Twins vs Angels 2022 Topps Chrome Museum Fire Hooray Awesome!

Here's a mess that I'm calling the Twins vs Angels 2022 Topps Chrome Museum Fire. Pretty much because all of those topics will be covered here. Mixed in with my reflections on the last Twins game I attended in 2022. 

A couple of weeks ago, Laura asked me if I wanted to go to the Twins game on September 24, 2022. I had just gotten home from work, and she had been watching the game, which had just ended. During they game, they mentioned some sort of promotional package deal with tickets and free hats and free pants, or something. She already said the game was against the Angels, so I was thinking back if I'd ever seen Mike Trout play in person. I know I hadn't seen Shohei Ohtani before, and I was definitely interested in that. Her description of the promotional deal lost me. Didn't matter anyway, I don't need any sort of deal sweetener beyond Twins game, or "against Trout and Ohtani".

While not overly cold, there had been a light rain falling for most of the day. It was predicted to be finished around 7pm, with a first pitch scheduled for 6pm. There was a decent breeze, but it wasn't overly windy. Even though our seats were in the cut out area of the stadium, leading out to the Target Plaza. We would be sitting directly under the tall black flag pole, on the right side of this picture. I'd never sat in this part of Target Field, so that was an additional selling point.

It was also "Fan Appreciation Weekend". All adults attending tonight's game would receive this Twins beanie hat. 

That's cool, but I was under the impression that there would be free pants?

Well, those pants are free, but they're at the other side of the stadium...

Okay, we'll walk around to Gate 6, named after Hall of Fame Minnesota Twin, Tony Oliva, to get our free pants.

And they're Zubaz!

Wait, Zubaz are still a thing?

Born in the 1980's and left to die in the 1980's, Zubaz are apparently back... I'm hoping in an ironic sense, and not the beginning of some horrifying circular fad. Laura put her pair on, over her regular pants. I chose to put mine in a bag to bring home (and photograph for this story). The only thing I could think of was how I needed a fanny pack to keep my gimmicks in.

Doot Doot Doot...

Uhhh... Yeah.... I'm not wearing these...

And here I thought Zubaz were finished before .com really existed...

In order to get out free Zubaz pants, Laura had to exit the stadium and re-enter with free pants in hand. 

Hero of the day!

Well, the tickets were on her phone.

I really miss classic paper tickets. A free souvenir for attendence.

Just inside Gate 6 (for Tony Oliva), the Twins set up The Market. A self-service, convenience store style method of selling overpriced pre-packaged food and drinks. Seemed to be on the honor system, but I'd imagine some heavy camera surveillance goes on here.

I found the bland sign "Hot Food" rather amusing. But there was no Hot Food being served here today. The grills were shut down and the countertops empty. There's a menu with prices up there, but it's a little hard to read...

ENHANCE!

Without knowing what makes it Artisan, I don't know how you justify $15 for a grilled cheese...

Maybe just a snack size bag of Cheetos for $5.50? At that point, why not just round up to the nearest dollar?

Oh, and “sales tax NOT included”?

Cry poverty Twins!

Perils of a small market snack booth...

When Laura told me about the game, there was an outside chance that the Angels would start Shohei Ohtani as the pitcher that night. He would end up pitching the night before (and beating us), so I wouldn’t get to see him pitch in person. Well, this year anyway...

The Angels starting pitcher tonight would be Reid Detmers. A former first round pick, 10th overall. in the 2020 MLB Draft. Detmers threw a No-Hitter earlier this season, and has been a pitcher I’ve followed closely since his drafting. If we wouldn’t get to see Ohtani pitch, Detmers was my second choice.

2022 Absolute - Reid Detmers - Tools of the Trade Jersey Quad Autograph

I’ve also had luck in landing Detmers cards. This came out of a 2022 Panini Absolute Baseball blaster, I found at a Target a few months ago. Retail packs are tough to find in these parts, so it’s nice when you find something and they pay off!

