TwinsFest 2015

[jokin]

Hello,

New poster from Des Moines, Iowa here. Im taking the family up to Twinsfest this year for the first time, and am quite excited, and hopeful its not a chaotic zoo. My kids and I collect baseball cards, and since this is our first time attending, the autograph lines will be our primary hangout. We're going to the Saturday session. We're all going to try and get Mauer's autograph, and then my boys want to get Sano and Buxton cards signed. Im more of a vintage collector, so Im taking cards of Carew, Molitor, and Oliva. There's going to be a lot of money spent, but like I said, this is our first time, and the fact that it goes to charity makes it an easier pill to swallow.

 

Welcome

 

[Squirrel]

Hello,

New poster from Des Moines, Iowa here. Im taking the family up to Twinsfest this year for the first time, and am quite excited, and hopeful its not a chaotic zoo. My kids and I collect baseball cards, and since this is our first time attending, the autograph lines will be our primary hangout. We're going to the Saturday session. We're all going to try and get Mauer's autograph, and then my boys want to get Sano and Buxton cards signed. Im more of a vintage collector, so Im taking cards of Carew, Molitor, and Oliva. There's going to be a lot of money spent, but like I said, this is our first time, and the fact that it goes to charity makes it an easier pill to swallow.

You should come back and give us a post-fest opinion of your time there!

[beckmt]

Out of town.  Will be going to a spring training game or two, so hope to get autographs there.

[Corporal_Clegg]

You should come back and give us a post-fest opinion of your time there!

Will do!

[Seth Stohs]

Just my thoughts from Friday night. It wasn't too busy. The line for Torii Hunter's autograph was long, but others seemed not to be too bad. I talked to a few people. Note the article yesterday that pointed out that they expect 15,000 after having 25,000 last year. I thought Saturday last year was really packed. I think it won't  be as bad today. And Sunday could be slower again.

 

For me, it's just about being there and the atmosphere. IT's being in close proximity with these guys that we'll be watching on FSN this year and beyond. It's seeing guys we watched before. It's seeing the ball park. IT's seeing places like the Legends Club or the Thomson Reuters Champions Club and the Suite Level, places I know I can't afford to watch games in during the regular seasons. You get to hear and talk about baseball. Sit at the 1500 ESPN area and listen to players talk about baseball. It's fun. It gets you excited. 

 

I don't personally do the autographs, but talked to a few people who said they were able to get through lines in a decent time and get more autographs because of it.It's definitely worth $20. What you spend there is up to you.

[LewFordLives]

Does anyone know where to find the radio schedule for Twinsfest?  They used to post the interview schedule on the Twins website but I couldn't find it. 

 

By the way, why is the broadcast on 1500ESPN and not KTWIN?  Why does KTWIN even exist if they're not going to feature Twins programming? I live on the east coast and can't attend Twinsfest, but I shouldn't have to hunt around to try and find the broadcast.

[JB_Iowa]

Does anyone know where to find the radio schedule for Twinsfest?  They used to post the interview schedule on the Twins website but I couldn't find it. 

 

By the way, why is the broadcast on 1500ESPN and not KTWIN?  Why does KTWIN even exist if they're not going to feature Twins programming? I live on the east coast and can't attend Twinsfest, but I shouldn't have to hunt around to try and find the broadcast.

 

 

The TwinsFest schedule is here:  http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/downloads/y2015/2015_TwinsFest_Program.pdf

 

If you go to the 2nd page, I think most of the broadcasts are from the U.S. Bank Stage.  I don't know if it is all broadcast, though..

[JB_Iowa]

There's a live stream here:

 

http://m.twins.mlb.com/min/video/v37152997/live-twinsfest

[Jerr]

There's a live stream here:

 

http://m.twins.mlb.com/min/video/v37152997/live-twinsfest

Thanks, 1500ESPN had it in the morning, but not now. This is soooo much better!

Always, this is the best site for Twins baseball news and discussions!!!!!!

[LewFordLives]

Thanks!  I didn't see that second page on the program.

[JB_Iowa]

I've read a lot of TwinsFest stories but I think this is my favorite:

 

http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2015/01/25/tom-kelly-hoping-cleared-week-attend-twins-spring-training/

[Halsey Hall]

Spring training will be different this year, but without TK it'd be totally different.  He entertains everyone. 

[Corporal_Clegg]

Hi guys,

As promised, here is a recap of my first ever Twinsfest with my wife and kids. We went Saturday. The place was very busy, but mostly orderly. We wanted Mauer's autograph, and he was first thing in the morning, so the kids and I hustled up and got in line. Mauer was very personable and especially nice to my 7 year old. We then had to get ready for the Molitor/Sano line, and that was a very long wait. Fortunately, the usher was entertaining the line with trivia questions. Sano doesnt speak very good english, so he seemed generally shy. Paul Molitor was extremely nice and signed a card for me. As far as I know, he was the only person signing that offered authentication for an additional $10, which I thought was worth the money. My next stop was the Buxton/Oliva table. Buxton seemed very shy, but he wasnt a jerk by any means. Tony Oliva signs has a great autograph, but in general, he wasnt the most personable. My last stop was Rod Carew. I found him to be a little bit rigid, but he did acknowledge when I thanked him. My wife and kids also ran off and got a lot of other signatures from some of the minor leaguers and Trevor Plouffe for the front of the program, and they had good experiences.

