I'm getting ready to head over to Blaine right now for the last day of Twinsfest.  It went by pretty quickly and I'll be back in FL feeling like I never left on Friday morning.  I talked with a lot of cool people from the message board and got to hear how their weekend went and if the executed how they wanted to in getting autographs.  I thought it was pretty awesome to hear how a lot of the message board contributers worked together and knocked out some tough names.  As far as myself goes Twinsfest went by pretty quick.  I really didn't have to do anything else  except sign autographs wheras in the past I did a ton of interviews/radio, filmed commercials, sponsor meet & greets & things like that.  I had a kid's question & answer session the first night and it was about 25 feet away from a Joe Mauer signing.  I think about 5 kids showed up and we still had a good time.  The thing I like about Twinsfest in the past is walking by the dealers and trying to get a deal.  This year though it was a mess trying to just find space to walk.  I'm planning on running around a little bit after my signing when Twinsfest closes at 4 today.  I spotted a ball I need in my collection with PSA/DNA certification & will update everyone on here if I get it.  There were some other great deals but I am a king at buying fake autographs & have a tough time being put on the spot so I just pass altogether.  I wish it was easy to trust everyone in the industry but there are tons of Operation Bullpen items still being carted around throughout the hobby. 

It's been a great off-season & it is about to wrap up soon.  I've been spending most of my time on my message board lately ( http://pneshek.proboards.com/index.cgi? ).  There have been tons of things going on with the boards lately & if you are into collecting anything this is a pretty fun place.  In the last month we have had a couple of free signed baseball giveaways of guys like Nolan Ryan, Yogi Berra, Catfish Hunter & a bunch of others.  Also there have been lots of game used items from myself and teammates that has been traded off.  The best part though is that it has become a pretty neat community for trading and sharing info.  Like I said above if you are into collecting of anything this might appeal to you.

I've spent most of my collecting time cleaning up my collection and I can finally report after three long years I'm happy where I'm at with my collection.  I think every collector goes through a phase like this if they are serious enough where they have just too much stuff of too many different sports or items that just don't fit in.  For me this stuff kind of took on a life of it's own & I had to take a long hard look at what I wanted to achieve.  I decided that I needed to pick certain items I wanted to go after and get rid of everything else.  When everything was said & done I was looking at a few different items

Things I Collect

1.  1970 Topps Baseball PSA Graded Cards - No certain reason...I wanted to do graded cards and I wanted a tough set to go after over my lifetime

2.  Single Signed Baseballs (ROMLB, RONL, ROAL) of Hall of Famers - I have quite a collection & figured to keep going on this journey

3.  Kirby Puckett Signed Items, bats, balls, cards, books, photos

4.  Series 1-7 Topps Garbage Pail Kids PSA Graded Cards - I've loved these things since pre-school 

5.  TTM (Through The Mail) or In-Person Autographs on cards...Baseball or Hockey.  I have 10 full bloated binders of cards people have given me over the years or that I got myself...I love these things and will never get rid of them...unless of course in a trade

6.  ROCK N ROLL - Early Music Autographs - Probably the biggest thing I collect...I spent the off-season acquiring tons of autographs in this category...Eddie Cochran, The Big Bopper, Jan & Dean, Chuck Berry the original Jimmie Rodgers....I started getting stuff over the past couple years & I have a pretty nice collection going.  I'm very interested in anything pre 1970's & will listen anytime to trade offers.  I like anything in this category 8x10's, Albums, Note Cards, contracts...anything

7.  Historical autographs...anyone that is highly collectible...Napolean, JFK...stuff like that

8.  Random stuff...I did keep some items just because they are cool...I still collect some jerseys...kept some nice looking football minis & a couple Game Used jersey cards

Things I pulled out of

I pretty much pulled out of baseball cards...shocking but I just didn't like the prices on a pack of cards & had an incredible time getting my money back with them.  They are fun to collect & I really had a blast with the Topps Million promotion but they just aren't doing it for me.  If anything I might try to focus on 1 set...Topps Heritage.  I believe this is one product that they have right.

8x10's...don't like them (unless they are RocknRoll or have some type of significance) & don't really collect them.  Most that I get in trade go directly to my brother.  

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!  I am down in Florida, lifting weights, running,  and getting ready for next spring.  I will be on the message boards so be sure and check in.

Be sure to check out the message board and the free contest section.  I just put up another great item that can be yours if you pick the correct # & the contest is FREE.  The item up for grabs is a Nolan Ryan Signed Baseball.  This morning Punter96 picked the correct # in the Stan Musial Signed Baseball contest so congrats to him!  Good luck http://pneshek.proboards.com/index.cgi

Yikes, haha

When you are getting recruited to play college baseball you get many calls and letters from college coaches.  I was digging through my old folders and came across this letter from Coach Steve Farley (My College Coach at Butler).  Maybe he should go into fortune telling in the offseason.  Most of this stuff came true and it's pretty funny to look back and read this considering the last time I read this I was 17 years old.

CHICAGO -- The hobby's biggest event was the perfect location for a rare auction of the hobby's biggest card. A 1909 T206 Honus Wagner was sold for $1.62 million in Chicago on Friday, sending a buzz around the crowded floors of the National Sports Collectors Convention.

The buyer was identified as John Rogers, 35, of North Little Rock, Ark.

