Though I’ve never been a huge “autograph-hound”, I have enjoyed hanging around the “Down on the Farm” section at TwinsFest. I do that mostly to get a chance to converse with the players, but I also usually get a ball or 8x10 signed as well. As I started to find 8x10 photos of players online and at TwinsFest, I figured it would be worth a shot to send them down to Spring Training and see what happened.

I thought I’d start a list and share it; maybe it will help some of you who are interested. Please share your stories as well.

Sent out on February 27^th (8x10 photo unless noted):

Brian Dozier

Sent out on March 7^th (8x10 photo unless noted):

Dan Gladden (World Series Sports Illustrated)

Unsent:

Kyle Gibson (photo with Gibson; plan to send to Ft. Myers during rehab)

Kent Hrbek (plan to send to Target Field)

Francisco Liriano (have heard he doesn’t sign)

Jim Thome (plan to send to Phillies complex)

Previously successful:

Niko Goodrum (sent 3/7; received 3/17, outer plastic was signed, I'll give him a pass; he's still learning.)

Max Kepler (sent 3/7; received 3/17)

Eddie Rosario (sent 3/7; received 3/17)

Miguel Sano (sent 3/7; received 3/17)

Denard Span (photo of myself with Span taken at TwinsFest; sent 3/7, received 3/15 personalized with note, "Jeremy, I'm definitely better looking than you! :)" Funny stuff!)

Oswaldo Arcia (sent 2/27; received 3/10)

Chris Herrmann (sent 2/27; received 3/10)

Chris Parmelee (sent 2/27; received 3/10)

Tom Kelly

Jason Kubel (playoff scorecard)

Pat Neshek

Angel Morales

Joe Mauer (returned, unsigned with a small card)

Successes in person:

Aaron Hicks (game ball in Beloit)

Dan Osterbrock (ticket stub after no-hitter in Beloit)

Previously unsuccessful:

Rod Carew

I've heard that Carew rarely signs unless it's a card show or something like that.

I'd like to get him to sign a baseball.

That makes sense. I had picked up the 8x10 at a booth where if you bought X, you got one free. So I figured I'd give it a shot.

I just edited the post to reflect the three I got in the mail today: Parmelee, Herrmann and Arcia.

You never know, though, maybe he'll surprise you.

I'm not big into autographs, but I am trying to get all the "retired number" guys on individual official MLB baseballs. So far, I have Puckett, Killebrew, Hrbek and Oliva. I actually just sent Oliva's to Spring Training last week and received it back in today's mail, which is pretty cool. Blyleven I'm sure I can get for free somewhere, but Carew is going to be a challenge.

That is cool. Good luck with Blyleven. A buddy of mine sent something to him a couple years ago and he got back a list of his prices. And that was before he was in the HOF.