2022 Topps Heritage Chrome Purple Refractor - Joe Ryan

Minnesota would be starting rookie Joe Ryan. Ryan has been a great get for the Twins. He’ll go on to lead the pitching staff in Wins, Innings Pitched and Strikeouts. In fact setting a new team record for strikeouts by a rookie.

I think it's safe to declare the Twins winners in the July 2021 Nelson Cruz trade. A story recently ran on the Bally Sports Network Twins Pre-Game show, discussing last year's Cruz for Ryan trade. When Minnesota stopped by Tampa last September, Cruz and Ryan met before the game. Bally showed some pictures during the story.

Nelson Cruz was great during his time in Minnesota.

Getting us Joe Ryan for his departure might go down as his biggest contribution to the team.

After getting our free pants, we went back to our seats. I doubled back to the Kramarczuk’s Sausage stand, for a Kramarczuk’s Polish Sausage with grilled onions. 

I’d even venture to say it was almost $10 tasty…

It was still lightly raining, so my sausage had to be exposed to the elements in order for me to take this pre-game picture.  

Were is a sunny evening, our seats would have been in the direct path of the setting sun. There would be no sun tonight, and that’s awesome! I’ll gladly deal with color temps, light rain and clouds. 

As I said earlier, we were directly underneath the Target Field Flag Pole. This is actually the same flag pole that used to stand at Metropolitan Stadium, between 1958 and 1981. As the game was preparing to start, they honored a former Navy pilot, who flew missions over Afghanistan. He and his family would help raise the flag for tonight’s game. 

Something I’d never seen this close up before. Which was pretty cool.

The camera man shooting the flag raising ceremony had this label on his camera.

It amused me.

Even though it’s missing a comma.

******

Last week, I had to make a stop at the Targets on my way to work, and there was actually some freshly stocked baseball in the card section! Instead of looking like this. Which it has for two months now.

Far too much of this year has been filled with non-selling Blasters of Panini NFL Draft and NBA Draft products, under the names Prizm, ProSet, Chronicles, and Leaf. No one's buying this stuff, and it's been months since any new baseball has come out at the retail level. At least to the point where it's stayed on the shelf long enough for me to buy it. 

Except Heritage.

But I'm pretty done with Heritage...

So I was pleasantly surprised to find new blasters of 2022 Topps Fire.

2022 Topps Fire Blaster

Fire usually features multiple base card designs, that bring back bad memories of 1995 Fleer. Almost like someone gave that set some drugs to calm it the hell down, but they didn’t work. The end result is a loud, cheap, low end retail only product. One that I'll buy a little of, but who really cares...

But I've been anxious to see some new cheap cards. Not that I'm expecting anything noteworthy, I just want something new. Anything I've been regularly seeing at the Targets and Walmarts, hit the streets month ago. Card products featuring a bunch of last years photographs, reflecting zero player movement since November of 2021.

Perfect example, this is my first card showing Sonny Gray as a Minnesota Twin. Gray has been what we needed (and still need a whole lot more of) for the pitching staff. Gray was unfortunately sidetrack by injuries during the season, but produced good results when he took the mound.

Tonight’s starting pitcher, Joe Ryan, is all decked out in Red foil parallel. I was pretty happy to get four Twins cards from the Blaster. Actually it was five cards. I also pulled the Joe Ryan base card, which I didn't scan. 

A Josh Winder rookie! Winder has pitched slightly better than expected for his first exposure to the Major Leagues. He showed enough this year to figure into next year’s plans. Because as the 2022 season proved, we do not have nearly enough pitching. I anticipate more trades and free agents to take place over this coming offseason. Hope they pan out next year...

We made a bunch in July, but they sure weren’t enough to bring us the division title.

2019 Bowman Draft - Spencer Steer

Including some of our top prospects (like Spencer Steer and others for Tyler Mahle. Who got here, threw in a few games, then was hurt for the rest of the year). In 2022, we traded almost our entire 2021 MLB Draft. The first five rounds anyways...

Another anticipated first Twins card, Carlos Correa shows up in Gold foil parallel form, in a completely different design. In a picture that just barely hints at his employer. Well that's kind of disappointing...

