Sano Ain't Harmon

Good thing you've never been an autograph hound! No telling how many of those you'd have acquired by now!

SD Buhr.   Your comment reminded me of Jim Bouton in Ball Four  where Bouton tried to fool the batter by throwing a fastball instead of a knuckler and the batter hit the ball over 500 feet.   Some one said "I'd hate to think how far he would have hit it if you hadn't fooled him so badly."   

Actually, Jeremy, this was helpful.

At the Kernels Hot Stove Banquet, they have a silent auction and i bought an autographed ball from 2013 that the Rock Cats had donated. It only has 15 signatures on it and I wondered if any of them were Sano. After looking at all the variations you have, I'm pretty sure there IS a Sano autograph on the ball (there's one with that distinctive "S". 

However, if it IS Sano's signature, we have yet a sixth variation, which is no more legible than any of the others.

You have 15 signatures on one ball? You're the hound.

Hey they were on the ball when I bought it!

And besides, I'm not the one who claimed I WASN'T!

Please don't compare Sano and Harmon in any way, shape or form.  Talk to me 573 Sano homers from now.

If Sano is a Hall-Of-Famer someday and his autographed merchandise is worth some decent coin, do his varying signatures hurt the value? I mean, anybody could scribble something down and say it's Sano's. How would anybody know?

Shame on me for comparing the autographs of the greatest home run hitter in Twins history and the autograph of the prospect with the most raw power the Twins have had in Twins history.

 

By the way, two players... one was 22 and had 17 home runs in 86 AA games, the other was 20 and 19 home runs in 67 AA games. Any guesses?

 

Not unfair at all to compare their power.

Right.  One of the greatest power hitters in MLB history and a guy who hasn't made AAA.  Have fun with the autograph thing but to compare them in any way as ballplayers at this time is just silly

Well he didn't compare him to Michael Cuddyer who also had a nice autograph. The underlying premise clearly links them as does the follow up stats. Sorry. Shouldn't have brought it up.

Yeah, but Cuddyer was known for his stellar defense at shortstop, not for his power potential.

So I can mail down baseballs or pictures and get them autographed during spring training? 

Not sure how balls would work. I send an 8×10, SASE and marker. Some send it back, some don't.

Thanks for the info.

HA....Sano has a LONG.... LONG........................ LONG way to go before he could even sniff Killebrew territory.  Not bad for a kid who grew up on a farm in Idaho and once hit a 522' long homerun at Metropolitan Stadium.  Arguably the greatest homerun hitter of all time, Harmon Killebrew was a god amongst men in the 1960's.  IMO HE IS the greatest homerun hitter of all time.  

I am sure someone at some point in his minor league career  compared Killebrew to Hank Greenberg and fans of Greenberg thought it was sacrilege.    I don't think anyone here was thinking  "Can you believe Jeremy thinks Sano will be a Hall of Famer?" after commenting about their differences in autographs.   Comparing their raw power is hardly an insult to Killebrew either.   In fact even if this article was about their comparative baseball skills I doubt Killebrew would be offended by it so why should anyone else?   

It's to bad the off subject posts had to be made in what is a good article. 

At 68 and counting, I have alot of autographed bats and balls, but all mostly from the last 10-15 years.  Back at the Old Met I did have Early Wynn sign a piece of paper when he had 299 wins, Nellie Fox sign a paper and I had Mickey Mantle sign my pass at at golf tourney in the cities in the cities when I had a beer with him. 

Then nothing til I started coming down here, (got here yesterday).  I had Sano sign his bat for me when he first got here.  And I've had him sign 15-20 balls since.  I also bought a bat off ebay he had signed.  I looked at that bat about a month ago and it took awhile to figure out who signed it.  His signatures are all over the place.  The boughten bat the sig is a lot longer than the initial one.  His signature on the balls are shorter too.  I have an outlet for the balls and they do trickle out of the shop.  I keep one of each player and that's it, except for Cuddyer whom I have his initial sig and then one after the talk with Harmon. 

When Sano does put up #300, PSA is going to have their hands full trying to determine which signatures are authentic and not. 

Collecting these is fun, especially when I'm over there daily, and the players stop and sign.  Some really like the fact people want autographs.  There are a few I need to get this spring, Hunter being at the top of the list, and Santana,  FYI the last I sold a couple weeks ago, someone bought Meyers, Buxton, Roserio and Sano.  Helped pay the gas money down here.  The fun begins soon!

The least of my worries is how Miguel signs his name. If I kept all of the "practice signatures" he left around his room the summer of 2011, I would have a book. I am more worried about his Tommy John surgery recovery and the pressure he is under by fans to be the Minnesota Twins "savior".

It's to bad the off subject posts had to be made in what is a good article. 

 

At 68 and counting, I have alot of autographed bats and balls, but all mostly from the last 10-15 years.  Back at the Old Met I did have Early Wynn sign a piece of paper when he had 299 wins, Nellie Fox sign a paper and I had Mickey Mantle sign my pass at at golf tourney in the cities in the cities when I had a beer with him. 

 

Then nothing til I started coming down here, (got here yesterday).  I had Sano sign his bat for me when he first got here.  And I've had him sign 15-20 balls since.  I also bought a bat off ebay he had signed.  I looked at that bat about a month ago and it took awhile to figure out who signed it.  His signatures are all over the place.  The boughten bat the sig is a lot longer than the initial one.  His signature on the balls are shorter too.  I have an outlet for the balls and they do trickle out of the shop.  I keep one of each player and that's it, except for Cuddyer whom I have his initial sig and then one after the talk with Harmon. 

 

When Sano does put up #300, PSA is going to have their hands full trying to determine which signatures are authentic and not. 

 

Collecting these is fun, especially when I'm over there daily, and the players stop and sign.  Some really like the fact people want autographs.  There are a few I need to get this spring, Hunter being at the top of the list, and Santana,  FYI the last I sold a couple weeks ago, someone bought Meyers, Buxton, Roserio and Sano.  Helped pay the gas money down here.  The fun begins soon!

We have the whole team over for dinner on 1 of their 3 nights off during the season. I have a wall in my basement. If my husband has to cook 50# of chicken wings, they sign the wall to eat.

Harmon was a stickler regarding autographs.  He felt that if you are going to take the time to sign something for a fan, your signature should be legible.  Morneau worked on his signature to make it legible due to Killebrew's influence.

This is one thing that is going to be sorely missed due to his passing.

Can't help but reminisce about Harmon.  I remember listening to the radio in 1972 when he hit #535.  Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall made the call.  They were really excited.  One of them, Herb I think, said "And Harmon passes Jimmie Foxx!".  Halsey was unusually quiet, for him, and said "I didn't think anyone would ever pass Jimmie Foxx."  It was really memorable, hearing how impressed those two astonishing announcers were- made a big impact on this little kid.

Foxx was the second-leading all-time home run hitter for over 20 years, until being passed by Mays, Mantle (by only two), Aaron, and then Harmon.  Frank Robinson passed him the following year.  Harmon was at one point fourth on the all-time board, behind only Ruth, Mays, and Aaron.

I have big hopes for Sano, but passing Jimmie Foxx?  We'll have to see.

Are we really worried about what his autograph looks like?  If he hits .275 with 30 Hr's every year I wouldn't care if he used a stamp.