The card, offered by Mastro Auctions, was the highlight of an event that also saw a 1938 Lou Gehrig Yankees jersey sell for $240,000 and Ken Griffey Jr.'s 600th home run ball go for $42,000.

The Wagner card was in Excellent condition, graded 5 by PSA. There are thought to be fewer than 100 copies of the Wagner in existence,and less than 10 of those are in at least excellent condition. The sale price set a record for the condition, vastly outdistancing pre-auction estimates of $500,000-$750,000.

The card, which offered sharp colors and surprisingly crisp borders, remained on display at the show throughout the weekend. Sizable crowds of rubberneckers crowded the Mastro display, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to see the hobby's most famous card first hand.

"It's a beautiful card," said Ace Grenier of Des Plaines, Ill., who was spotted admiring the card. "It's one of those things you never think you'll get a chance to see in person."

 http://www.beckett.com/estore/news/?eskin=subBB&a=9792&s=1

Jeff Manship & Drew Butera 

Trevor Plouffe 

 Ben Revere 

Alex Burnett 

The Group 

Check out the boards to have a chance at winning this ball

Be sure to check out the message board, yesterday we launched a free Yogi Berra Signed Baseball contest giveaway.  Today we have the newest MN Twin Matt Fox's stuff up for auction on the message board.  Fox gave me 2 pairs of cleats and his hats from the first and second half of his AAA season with the Rochester Red Wings.  Check out the boards for more info. 

Be sure to check into the message board next week and for the entire offseason.  I will be giving away lots of great HOF signed baseballs...Yogi Berra, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Ozzie Smith and much more...also be sure to make a request for a future free giveaway and I will try my best to get it up for you guys. 

Also bringing back a blast from the past with Game Used Items from myself as well as some of my teammates like Kyle Gibson, Jeff Manship, Kyle Waldrop and maybe a couple more guys...just waiting to see what they give me at the end of the season.  I will put this stuff up most likely in the next 1-2 weeks and you can offer in each section on the boards.  

Well, what a day...the team bus arrived in Rochester, NY at 6:30am and I was actually able to get a couple hours of sleep on the bus.  For the bus trip we took 2 buses and on the first half of the trip Brad Hennessey accidentally left his pillow on the other bus...I lucked out because he left it near my seat and I needed something to rest my back on...we stopped about halfway and he jumped on our bus and took it back.  That made for an interesting night of falling asleep for about 5 minutes and waking up because an elbow rest was poking me...it was impossible to get comfortable.  You gotta love minor league bus trips...they really suck but they also make for some fun times telling jokes and stories with teammates and listening to music.  To tell you the truth, the bus trips kind of have a peacefulness that I enjoy where you can just sit back with no computers, tvs and just relax to music...anyways.  Over the past couple years my music listening time has dwindled and this trip got me back into some songs.  Here's some NEW stuff that I liked from last night.  If anyone has any suggestions on tracks from new releases be sure to let me know on facebook or twitter.

the empire shall fall - we the people
apostles of solitude - other voices
priestess - the gem
soulfly - soulfly vii
the ocean - metaphysics of the hangman
deftones - risk
taproot - stolage
fear factory - powershifter

A couple more days have went by and right now we are in Pawtucket, Rhode Island getting ready to play the Red Sox (AAA) team.  I know this may come off as complaining but our travel schedule down here has been rough.  Earlier this year with the Twins we took a flight out of Anaheim to Chicago and got in at 6am...I thought that was a tough one.  Last night was the fourth time in a month we left a stadium at 11pm or later and got in at 6:30am or later.  Last night we drove from Rochester, NY to Rhode Island and it took 7 hours.  Tomorrow we will head back to Rochester from here and get back at....7am!  No big deal though it's actually a lot of fun hanging out with guys on the team and telling stories & jokes the entire time...and around 3-4 am most guys fall asleep, I just need to remember a pillow one of these times, the arm rest can really do a number on your back & neck. 

Last month when I was sent here the Twins really wanted me to work on getting my velocity up and pitch as much as I could.  So far I have been progressing well on both fronts.  After sitting out for nearly two years I knew I had a lot of things to work on.  Just being on the mound to me felt a little strange sometimes and I wasn't the most comfortable in certain situations.  Every now and then I would forget to do little things like check the runner at first, cover first on a ball to the first basemen and back up.  Don't get me wrong, I have good stuff and can compete and do well and get big league guys out but after coming off this injury the biggest thing needed was to pitch and pitch and pitch.  By doing this I could work on all aspects of the game and at the same time see my arm get stronger.  In the past month I'm closing in on 20 innings pitched and I have been getting a lot more confident on the mound and throwing a lot more fastballs.  The last two outings I have been getting ahead of a lot of guys with my fastballs and seeing a lot of those late foul ball swings, something I rarely have seen all year.  My stats aren't looking the best but for me stats are kind of on the backburner and the more important thing for me is knowing my stuff is there and feeling comfortable out there and having a plan.  For me just getting off the mound every other day has been huge and I know that if I keep working I will eventually have the stuff I had before surgery.  Right now according to the stadium gun my fastball has been up to 88-89, who knows if this is low or high but it's the highest I have seen on the thing since I've been here.  In my prime I was around 90-92 for most pitches. 

Be sure to become a member of my message board above and check out the free Ozzie Smith signed baseball giveaway.