 

The boardwalk games were fairly amusing, but mostly pointless other than for the kids to let off some steam. There were some players playing along, but many seemed somewhat disinterested with a few exceptions.

 

The radio interviews were a lot of fun. Especially when they talked with Dan Gladden. He is very fun to listen to, and just seems like a fun loving guy.

 

The $15 grab bags were a great promotion. They loaded the bags up with tons of good stuff. They were a steal in my opinion.

 

The things that annoyed me most where some of the fans who flagrantly disregarded the rules concerning the taking of photos in the autograph rooms. All kinds of smart phones being taken out and practically put in the players faces. I felt like maybe I misread the rules or something and I wanted to take some pics too, but really didnt want to risk getting caught. It just seemed like a crappy thing to do...especially right in their faces. No wonder the players much prefer signing for kids as opposed to adults.

 

Overall, Id rate my experience as a 4 out of 5. The next time I go, I'll try and get Blyleven's autograph and definitely take the White Glove tour.

[iTwins]

 

 

The $15 grab bags were a great promotion. They loaded the bags up with tons of good stuff. They were a steal in my opinion.

 

The things that annoyed me most where some of the fans who flagrantly disregarded the rules concerning the taking of photos in the autograph rooms. All kinds of smart phones being taken out and practically put in the players faces. I felt like maybe I misread the rules or something and I wanted to take some pics too, but really didnt want to risk getting caught. It just seemed like a crappy thing to do...especially right in their faces. No wonder the players much prefer signing for kids as opposed to adults.

 

Overall, Id rate my experience as a 4 out of 5. The next time I go, I'll try and get Blyleven's autograph and definitely take the White Glove tour.

 

I believe the rule on pictures is that you cannot ask the players to pose in a picture with you / the item when they're signing. I think it's intended to keep the line moving, make sure lots of people get through - etc. Generally, most fans snap pics as they're approaching the line - then stick their cameras away and proceed to meet / greet the players. I didn't run into anyone shoving their cameras into player's faces - I'd agree, that'd be off putting.

 

I agree 100% on the grab bags. Fantastic value and tons of fun. I don't know if you found them, but up on the 3rd level, they were selling $20 ASG grab bags which had even MORE value - we bought a couple and came away with over $300 in (sticker price) merchandise. Some cool stuff there as well.

 

I'd HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the white glove tour. My wife and I took that tour this year and loved it. Clyde is entertaining, informative and just a delight to listen to. Word of advice, don't plan around it taking the 30 minutes stated in the program. Clyde takes an hour, and then even talks past that. Great value for your $30!

[Squirrel]

Thanks for the rundown, guys!  I have yet to make it to a Twins Fest given my work schedule and distance from the Twin Cities.  Next year ...

[Halsey Hall]

Nice reports!  I can't help but wonder what kind of merch is in the grab bags.  TonyO has his days.  Sometimes he just jabbers and jabbers and others, he's quiet.  Rod is most always quiet.  Even when working with players he's very soft spoken.  Once in awhile if there's not many around and I really pay attention I can hear what he's trying to teach, and it's quite interesting. 

 

Clyde gave me his card and said if I come to a game, call him, come early and he'll take me on a tour.  I've yet to do that, but really should. 

[Sarah]

I went on Sunday and the autograph lines seemed fairly long but otherwise it didn't seem that crowded. For some reason I started on the suite level which was just autographs even though I wasn't getting any autographs. I walked to the end of the hall and heard two fans coming out of one of the suites. The woman said, "He was so nice." And then the guy said, "Yeah, he seemed super chill." I looked into the room and chuckled- Torii Hunter. Lots of kids smiling, kind of fun to see a new batch of Twins fans meet him. I liked that they seemed to have a lot of kids stuff this year, I would take my nephews next year. It seemed like the players were really interactive with the fans- they had players playing with the kids at some of the games and in the Champions Club. 

 

I was telling someone what this woman told me at the MLB Fan Fest last summer. She said she had volunteered at a lot of them over the years and the one in Minneapolis was the most well-run. She said "Minnesotans are so easy!" She said the one the year before was in New York and everyone was rude and pushy - she said when she tried to stop one woman from cutting in line she said, "We survived Superstorm Sandy, you have no idea what we've been through!" (So that gives you the right to be rude...uh huh.) She said whenever she would tell anyone at the fan fest in Minneapolis where the line started they just said, "Okay, thanks!" Made me think of that when the players were saying that they enjoy TwinsFest.