Show Me Your Twins
(especially the ones from Minnesota)
So you all chickened out of the last entry. Either that or you’re now and forever completely creeped out. In any case, I cannot promise that I will no longer inundate this blog with posts saturated with satirical innuendos. By the looks of the title of this particular entry, you can take my word for it.
1986
I was just nine years old back then. I was still entrenched in Transformers and Thundercats. My favorite movie back then was Return of the Jedi. My favorite books were either Garfield books or anything about Ramona Quimby. It was a good year.
That good year eventually got even better. That summer, my family and I went on our very first family vacation. That summer, my parents took me, my little sister, and my baby brother to our first baseball game. We made the three hour drive to Minneapolis to see the Minnesota Twins in the Metrodome. As a little kid, that dome seemed incredibly enormous. The view we had was amazing. We were probably 15 rows up, right behind home plate. Watching these real life, famous, professional athletes perform up close and personal for the very first time was nothing short of indescribable. Seeing foul balls rocket straight back into the netting was frighteningly cool. Becoming a fan-for-life of not only a sport, but also a team, all from just one game was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
But, as with all experiences, it had to end. Home we went. Still reeling from seeing my new favorites like Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek, I couldn’t stop talking about the game. All of this obsessing gave my mom an impulsive idea. During a normal grocery shopping day, both she and I noticed a retail box of Topps baseball cards. I can’t remember if I begged and begged for them, or if she just picked them up on a whim, but either way, I ended up with my very first pack of baseball cards.
I remember being ridiculously excited about that pack of cards. I couldn’t wait to get home to tear into them. I’m not sure what I said to her on the way home, but somehow I managed to convince her to let me tear into that pack of cards. Of course, just getting into the sport of baseball, and not ever having seen a baseball card before in my life, I didn’t recognize a single name in that pack. That is until I came across one particular card.
Not only did I get my first Minnesota Twins card out of my very first ever pack, it also yielded my first ever card of my favorite player ever. It was right then and there that I was hooked on the hobby. It’s a good thing that I was only nine years old and with no income because I’m sure my spending on cards would have been absolutely out of control. Ironically, as insanely excited about those cards as I was, my mom wouldn’t buy me another pack until ‘87.
Fast forward 20+ years, counting about a decade or so of hiatus, and I’m back to collecting baseball cards. My main focus? Tough guess, I’m sure. Yep, you got it on the first try. Minnesota Twins.
1915
That’s approximately how many Twins cards I have accrued in my history in the hobby. The sets I have are mostly from 1980 – present and are dominated by Topps and Upper Deck flagship products. After getting back into the hobby and seeing how "diverse" the hobby has become, I have made it my mission to find and collect as many different Twins cards as I can–within reason, of course.
I’ve been getting into knocking out entire Twins base sets and then chasing everything else. I’ve also been watching like a hawk for current roster RC certified AUs, Johan Santana certified AUs, and ‘07 Joe Mauer BTLs.
As impossible as the task may sound, I hope to one day own at least one copy of all of the commercially available Minnesota Twins cards ever produced. Given that I have fallen out of love with both baseball and card collecting at one point in my life, there’s always a chance that I may again. Perhaps imposing this seemingly impossible-to-reach goal will keep me active. Maybe it will burn me out. In the meantime, though, it keeps me busy and it keeps me happy. After all, who could ask for anything else?
P.S.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be including a page here on the blog of specific cards I’m after. If you have anything I need, I’ll be more than happy to work out a trade. Over in the links section, I’ll be including a link to my "For Trade" list (a fully sortable Excel spreadsheet) as well as a link to my Photobucket (which includes scans of some of the cards that are in my personal collection and some that are for trade). Please feel free to refer to those links when considering a trade. Thanks!