As I was writing this story (well, one part of it anyway...), a Twins game was on the TV. During one of Correa’s plate appearances, he was hit in the hand by a pitch. Replays clearly showed him getting hit, but there was some on field delay while the umpire, Guardians and Twins debated whether Correa was just faking it.

After the inning ended (without the Twins scoring, because they decided to quit scoring runs this year), the cameras followed Correa into the dugout, where he took off his batting glove. The finger that was hit by the pitch was dripping a pretty good stream of blood down his hand. Luckily it wasn’t broken, and Correa stayed in the game.

Guess he wasn’t faking…

I don’t want to say anything nice about Cleveland, because I hate that team. Not as much as the Dodgers, Astros or Red Sox, but enough that I’ve got very little in the way of niceties towards them. That being said, I do love watching Triston McKenzie pitch. He’s going to be very good, very soon!

And not enough can be said for Nootbaar! 

Who is quietly having an effective season for St. Louis. The batting average hasn’t been there, but the power and discipline have been at a very high level.

Here’s a top rookie that the Pirates will likely mess up completely!

And one more of those Topps Fire Red Foil parallels...

The Blaster even had one of a former Miami Marlins owner!

While it was a Blaster of fairly desired stuff, there was no big time blow away hit.

This would be about as close as it gets...

A Mike Trout 2022 Topps Fire On Fire.

Die-Cut... That's hot.

Speaking of the Angels…

While we didn’t get to see Shohei Ohtani pitch, I was also interested in watching him at the plate.

2019 Topps Heritage - Shohei Ohtani - Auto

Since coming into the league in 2018, Major League Baseball has never seen any player like Ohtani. The combination of an elite batter AND an elite pitcher is unprecedented. Being able to pick up a certified Ohtani autograph for a $100 gift card and $50 in cash, from the LCS, was one of my best card purchases over the last few years. 

However, Ohtani didn’t do anything of note in this first inning plate appearance.

I also wanted to see Mike Trout play in person. And that little trivia nugget on the scoreboard was something I never knew before. Jeff Trout was a fifth round pick of the Twins in the 1983 draft. Looking at the numbers he put up, I’m surprised Jeff never made it beyond AA, before leaving the game in 1986. Jeff Trout hit .303 / .382 / .425 over 1575 plate appearances, including 22 home runs, between high A Wisconsin Rapids and AA Orlando. Those are some pretty decent numbers for an infield prospect. He probably could’ve helped the mid-1980’s Twins…

1985 Orlando Twins - Jeff Trout

Thanks Googles!

2021 Donruss Crusade Blue Velocity Prizm - Mike Trout

Well, his son is pretty good…

There he is roaming the Target Field outfield.

Trout his a double later on, then scored on an Ohtani single. That took place on the pitch after this one.

Beyond Trout and Ohtani, there’s not a lot of firepower in the Angels lineup.

2020 Spectra - Matt Thaiss Jersey Auto

Their starting catcher was Matt Thaiss. Who I only knew because of pulling this card out of a 2020 Panini Chronicles box. It’s a beautiful card of a fringe backup catcher. That capital M rules! This card was pretty much forgotten about until I discovered he’s actually playing for the Angels these days, instead of hiding in AAA Salt Lake City, Utah.

2015 Bowman - Kurt Suzuki

Suzuki was the Twins catcher from 2014-2016, and has spent the last couple of seasons with the Angels’ He didn’t play tonight, and recently announced that he was retiring at the end of the 2022 season. Oakland’s second round pick in the 2004 MLB Draft, Suzuki has played 16 seasons in the Major Leagues. Nice career!

2021 Mosiac - Mickey Moniak Prizm Auto

Moniak was the first overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, by the Philadelphia Phillies. So far he’s been rushed and a flop at the highest level. Monica was sent to the Angels at the July trading deadline. See if he fares batter in Anaheim, than he did in Philadelphia. Early returns are not that promising.

For the Twins, the 2022 season has been filled with injured players, testing the limits of our only slightly above average farm system. By late September, we needed to tap the St. Paul Saints well for yet another outfielder. This time it would be 2019 Competitive Balance Round Draft pick, Matt Wallner.

