newest autograph example is from 2022. Target Field is selling these 8" x 10"s, for $55 (not too bad of a price). But the frame is an additional $45.

That's where they get ya! 

I've never been able to hear the word "nectarine" and not think of this sketch. Especially since Laura has been adding nectarines to the grocery list, a lot more lately. Maybe we should move to the planet Snoo?

We haven't been buying much garlic though...

For the Twins, Kyle Garlick was batting, with 2 runners on base. Not sure if I have any cards of Garlick as a Twin. The only card of his I can think of is a 2021 Topps, that shows him with the Dodgers. He only appeared very briefly with Los Angeles, but has found a nice spot coming off the bench for the Twins. He doesn't hit lefties much at all, but has a decent amount of success against right-handed pitching. Garlick didn't get a hit in this at-bat, but he seems to have a knack for getting key hits late in the games.

If you look very closely, you'll see Alex Kirilloff on deck. After a very slow, Sano-like start to the 2022 season, Kirilloff found himself back in AAA St. Paul for about a month. His early season batting troubles led to an equally Sano-like quantity of newly arriving Kirilloff cards, to the Twins box at the LCS. And they're a much better buy than Sano!

2016 Bowman Draft & 2017 Bowman Chrome - Alex Kirilloff

Already had them. But I'll gladly take a couple more.

2021 Panini Chronicles Black & 2021 Bowman Sterling - Alex Kirilloff

I didn't have either of these. $2 each says now I do.

Kiriloff didn't do anything of note here, but has been hitting better since returning from temporary exile in St. Paul, MN. 

2022 Topps Inception Patch Autograph - Alex Kirilloff

His improvements came around the time I picked up this beautiful card. Amongst the wave of fresh Kirilloff to hit the store, this was a must have. Almost as awesome as the Lars Nootbaar Patch Autograph, that same store sold me a few months ago. I still wont drop the type of money it costs for unopened product like this, but I'll gladly pick up the nice looking hits for a fraction of the cost.

This one has been part of the I-tunes music library for over 12 years now...

Laura wasn't feeling too well at the game, and was thinking she needed to go home.

A couple of weeks ago, I was picking up a prescription at the Walgreens for her, and they had one Blaster of 2021 Optic left, behind the photo department counter. Those are always fun, why not? Now if I can figure out how to describe it to the kid working, so he can understand what I'm asking for. Never as easy as it should have been...

2021 Optic - Alex Kirilloff & 2021 Optic Pink Prizm - Trevor Larnach

Two Twins out of 28 total cards. Already had the Kirilloff, but didn't have the Pink Prizm parallel of Larnach. Who was having a decent season as our left fielder, before injuries took him out for a couple months. 

2021 Optic T-Minus - Vladimir Guerrero & 2021 Optic Silver Prizm - Yoelqui Cespedes

Hey! That's an Expo! And a really nice looking parallel of a White Sox prospect, that may or may not be good someday. The Blaster also had a Wander Franco Rated Prospect base card. I didn't scan it though, despite it being the "best" card in the box. Frankly I'm tired of seeing Wander Franco cards. It went into a Top Loader, then into a box. Yes, I'm a collector, but overhype of anyone burns me out.

Laura and I left the game at the end of the 6th inning. By the time we made our way back to the car, at the top of the parking ramp, the Twins were batting in the bottom of the 7th. We could hear the fans cheering, but couldn't see anything going on.

Before getting back in the car, I decided to revisit my "behind MN Twins sign" photo from earlier. With the soon to be setting sun, changing the lighting behind the front. Really like how this turned out.

Minnesota won the game 6-0, shutting out the Rockies on only one hit. (CJ Cron, in the second inning.) It ended just as we were getting home. Kind of hoped to watch the end on TV, but oh well...

It was still a good capper to an excellent baseball day. A few hours before the Twins Rockies matchup, I met my mom at the LCS. We were looking for a box to split. The option most appealing was 2022 Gypsy Queen, but no sealed boxes remained. There was a box on the shelf, but it was missing 1 pack. 

That still works. 

We had lunch and split the packs, draft style, 11 a piece. She got the first of two autographs in the box, a Marcus Semien Blue parallel. Very nice card of an All Star. Much better than “U T 2”, any day. The tenth of her 11 packs had the second autograph of the box...

2022 Gypsy Queen Autograph - Juan Soto

Mind blowing!

I've been wanting a Juan Soto autograph since he broke into the league, and I came very close to pulling one from a pack... But she said she didn't need it, and knew I really wanted it, so I could have it. Well, that's really cool! In exchange, she got the extra odd pack, 23 of 24, since the 24th had been previously sold to someone we don't know. We were saving that one for the end, the person who drew the worst cards from the partial box, got it.

There was nothing of note in that pack.

A 2021 Bowman Chrome Luis Arraez single card I bought earlier that day had to be demoted from it's Top Loader, in order to protect Soto, on his ride to his new home.

I haven't been ranking these Sesame Street videos as I've been linking them. So I can't say this is the best, the greatest, or my favorite, but it ranks high up there in all three of those categories.

The buzzing feedback and tone of that repeating "H" just works for me. Even as a little kid, I wished there was an actual TV channel that was just this. I still would watch the hell out of this, even today. The sound is jarring, yet comforting. I like it a lot!

Whomever wrote this sketch deserves a trophy or something. 

Well, I wrote all of this post, and it's not worthy of any sort of trophy. Maybe a participation ribbon, I did have to be present in order to write it...

This post has been brought to you by the letter: H.

And the number... Uhhh... 2...

Heheheheheh... He's eating a number 2... 

Sorry...