This free contest is for a STEINER certified OZZIE SMITH Signed Sweetspot baseball. Comes with steiner sticker and authenticity card.

http://pneshek.proboards.com/index.cgi

Right now we are playing in Buffalo, NY and nearly over with our 9 game road trip.  I've met a lot of autograph collectors along the way and tried my best to get everything signed up that was needed of me.  I would have to say Scranton had the biggest crowd of graphers that I have seen this year and that includes the big league cities.  I've tried to tell collectors to not be shy and bring all your cards of mine instead of pulling out 3 one day and 3 the next.  If I have time I will knock everything out...I signed 220 for baseballaddict the other day in Rochester...it took forever!  In Scranton I was amazed at all the collectors and the different cards of me that they had, even signed up some rip cards, ripped of course.  From there we went to Lehigh (County) Valley, PA and once again the autograph crowd was out in force.  Buffalo wasn't that great...I came out yesterday late and was rushed and couldn't get all the cards signed...will try to get everything done tonight.  Be sure to check back now as I will be trying to update this numerous times each week, there are a ton of stories I have & I think you will enjoy.  A lot of people that I met have asked me how I have been feeling on the mound and had a lot of questions about me pitching.  The normal question was about how I feel.  So far down here with the exception of one really bad outing I have been pitching about as well as I have in my career.  Also another question is how hard I throw and with the exception of an outing my velocity has been at 88-89 on average (yes I have been scoreboard looking in between pitches).  The funny thing is that I throw my slider about 50% of the time to righties and always have even in 06 & 07.  I rely more on deception than blowing (velo) balls past guys, I'm a sidearmer for crying out loud...Overall I feel great and have good stuff on the mound.  For those that have been waiting on the Ozzie Smith contest, I'm going to try and get that started tonight after the game...I know I have been saying this for a long time & I think tonight is the night for it to start.

A couple weeks have gone by really quick and it has been a lot of fun.  For me it has been a month of ups and downs.  I felt great pitching again after the long time off rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.  I also hurt my middle finger and have had to sit out a week of games.  The finger is a lot better right now, just a little sore still.  The thing that I've noticed the most about playing again is how busy we are.  Going from rehab to an MLB season is at total opposite sides of the spectrum.  I'm enjoying my time and am thankful to be playing again. 

I thought I would share a couple of stories from the first month dealing with some bad fans that don't understand no.  Ever since I have been in the minors when I step on the field once the game starts I'm watching the game and staying focused.  I sit in the bullpen and usually keep to myself.  The other day in KC there was a fan that came down and shouted out my name...I waived back.  He asked for a ball and I said no...I very rarely give balls out when the game is going on because I like to stay focused, plus it's annoying listening to people ask for a ball every inning and once one is given out people will flock to the scene and repeat.  The guy turned around and came back a couple innings and asked for a ball again...also shouting out my name.  Since I already waived and said no I just shook my head (in my head) wondering if he was serious.  The next inning he brought his kids down and made them beg.  Another inning went by and the same thing went on.  During the entire time I kept my eyes on the game...then the guy yelled out..."let's go kids, THANKS PAT" in anger.  The next night a lady came down begging for a ball for her son...she begged for 6 innings after we said no in the first.  In the fourth her demands were for a bullpen sweat towel...never heard that before and it's no even our property to be giving away.  Every game is another story...

I'm about to head out to the field for tonight's game.  Yesterday was a blast in a lot of ways since it was opening night and Butler (where I went to college) was playing in the final NCAA game.  Opening night always brings out the nerves and adrenaline.  As a player you want to get in as soon as possible and get the first one out of the way.  For me it was a lot to think about and how far I've come since the surgery that left me out of baseball for nearly 22 months.  As I ran in I got that excitement feeling and realized I had to hit my spots and make sure my slider was moving and not backing up because any MLB hitter is going to kill a bad slider.  My outing went well and I was happy to see my slider running across the plate.  I sat in the dugout afterwards and thought of all the time away from the game and how amazing it was to be back.  That's the thing with the injury, you never know if you will ever get the chance to pitch in the big leagues again. 

At the same time of the game the Butler game was going on.  I stayed inside for the first inning and that got me to halftime.  After that I went to the bullpen and noticed they were updating the score every 5 minutes outside.  The crowd kept yelling owwwww...&....ahhhhh for no reason.  Then I realized they had the game televised in the concourse and about half the crowd was watching.  As the game got close to the end I knew it was close and heard the crowd let out a huge OHHHHHHHHHH.  That's when Butler's last shot banked off the backboard.  The best part of the night came 5 minutes later when the big screen showed the final seconds.  It posted the final score and the crowd Booed Duke for a couple seconds.  What a remarkable year for college basketball.

I can't believe how fast spring training went by and we are getting ready for the start of the season.  Yesterday we arrived at Target Field around 8:30am to play our last game of the spring.  Once the game was over we rushed over to catch a flight to California and get ready for opening day.  The flight left Minnesota around 5:45pm.  Ever since we left Florida it seems like things I haven't had any time to think.  When you leave Florida it's a mess of packing everything up and making sure it gets to where it needs to go.  Then when you arrive in Minnesota you have to pick everything back up at the field and unpack it and get the house set up.  I have always hated the first week of the season for as long as I have played pro baseball.  This year we flew in for a quick 2 days and out to CA.  From here we head to Chicago for another series and finally back to Minnesota for the opening of Target Field. 