On that June 2019 day of the MLB Draft, I was at work, listening to the internet broadcast of the draft. When the Twins picked Wallner, a native of Forest Lake, MN, I told the guy I was working with that the Twins drafted a kid from Forest Lake. My co-worker was a Twins fan, and also lived in Forest Lake. I turned up the sound so he could hear the MLB TV anchors discuss the Twins pick. The next day, my co-worker (Let’s call him Rick) told me that his youngest son played Little League Baseball with Matt Wallner.

He made his Major League Debut exactly one week ago today, in Cleveland. Wallner hit a home run in his first game. It was the only run the Twins score in that game... We didn't win... 

But there’s Wallner, less than 25 feet away from where we were sitting in right field!

2020 Bowman Platinum - Matt Wallner - Autograph

I bought this a couple of years ago now. Big fan of Wallner’s signature, there’s some effort in creating those letters that are almost legible.

Matt Wallner struck out in this plate appearance, against Mike Mayers. The Angels cut Mayers from the team a few days later. Wallner will finish the 2022 season with the Twins, and may have an inside track on being here next year. I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of player movement on and off the Twins roster this offseason.

And I think it’s a pretty fair bet to assume this guy won’t be back with the Twins in 2023.

Carlos Correa was shocking free agent signing by the Twins, back in mid-March of this year. I never thought he would sign with Minnesota, after last season ended, and all of the opt-out in his strange three year Twins deal all but ensured this was a one-and-done deal.

Reid Detmers vs Carlos Correa

Correa’s 2022 season wasn’t bad. But it certainly wasn’t great. The 2022 Minnesota Twins weren’t that bad, but they certainly weren’t great. Correa alone did little to elevate the team. He did hit above average for parts of the year, but he was also a pretty weak hitter for a lot of the year. Correa was all but Missing In Action, in plate appearances with runners in scoring position. When you pay a hitter $35 million a year, he needs to drive in more than 60 runs. 22 home runs was fine. Again, not great, but fine. His defense improved as year went on, and his leadership was better than expected. 

Still, not what you pay $35 million a year for. 

Pretty safe to say that someone who is not the Minnesota Twins, will be paying Correa too much money next season. 

2022 Topps International Card Trading Day - Carlos Correa

And I’m fine with that. I’ll have a small sampling of cards featuring the Twins unlikeliest of superstars. And I’ll feel a lot better that our shortstop isn’t costing us and entire roster’s worth of money. 

Speaking of something that costs entirely too much money…

2022 Topps Chrome!

A condensed and polished up version of each years traditional Topps set. When it debut in 1996, I didn't think it would have legs. As the set was finding itself it settled on the multi-colored Refractors and on-card autographs of that year's rookie class. Topps Chrome wasn't always set up this way, but it's become one of Topps most sought after sets each year.

2022 Topps Chrome Hobby Jumbo Box

Over those last 26 years, Topps Chrome has evolved into an expensive lottery ticket. A rookie's first autographed Topps Chrome card is typically their most popular. And the market prices have started to reflect that. The box pictured above was selling for well over $600 on the day 2022 Topps Chrome hit the streets. 

I limited myself to 2 Jumbo packs and 1 Hobby pack of 2022 Topps Chrome, on the day it was released. Even that was over $110. The same price as a 24 pack Hobby box, not too long ago. Buying too much of a set like this would be cost prohibitive, with prices driven by rookie hype, bringing single packs up to lofty levels. Boxes have become out of the question. So I'll typically buy a few packs of it, but I wont go overboard. My plan for stuff like this is to buy the singles I want. Including any autographed rookies I feel I have to have, once the hype (and price) has gone way down.

Prices did fall drastically, shortly after release, but that's a situation anything but typical. I'll get to that...

The cards are just nice.

And I like having Chrome cards of current superstars, whether I collect them or not. 

Obviously, that includes the base Twins card I wanted most.

At least these packs were kind enough to provide a couple of current Twins players.

My problem with Topps Chrome (besides price) is the set doesn't put any effort into updating photographs. It's simply the same Topps card that came out in February, Chromed up and rereleased in September.

Sonny Gray hasn't pitched for Cincinnati since September of 2021. But his card in September of 2022, still shows him with the Reds. (Note: The one per pack base Refractors are always nice. Even commons look great.)

This was such a bigger deal last year. Still hope he pans out.

The Prism Refractors are even nicer!

Heheheheheh... Magenta Speckle... 

No, I will not attempt to collect a Riley Adams rainbow. 

Before buying any 2022 Topps Chrome, I looked at the set checklist online. When it came to the Oakland Athletics, not a single player pictured as an Oakland Athletic in this card set, has played for Oakland in 2022. Every single one of them had moved on to greener pastures, long before this set came out. (Green as in they’re actually getting paid what they're worth...) 

Including both of these really nice looking cards of the current Atlanta Braves first baseman…

So done with the 1987 Topps design...

I'm really looking forward to the 1988 throwbacks next year. 1988 Topps seems very underutilized in Topps never ending obsession with their back catalog.

Heheheheheh... Heart Of The City...

I'm sorry, SuperA'sFan Rob...

But this card is beautiful!

Very strong of you to keep the faith in your team. Especially when your team has all been traded away, out of pure ownership greed. Channel your inner-Expo, my friend...

New Classics is one of the basic insert sets of Topps Chrome. I don't think this is a Chromed up version of an insert in regular 2022 Topps. Not entirely sure since I bought so little of 2022 Topps this year.

Just as Club Plaques is another of the... Well, just re-read what I just wrote...

Also, remember when I mentioned the massive price drop on 2022 Topps Chrome? The reason that happened is Topps made a big mistake between the printing press and shipping department. The 5 Super Short Printed rookie cards were not included in any of the packs or boxes. 

According to the stated odds on this wrapper, they were slated to be inserted at a rate of 1 card in every 6,341 packs. Most people would never even pull one of these cards from a box, being that rare, but Topps mistake is a PR nightmare. At least they came clean, and are trying to rectify the situation. But the damage is done, and the prices are down. Which is fine by me. I wasn't planning on buying a bunch of packs or boxes of 2022 Topps Chrome.

But the price drop did entice me to buy a few more packs.

One of which had my first 2022 Topps Chrome autographed rookie card.

Not a likely future legend, but cool...

My return to the LCS for some discounted, Super Short Print free packs, yielded a Blue Refractor parallel autograph on Kyle Tucker (serial numbered 5 of 150). Not a rookie, but an established rising star for the Houston Astros. Granted it's an Astro, but Tucker's one of the better young hitters in baseball. So this is something I'm very cool with having.

Rising like the star on his Houston Astro cap. 

That hat logo irritates me...

Would be a lot better if Tucker was wearing one of these...

Following closely to see if Luis Arraez can win the AL Batting Title. Robbing Aaron Judge of a rare Triple Crown, in the process. Arraez has been slowed by a hamstring injury, taking him out of games, while leading the league. Judge is playing, yet trailing Arraez in the race by .004. Not an insignificant gap, but if Arraez can't play, he stays locked in at his current percentage. Judge wont have any added benefit of a possible Arraez batting slump. Especially given his bad hamstring.

This is a tough one for me. 

2019 Grandstand - Luis Arraez

For a Minnesota Twin to take the batting title away from a New York Yankee would normally be awesome. But the case of it being a Triple Crown complicates things. I find it hard to not pull for someone who could hit only the second Triple Crown during my lifetime. 

Either way, Arraez will be vilified in New York if he wins the 2022 AL Batting title.

Zastryzny!

Hey Laura, check out his name! 

Zastryzny Fever! 

He's no Nootbaar...

Minnesota really could've used a Nootbaar this September. When the month started, we still had a chance of taking out Cleveland, and limp our way into the playoffs. To be swiftly swept in the first round, but whatever... We all want to believe...

Injuries exposed the thin depth the Twins organization had going into the 2022 season. 

2022 Select - Jorge Polanco

If we had any chance at Cleveland, we needed Polanco at second every game. But he's missed over 50 games this year.