Right now like I said above we have arrived in LA to play the Angels tomorrow night.  Today we have a workout and will rest up for the long season ahead.  As we were flying last night we missed both of the NCAA tourney games...I was scrambling with my phone as we landed to see who won the Butler game and I was pretty happy with the result.  There have been some pretty messy brackets this year.  So far there are a lot of brackets in the Neshek.com bracket challenge that will come down to the last day.  A lot of people (nearly all) did not pick Butler but for those who did have a shot at pulling off the amazing feat of winning the Neshek.com overall score and making some Duke fans mad in the process.  We'll see what happens, go DAWGS.

One more time to try again...enter the sweet sixteen 2nd Chance bracket...winner will recieve a signed Duke Snider baseball as well...GOOD LUCK, first 500 people only

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t2/group/17617/invitation?key=1987b2bdc4baf9e0

The first two rounds are over and my brackets are still alive but very ugly.  According to Yahoo, the best bracket in the country in any group picked 43/48.  That just doesn't seem right to me but proves how tough a year it was.  The Kansas game proved to be a killer for many brackets and will come into play for those who picked them to win it all.  It's going to get interesting, here's how the Neshek.com bracket challenge stacks up.

In Neshek.com Bracket #1 the standings look like this

1. bobg with 103 points (39/48 correct picks)

2.  Rosco with 96 points (39/48 correct picks)

3. pgaspe with 92 points (37/48 correct picks)

In the Neshek.com Bracket #2 the standings look like this

1.  liz with 90 points (36/48 correct picks)

2.  jahiem j with 89 points  (33/48 correct picks)

3.  mrg with 87 points (36/48 correct picks)

The winner of each group will recieve a signed Duke Snider Steiner Baseball

My brackets are in pretty sad shape...the fighting dachshunds have 38 points and 30/48 correct picks

The MNmetrodomers have 38 points as well and 30/48 correct picks

There will be a sweet sixteen 2nd Chance bracket to come very soon...be sure to check back

Be sure to get in the NCAA bracket challenge if you not signed up yet, it's always a fun tourney to see how you stack up.  So far over 750 users have signed up and it starts tomorrow.  I always love this time of year because I spend a ton of my offseason following the college teams.  It's funny to hear people on TV talk about who they think will win & you sit and wonder if they even followed any of the teams because they all seem to jump on the #1's & 2's.  Either way I'm sure tomorrow night my bracket will be a mess of red...I always pray for the underdog.

Spring training is flying by and it's going to be over before we even know it.  I've felt great this spring.  I think the thing I'm happiest about is that I've been able to handle the workload and think I have the ability to handle even more.  There have been a couple outings where I felt like I have had everything back and all my pitches were working.  My first outing was one of these and outing #3 in Clearwater was another.  I felt like in these games my velo was around 89-90 due to the late reactions of the hitters and the foul balls they hit.  Then I had outings #2 & #4 both in Ft. Myers where my velo was down but the ball was moving a ton and I got a lot of quick outs.  I like to think that my hamstring was bothering me in outing #2 and that set me back a little velo-wise and in outing #4 I never really threw any pitches (got 3 outs on 5 pitches).  This is the type of stuff that pitchers right now are going through.  The other day I wanted to really work on throwing my slider to righties and I faced another batch of lefties, not much I can do.  Spring training for the most part is about getting comfortable on the mound and getting use to throwing all your pitches.  Granted there are other worries about getting cut, pressure, putting up numbers but for most guys they are using this time to get comfortable out there, it's just hard to believe there is only 2 weeks left.

If you missed out on the first neshek.com March madness NCAA challenge I just added another group right here http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/group/111639/invitation?key=a5bd89de232271ff

Please only 1 bracket...I'd like to give everyone the chance of getting in.

Whew...I'm glad to have that first game out of the way.  I've pitched in tons of pressure games before but this one had a little more meaning to me.  It seems like I have been asked a million questions about my arm since January and I would always say that I would know more when the first games start.  You can never really tell until you get out in a game situation where the hitter doesn't want to look bad and has a little on the line.  Granted this was the first game of spring training but deep down nobody wants to give up a HR or whiff on three pitches.  Usually in the spring in the past I have pitched the third or fourth game of the spring.  This year I stayed on the pitch, day off, pitch program since day one of the spring.  It's been a big test on my arm pitching all out for this ammount of time and to me my arm has responded better than I thought it would.  I have been getting sore in all the normal spots and even had some shoulder blade soreness this past week for the first time in years.  One teammate told me that after his TJ surgery it took him two years to feel the normal soreness and it was good for me and meant that my arm was getting extended.  Anyways, last night was a lot of fun.  I guess it wasn't too much fun sitting around all day waiting to get on the mound because I was pretty anxious.  We arrived at the field around 4:30 and got ready for BP.  The weather down here just isn't cooperating...it's been this way since November.  The temperature was around 49 degrees with a 10mph wind blowing out to right.  Batting practice wasn't too much fun trying to catch balls that would start out in center and end up in right.  Anyways the game started and most of the guys in the pen got a little cold and decided to move from the CVS bullpen tower we were in down to the ground and did anything we could to stay warm...sprints, squat jumps and stretching.  As I was warming up it was fun to get that adrenaline rushing in and then to hear my name called in to the game gave me a big rush.  As I was running in I noticed I was going to face Marco Scutaro, Jermey Hermida and Josh Reddick.  This was probably the best group of guys I have ever faced in a spring training game so I knew this would be a great test to see where I was at.  Usually in the spring most reliever's come in around the 6th inning and by that time the teams usually put in all the backups.  The backups are a pain to face by the way because they are the ones fighting to make the club while the Vets are just trying to track the ball coming in from the pitcher's hand.  I must add that I played a lot of fantasy baseball last year being out and I knew that Scutaro had a career year since he was on my team. Things felt great out there, after my initial pitch to Scutaro I felt that zone that you hear pitchers talk about.  For my second & third AB's I faced two lefties, during my batting practice sessions a couple weeks ago I talked a lot with Erik Lis and he gave me some great feedback about keeping the fastball low and how my slider was tough. For both of the ab's I threw a couple good fastballs, some nice sliders and even broke out a changeup that was taken for a strike.  As I walked off the mound I felt like a small 50lb weight was off my back.  I realize I have a long ways to go still but it was nice facing top of the game talent and doing well.  

Spring training keeps chugging along...I can't believe we are already into March and games start in 2 days.  Since we started last week we have pitched every other day at a really good pace.  It's always a tough part of the year because you will get sore and a little bit less rest but this is where you really get into that groove that prepares you to throw everyday.  My arm has responded better than I thought it would.  If you would have told me the workload a month ago I might have been a little uneasy about it.  But like I said my arm has responded really well.  As of today I'm scheduled to jump right into our first game on Thursday vs. the Red Sox.  I have to admit I have a lot of emotions going on right now because it's the first game and my first outing in a game setting since I got hurt.  You never know what you are going to get on the mound so it's really hard for me to pinpoint how I will do.  I've done great with bullpen sessions and batting practice & have received great comments from the coaches and players.  Either way I will be out there competing and giving it my best and it sure beats sitting on my butt and doing nothing.  It's going to be really fun to see how my slider moves and if I can get any K's...I'm going to focus on hitting my spots and keeping the ball low.  In the past I never liked pitching in the first game because, well...it's a spring training game and there is too much emphasis on that 1 game.  It's amazing the coverage of that first game...then that game goes by and you might find a story or two on each game that comes after. 

Yesterday we had photo and media day.  Basically it's a day when all the baseball card photos are shot and you do all the shots for the scoreboard for the regular season.  I also did an interview for Athletes Quarterly and was filmed by the legendary baseball photographer Tom DiPace.  The interview centered around sports names and websites.  It was a pretty cool photo shoot and I got to hear some great stories from Tom who has many huge photos to his credits including the Griffey UD RC and basically anything else that was on Beckett or Topps & Upper Deck cards.  Check out his website here, http://www.dipacefotos.com/

I got a box of 2010 Topps series 1 today not expecting much because well, these cards don't really have much value.  Basically I just wanted to check them out and try to pull one of my cards.  To my surprise Topps added a really cool promotion that might get me to go out and buy a couple more blaster boxes.  The newest innovation from Topps is called the Topps Million Card Giveaway.  Basically Topps put 1,000,000 of their cards from throughout their history starting from year 1952.  Every card that they produced for that year's Topps set can be had if you find the right redemption card, oh a Mantle rookie sounds so good.  Now for me I was quite curious to check this out and see how it worked.  Basically you buy a blaster box or hobby box or a pack of cards and you have the shot at getting a redemption card.  In hobby boxes there are 6 per boxs (seeded at 1 in 6 packs).  In blaster boxes for $9.99 at Target or Wal-Mart there are 2 per box.  Basically if you buy a blaster you will get 2 redemption cards where you go online at www.toppsmillion.com and enter your code after you register.  From there the card image will be revealed with name and year and most of the time it will be a let down but there's always the shot of getting something crazy.  From there the cards are placed in a virtual card collection where you can trade for cards you want from other collectors or ask Topps to send you the card(s).  I put in a bunch of trades for my own "Pat Neshek" cards, we'll see how many people are trading.  If anyone has any codes they don't want be sure to let me know.  If anyone wants to trade here's what I pulled.  1955 Willie Miranda - 1974 Larry Stahl - 1978 Francisco Barrios - 1979 Manny Mota - 1980 Bombo Rivera -   1980 Phillies Rookies.

I just wrapped up all the fan mail a little bit ago.  The total came out to 231 letters of all shapes & sizes.   Some of the mail had Metrodome addresses and was from last season that the Twins brought down.  Other mail was from the past month and sent to the right address.  I'm pretty easy with fan mail, if you need anything signed send a return stamped envelope and I will sign what you send, the address is right above this entry and is current.  Here are the highlights & oddities & I included pics so nobody can call BS on me. Click on the links to see the letters

- Out of all the letters 2 did not include SASE's, you have to remember those if you want the cards back.

- Most were straight to the point and included cards & a few 8x10's, didn't get 1 baseball/hat or jersey to sign. 

- 7 people sent me signed cards of other athletes for my collections, thank you very much, here's who I got

Aaron Harang, Ricky Bones, Wilson Alvarez, Deryk Booker, Dennis Boyd,  Mark Cohoon, Marian Gaborik, Greg Bullock, George Kell, Ramon Hernandez, Dave Gagner & Eddie Perez.

- Got a letter with a Dick Pole baseball card in it asking me to sign his card because his name was funny...had to pass, there's no way I'm signing another guy's card.