Not a knock on Jermaine Palacios at all. He played very well at AAA St. Paul this year and absolutely deserved a shot at filling in for Polanco. Those numbers will not help a team make the postseason.

Minnesota's September roster has been full of minor leaguers hitting around these numbers.

That's why we collapsed in the standings.

Although that actually dates back to late May...

2016 Bowman Chrome - Jermaine Palacios

Palacios signed with the Twins as an International Free Agent, out of Venezuela, in 2013. Considered a very good shortstop prospect, the Twins were able to get starting pitcher, Jake Odorizzi, in a trade with the Rays, one for one, in February 2018. We got three years of solid pitching from Odorizzi, while Palacios floundered as a Ray, never making the Major Leagues. After bouncing around for a couple years, he signed back with Minnesota last Winter, and got his big break.

But my lasting Jermaine Palacios memory of the 2022 season is this:

September 3rd, 2022. The White Sox are absolutely destroying us 13-0 in the bottom of the 8th. Secondbase-leftfielder Nick Gordon was brought in to pitch the top of the 8th, lobbing 60mph nothingballs nowhere near the strike zone. After giving up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning Rocco saw enough and came out to the pitcher mound.

But he stopped at home plate and briefly talked to the home plate ump, along the way.

At the mound, he sent second baseman turned pitcher, Nick Gordon. back out to second base. Then had Gordon's replacement second baseman, Jermaine Palacios, come in to pitch. As far as I could remember, I've never seen a pitcher/second baseman double switch before.

Even caught the folks at Fox off-guard, as Palacios was noted as: "Player Name" on the pitch count.

Jermaine Palacios did however succeed at stopping the White Sox rally! His ERA is still 0.00!

******

At one point, all of the stadium lights shut off. My first thought was: “Oh no… Now Malakai Black, with tree branches growing out of his head, is going to come out to smash everyone over the head with a steel chair...”

Then the lights turned red...

Libertarian Kane?

Oh it's just Jorge Lopez, coming in to hopefully not blow the game! 

Forever known to me as the Kansas City Royal that almost threw a Perfect Game against the Twins, in a game we saw live in September, 2018. (I wrote about that game shortly after that happened.) We gave up a pitching prospect (Cade Povich) I really liked, to get him from Baltimore at the trading deadline. 

I believed the Orioles sold high and we bit. 

Been a bad second half to our season no matter what you look at.

Jose Miranda has been a very bright spot though. Miranda came out of nowhere last year, blazing through both AA and AAA, to take home Minor League Player of the Year for 2021. He showed up for the Twins in May of this season, after a slow start he's now leading the team in RBI's. Miranda has played a lot of first base, taking over for an injured Miguel Sano (and Alex Kirilloff), but he's a better third baseman. Which is a harder position to fill with quality.

Interestingly, Carlos Correa became the biggest Jose Miranda supporter in Minnesota. Working closely with him on hitting, and imploring team management that Miranda should not be traded at the deadline for help. I guarantee every team calling asked. 

2021 Leaf Draft - Jose Miranda

Now I just need some real Miranda cards, to upgrade from these...

Top of the ninth inning, the lights suddenly go out again.

Now they're orange and yellow, simulating fire...

This is some bad WWE TitanTron entrance video stuff going on here...

2021 Heritage Minors - Jhoan Duran

Jhoan Duran came to Minnesota in the 2018 Eduardo Escobar trade. Throws above 100mph, was a starter throughout his minor league career, but questions about durability put him in the bullpen. Spending the entire season with the Twins, looking like our future dominating closer as the season progressed.

Just as Miranda was our breakout offensive player, Joe Ryan was our breakout starting pitcher, Jhoan Duran was the star reliever of the 2022 Twins. 

Speaking of breakout stars...

2021 Topps Archives - Lauren Shehadi - Fan Favorites Autograph

Lauren Shehadi is my favorite female personality on the MLB Network, and has been since she joined MLB Network, over 10 years ago. She’s appeared in a few card sets over the past few years, and acquiring an autograph of hers has long been a collecting goal. Thanks to $20 and another Valley West Mall card show I attended a few months ago, I now have one!