- One guy sent me a letter and made a huge deal about how he included an unsigned William VanLandingham 1994 Flair card for me to keep...Thanks, I just don't share in the excitement I guess:)

- Got a letter from a student at MIT saying if I signed a card for him he would try really hard to get my name on the moon one day since he works in lunar landing designs...I def signed that card.

- 1 USPS note saying I owed them .24cents or else my letter was being returned...hopefully it got returned ok

An awesome letter from Taiwan & even better one from my fan in Japan...I love getting Japan letters because the translation makes me laugh.

- Might want to straight up avoid this guy...he isn't referring to Bernie Madoff either

- I opened up back to back letters and just shook my head...I don't think he knows I sign whatever he puts in 1 envelope...could've saved 2 stamps

- Also got some artwork.

Day two of camp has already passed, it really doesn't surprise me after this past year at how quickly time goes by.  Not really much to report on, it's your basic spring training.  The daily plan is usually the same until games start.  We usually come out for stretch around 9am and do that and play catch for 30 minutes.  After that we break into three stations and work on signs, ground balls and throw bullpen sessions.  Right now we have half the pitchers in camp throwing pens on one day and the rest will throw the next day.  My first pen went well and I was pretty happy to hear Rick Anderson say that my stuff looked good.  With this injury it's really hard to tell where you are at because most of the time it feels good but you can't tell certain things like velo and how well the ball is moving.  I still have a lot of hurdles to get over in the next couple weeks.  Games are coming up quickly and I need to keep bouncing back from bullpen sessions like I have been...so far so good. 

There are tons of fans this year so be prepared if you are coming down here.  The best time to get autographs is after practice anytime (Walking to gym, back) and I will stop pretty much everytime if asked.  I hate turning people down when we are walking out to the field before we start but I need to get out there and stretch.

It's pretty funny to see this but I remember a couple years back when I was coming up (2004) and got a lot of crap for blogging from pretty much everyone.  Back then it seemed that only a handful of guys on the team had computers and they mostly had them from college.  I loved having access to all the stats and to look up whatever I wanted with my all access sprint card.  I couldn't imagine life without it and how my teammates survived the boredom of minor league ball.  That year though I would get the computer geek comments and things like that from the other guys.  Fast forward now to 2007 and it seems like the entire team has a laptop and was online.   I always thought it was funny seeing teammates coming up to me for help when they crashed their computer or had a problem with their ipod.   I had quotes back then saying that this wasn't going away and will only get more and more in depth (2005).  This year it seems that every media person has a blog or is tweeting or has basically made their coverage you could say "fan friendly".  It's pretty cool to see this happen in such a short time.  I envision the future of sports reporting going more and more all access, videos, sights, sounds.  But the biggest thing I think will center around the athelete themselves and the access they can give...interactive interviews with fans, photos & thoughts.  I think this has yet to really be explored and marketed by agents as well as big companies.  I think this is still a couple years away but it will be cool to see how this evolves into a major source of revenue for whoever has the coolest way to make this happen.  As for me I will go with the flow, I have no big plans although the thought of adding video might happen sometime down the raod.  

It's hard to believe that spring training starts in one week.  It's also hard to believe that I have been in Ft. Myers for 1 full year.  I've been in the same routine now for this entire time and it's great to take the next big step and rejoin the team as a guy that can help the team.  This past week I've thrown a lot off the mound.  On Tuesday I faced hitters for the first time and things went great.  One of the hitters I faced back in November, and I faced him again this time said that I had a lot more zip on the ball this time around.  I was happy with the outing but still wanted to see how my arm felt the next day and how I felt my next outing out.  On Friday I faced hitters again.  It took me a couple days to get over the soreness...normal soreness I should say from pitching a couple innings worth of hitters.  This time around I wanted to work on different arm angles and see where I felt better.  My velocity felt good but I felt like it still wasnt' where I was at during my peak.  On the other hand my slider was a ton better and got some remarks from the hitters.  I asked both guys what they thought my velo was and they said I was sitting most likely around 88-89 on my fastball.  Like I said in previous post with this injury you slowly get your velo back by doing more and more mound work and feeling comfortable with mechanics.  I was really happy because in November my fastball high speeds were 85 & 86.  The hitters also said that my fastball was pretty straight when I left it up in the zone (duh) but when it was down it was very hard to see and was a great pitch for me.  After hearing this I knew I had to concentrate now on hitting my spots and keeping the ball low.  Lately my mechanics have felt really good on the mound and just doing moundwork every other day is making me feel more and more comfortable out there.  So for the past week I have been going mound, toss, toss making sure I gave myself enough time to recover.  This week I wanted to focus on going mound, toss, mound since this is what we will be doing in spring training during the first week.  Yesterday I was the least sore I have been after doing a bullpen this year so today when I got off the mound everything felt great.  This week I'm going to face hitters again on Tuesday giving me 1 day of rest tomorrow.  After that I'm going to take 2 days from the mound and throw again on Friday.  After that it will be the start of spring training.  By doing all this I will be prepared for all the throwing that is to come and know that I will be fine with the workload.

So far down here there hasn't been too many guys that have shown up. Last week Mauer and Hardy were here but they both took a week off and flew back to MN.  Today I noticed Crain & Guerrier and a couple days ago Swarzak & Harris.  I'm guessing the bulk of the guys will be here this week, I can't wait to get going.  