The card back is nothing special, unlike the front.

Which may just belong in a museum…

******

2022 Topps Museum

Museum is another Topps line that falls into the lower end of the ridiculous scale. Consisting of all the hits of a typical Hobby Box, but very little for base cards. Both Topps and Panini make stuff like this. Anywhere from 5-12 cards, in a pack that sells for between $75-$150. I’ve been told these are just as good as any Hobby Box, because you get the same amount of hits, just less junk. Well that’s one way of looking at it. Especially if you like buying baseball cards, without the annoyance of all the pesky baseball cards getting in the way…

2022 Topps Museum Collection Hobby Boxes sell for around $400, with each of 4 Mini-Boxes (or packs in box form), sell for around $100 a piece. While I'm likely never going to buy this at a box/pack level, I do love finding cheap singles. I kind of like to play a game where I'll build my ideal dream pack. Picking up singles I like from the LCS, to see what I can cumulatively buy for the same amount as a pack (Mini-Box).

So far, this is my 2022 Topps Museum Collection Hand Collated Mini-Box.

(And I've nowhere near approached the price of a single Mini-Box. So I can keep adding to it!)

Starting off with a future Hall of Famer:

Next, a sleeper pitching prospect/rookie:

Then a big name Hall of Fame Legend!

Hyped up Red Sox prospect:

With an all time Red Sox Legend:

Big hype rookie on a slightly disappointing season:

Who still put some pretty good numbers for a bad Royals team.

Why not add another Hall of Famer!

Then a Hall of Famer from my collecting era:

Even though he won a World Series with the 2003 Florida Marlins, I was not expecting to see Rodriguez pictured on a team he only played with for one season...

Oh, and I need a good box hit:

This works for me...

Wait, I still need a Twins base card...

Perfect!

And I’m still almost $30 away from the price of a pack!

There’s a lot that could still be added!

While on her search for Target Field loot, Laura picked up a Byron Buxton mini-bat for me. Very cool, but I was disappointed the paint/decal is already starting to chip away on his helmet and under his eye. So even his mini-bat is injured…

Still a worthy addition to the Twins collection.

As long as I'm here, I should give an Honorable Mention to 2022 Topps Tribute.

Which is essentially the same product as Topps Museum, and that I also wasn't going to buy any packs of. 

Yeah, like I wasn't going to buy this...

One more...

I do collect Bryce Harper cards. Not a serious dedicated payer collection, but if I see an affordable card I like, I'll buy it. This was in the team sorted singles boxes at the LCS, with a price tag of $3 on it. Deeper in that box, I found the 2022 Topps Tribute Bryce Harper base card.

That one was tagged at $10. 

Ooops!

Oh hey! The Twins won!

Final score of Twins: 8, and the Angels: 4. Pretty high scoring for a game finishing in less than 3 hours. And drawing nearly 31,000 (30,959) on a rainy Saturday night, to see a disappointing and free-falling team, is an impressive feat.

2017 Bowman Chrome - Griffin Jax - Autograph

Jax was the winning pitcher, since Ryan came out of the game early. Griffin has been another bright point in our weak bullpen, during the 2022 season. 

2020 Select - Gary Sanchez - Lime Green Prizm

Sanchez blasted a 3 run homer deep into the second deck of left-centerfield stands, in the 5th inning. Other than hit a few massive home runs, his 2022 offensive output has been very disappointing. To say something positive, his defense behind the plate has been better than expected from when he came here from the Yankees.

That's not really a compliment. He was such a terrible defensive catcher for the Yankees, I expected him to be just as terrible for the Twins. In that sense, he's been a positive. I expected him to be much worse than he’s played.  

2018 Bowman -  Ryan Jeffers

Which was essential, since our main starting catcher missed so much time due to injury.

2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary - Gio Urshela - Autograph

Gotta love that autograph. The opposite of a scribble, he took some time to print his name in what kind of looks like actual letters!

The other half of our Josh Donaldson return has been a steady piece for us that has performed better than expected. Making that Donaldson trade an absolute win for us. Urshela had three hits tonight and was key in our winning.