Daily Arm Update: I had a great bullpen session today, mechanics are starting to come together finally...it's tough to replicate the motion...don't laugh! Velo was up, no gun but rehab master & catcher Lanning Tucker told me it was coming in fast and heavy. My confidence is going up:)

Just kidding, I'm just messing around, I haven't talked to Mauer at all...I needed to get some more hits and I figured Google's algorithm would put me on the top search!

I've made some huge strides in the last couple days with my mechanics and I have another bullpen tomorrow.  I'm probably the most excited for this one because I think I figured out what I wasn't doing and that I might have some mojo back...I'll tell you one thing though, it's been very hard to figure out how I threw that way...I think I have it down though.  I'll let you know how the bullpen session goes.  

I got back from Twinsfest late Sunday night and went right to bed...got in at 11:50 pm.  Yesterday I played catch and got back into the swing of things working out.  Today I threw another bullpen session and it went well but something mechanically still feels off.  I think today I was rushing my windup and when I do that things can get out of whack pretty easily.  My next bullpen is on Friday and I can't wait.  Right now at the field they are having Red Sox and Orioles fantasy camp.  I didn't recognize anyone but heard Rico Petrocelli and Steve Finley were in town, later in the week Jim Palmer is suppose to show up.  

Twinsfest Sunday went just as good as the previous couple days.  I signed with Jeff Manship and we signed non-stop for an hour then nobody came through the lines.  I picked up some sweet heavy metal cds, a Death Row Rap shirt and some more signed cards from fans.  After I got done signing I walked around the dealer tables and came across a sweet Burleigh Grimes signed baseball and added it to my collection, a nice way to end the weekend.

I thought I would include this pic of my interview on XM...I didn't know they updated it for every guest...pretty cool stuff. 

Last week was Twins caravan and I went on tour with Joe Vavra, Ron Gardenhire and Matt Tolbert...plus TC Bear.  This year was probably my favorite of the 3 caravans I have been on.  The weather wasn't bad cold wise...we did get an ice storm that cancelled a couple stops.  Highlights of the tour...our bus driver drove most of the participants in the MN Vikings boat scandal and had some funny stories.  The bus we drove was one of those party buses that had lights that lit up to the music, big screen TVs and everything else you could think of in a party bus...I did get some pretty incriminating pics of TC Bear haha.  The stops this year were fun, we went to some great schools, great nursing homes and had some great nighttime stops.  The least favorite stops on tour are usually the radio stations because most of the time there aren't too many fans and they make you read these things called liners...stuff like "Hey it's Pat Neshek of the Minnesota Twins and you are right at home at WAAA".  One of the stops the radio guy thought he was funny and made me say Mower County about 20 times...I was pretty sure I was saying it right but he disagreed.  In the end it was a great trip, got to see my friends at Wincraft in Winona again, picked up a nice signed Robin Yount ball from a guy in New Ulm and picked up some sweet autographs from fans in Winona including a Steve Liddle and Wayne Haddaway signed minor league card.  

Once caravan got over I flew back to Florida for the week to keep working out and threw another bullpen.  When I got back my dog Kirby must have thought I was gone a month because he went nuts when I came through the door.  My bullpen session went great.  I thought I was doing excellent the week before but that week of rest during caravan really helped my arm.  Throwing long toss I felt myself again...not to say I didn't feel like this before but man I really felt like the ball was doing things I wanted it to do.  Sure enough I threw my bullpen and it was my best one yet.  I was still doing something weird with my mechanics (not that my mechanics are great in the first place) like opening up my shoulder too quickly or popping up to quickly...I really can't wait for Rick Anderson to get down here so he can check it out.  I think in the meantime though it will iron itself out...a lot of pitching is doing things over and over again and that is where you will start seeing things do what you want.  All in all though last week was a pretty good one confidence wise knowing I can build off of this and I'm pretty close to game ready.

This week is Twinsfest...the Twins invite nearly everyone in the org...probably over 60 players to come sign autographs.  The players do not get paid but do get a hotel room and coach plane ticket to get up here and back.  Last night I got a ton of cool things from fans.  A Telsa (The band) signed photo, a sweet homemade patch card of myself that looks better than something Topps can produce and also picked up a Johnny Bench Rookie card in a trade on my message board.  Yesterday I signed for about 1.5 hours and it went by really quick.  At night I got a firsthand tour of Target Field from Twins Director of Public Affairs man Kevin Smith.  The place is pretty incredible; they didn't skimp in details on that place.  Today I sign later in the day and have to go in around 1pm for the yearly team physical...all the other guys go as well.  Give me a shout if you head out to Twinsfest.

I don't know what's going on but for the past week in FL it has been 30 degrees everynight...you're right though, that's nothing compared to up north.  I just find it unusual for South Florida.  Things are going great for me, I took a week off for the holidays and I'm at the point where I don't even think about my arm being hurt anymore.  For me the one big thing that is missing is facing hitters and getting that competitive fire inside...I can't wait because sitting here thinking about baseball and mentally wearing myself out got old about 14 months ago.

So far there are only a handful of guys working out down here.  There have been a couple guys from other teams here as well...5 total guys so far, pretty boring.  Next week I'm going to start throwing light bullpen sessions.

We put in a good charge but John Gordon just missed out being added to the HOF ballot for announcers.  I didn't see the final vote total but the 3rd place finisher Joe Nuxhall got 1,100 votes...I know we were close.  Hopefully tomorrow Bert will be added to the Hall, if not this year then next year for sure.  