While I'd like to see Urshela on the 2023 Twins, I'm not sure the cost of re-signing him wouldn't be spent elsewhere. Urshela has been great at 3rd base, but Miranda is better on both sides of the ball. Urshela has been a productive hitter that warrants a spot in the lineup, at a decent salary. Which could end up being more than the Twins need to spend at his position.

Especially when there are so many other glaring needs this team has.

Something that is having less and less glaring needs, would be my attempted 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary complete set! As of right now, I'm only 49 cards away from finishing it!

2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary - Jake Cave - Black & White Refractor

A new Twins addition from the last Lite Box I picked up.

Cave did hit a triple tonight, scoring our 8th and final run in the bottom of the 7th.

Yes, I still do like next day newspaper Box Scores.

As Target Field was emptying out, I walked down into the section below us to look at the ledge. The illusion was shattered when I saw the flowers in the overhang were planted in removable pots. Not permanently growing out of the box.

2014 Bowman Chrome Draft - Nick Gordon - Autograph

Nick Gordon didn't play in tonight's game, but has been one of the unsung heroes of 2022. Nothing about his play has been superstar level, but he's been steady, versatile and productive. Also shown a knack for getting some key hits, showing a little more power than expected.

I also hope he's back on the team in 2023.

Just not as a pitcher...

You all know the voice you have to read this word in!

(No, you probably don't...)

One more thing before I stop talking about the 2022 Minnesota Twins...

Depleted by injuries, the Twins signed free agent Billy Hamilton to a contract in August, after his release from the Miami Marlins.  I've been a fan of Hamilton since his days as a Cincinnati Reds prospect. Since his career deteriorated to that of journeyman, I felt that he could be a valuable piece of the bench for the Twins. Especially given Buxton's durability issues.

It's doubtful Hamilton will be back in Minnesota next year, given those ugly batting numbers (mostly put up in Miami). It's even more unlikely that Topps prints a 2023 Topps Billy Hamilton Twins card. So this screen capture will work for my visual record of his time as a Twin.

Here's one for the Super Short Print variation.

(That Topps will forget to include in packs.)

Hard to believe Target Field just finished hosting it's 13th season.

I still remember the evening in April, 2010, when I chose to not go to sleep, since MLB Network was going to carry a preseason exhibition game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins. Technically Spring Training, but it would be the first Major League game at Target Field. Living in Colorado, I hadn't seen a whole lot of coverage that Minnesotans would have in seeing the new ballpark.

2001 Upper Deck Sweet Spot - Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols hit a home run for the Cardinals in that game. 

Now Pujols is wrapping his career on an incredible hot streak. Pushing his career home run total to 704. I was watching back in 2001 when Pujols burst on the scene. I still remember opening probably my greatest box of cards ever, from the long gone Mike's Sports Cards, in Englewood, CO.

2001 Upper Deck Rookie Update Box

This box had not only that Sweet Spot Pujols rookie above, but a redemption card for this:

2001 SPx - Albert Pujols - Auto

From that lucky afternoon on, I was an Albert Pujols fan.

Too bad Upper Deck didn't hand Pujols a less bubbley pen...

******

Well, this story needs to end with something abandoned. So in honor of recent advances in Urban Decay...

Here's the old Dairy Queen in my home town, last week. Closed in 2015, I've been driving by it every day. Both on my way to work and back. Over the past few months, I've noticed the exterior lights have been turned on, and the once open driveways have been blocked by random junk. 

Please, just tear it down.

Or let it get a whole lot worse!

Late note: Two days after I took my latest set of Dairy Queen photos, the windows were covered. Not by plywood, just some random pieces of wood leaned up against the interior wall. 

They're onto me...

Whatever...

******

A month or so ago, I was interviewed for the Can’t Turn It Off Podcast.

Episode 73 - Aaron Wallace

So if you’ve ever wanted to hear me talk about abandoned buildings, baseball cards or the racial connotations of my hometown’s name, this is your chance!

******

I need to get to bed...