Thanks to everyone who is following me on Twitter, I thought having a website, message board, myspace & facebook were enough but I was wrong...Since myspace isn't cool anymore I'm going with Twitter.

Once again be sure to get on the message board right above this and chat about anything baseball and collecting.

I just got back from the Colorado College - Cornell hockey game.  It was cool having ranked teams come to Ft. Myers and play a couple games...we don't get much hockey down here.  Colorado College was really good and controlled the entire game.  When I got home I was surprised to realize that tons of guys on the CC team were from Minnesota.  I really liked the play of Nate Prosser from Elk River, he nailed a bunch of guys and got in their faces after the play was over.  I can always remember the MN Gophers being the top college hockey team...what the heck happened...I can see that a CC team full of Minnesota guys might have something to do with it. 

Not much else is new, killing time down in Ft. M

The Baseball Hall of Fame is letting fans vote on the Ford C. Frick award this year to be a finalist on the ballot.     Please vote for JOHN GORDON by clicking here

Merry Christmas to everyone.  This year we stayed down in Florida and it really doesn't feel like Christmas at all...but at least we don't have to worry about feet of snow coming our way.  This is about the last week of relaxing in the offseason for most guys...once January 1st hits it is go time for most baseball players.  This is about the time of the year when guys will start getting into their throwing programs and eventually start to throw bullpens.  It's amazing to think how quickly the offseason has went by already. 

I last threw a couple days ago and am taking a couple days off to relax and enjoy the holidays.  My arm is getting closer and closer to feeling like I never had the surgery.   I can't wait for spring training to come along so I can get some of that adrenaline flowing...I think that's when I will really find out where I am at.  It's been nearly 2 years and I can't wait to get back on the mound and strike some guys out.

I decided to bring this back after a long time off.  This is a very rough list of stuff I've listened to in the past month.  For the most part these albums have all been released in the past month or so.  Of course this list is a lot of Metalcore and hard rock.  I'm not a big death/dark metal fan but if it has a catchy riff or sound to it I'm sure I'll be into it.  Be warned there's a lot of screaming and it's a strange genre that's not for everyone.  Here's the first installment, I'm hoping to make this at least a bi monthly deal.

 Top 20 - November 29th, 2009

20. Devildriver - Bitter Pill
19. Earth Crisis - So Others Live
18. Between The Buried & Me - Desert Of Song
17. Nile - Kafir
16. Scar Symmetry - Ascension Chamber
15. Texas Hippie Coalition - Pissed Off & Mad About It
14. Poison The Well - Are You Anywhere?
13. Converge - Damages
12. Scar Symmetry - Radient Strain
11. CKY - A#1 Roller Rager
10. Earth Crisis - So Others Live
9. The Red Chord - Hour Of Rats
8. Isis - Hall Of The Dead
7. Despised Icon - MVP
6. Skindred - Stand For Something
5. Gwen Stacy - A Dialogue
4. We Came As Romans - Roads That Don't End
3. Dredg - Pariah
2. Pelican - The Creeper
1. Texas Hippie Coalition - Leavin

I threw my last bullpen session until January yesterday and it went really well.  Technically it was called a simulated game.  I took the mound and two minor league guys, Nick Freitas & Max Kepler (16 year old) stepped in to face me on the mound.  It was a rush just to be on the mound looking into the catcher's mitt with a hitter in the box.  I threw about 30 pitches and it went really well.  I was pretty happy with my slider as my velo went up a bunch since my last pen.  I also gained a mph on my fastball but I got a little ways to go still.  I think the rest this next month and a lot of long toss will really stretch me out & help me a ton in the velo department.  As of today I have 3 months until spring training starts up.  This next week I'm going to take a few days off and get back at it on Saturday.  My program now consist of doing the same shoulder exercises & stretches that I've done all year followerd weights and conditioning and throwing long toss every other day.

Today I got a phone call from the Twins about doing the Winter Caravan.  I was asked if I wanted to go out on the first leg of the caravan and I accepted.  I'm not sure where I am going or who's coming with but I thought I would let everyone know. 

I've been doing a lot of message board maintenance lately adding sections and I am getting ready to give stuff away on there.  If you are a sports fan or collector of anything it's a great community and I think you will be very happy you joined, there's a ton of info inside.  Today I added an upcoming autograph signings section by state on there.  If this stuff interest you, you have to check it out.  You can get there by clicking on the message board logo above or on the side tool bar that says message board.   Takes a minute to sign up and a day or two to get accepted and is free.

I got a pretty cool letter a couple weeks back.  It came from the 2008 Topps Ginter Code Champion.  He wanted me to sign up a card of me from 2009 Ginter.  He also included 2 of his cards signed and inscribed. Check it out below.

For the past 2 months my schedule has been going like this, throw long toss, the next day is a bullpen followed by an off day of throwing.  I still come in and work out and do all my arm maintenance exercises.  This stuff gets really repetitive and I think this is why my year down here has went by pretty quickly in my mind if that makes sense...my days seem to run together.  Today I had a bullpen session...my second to last one until January.   It went ok, my velocity was down a little from where I want it to be but my slider's speed picked up a bunch and was starting to run a lot more.  At this phase of my rehab most guys are considered about 80% good.  If I had to guess right now I would say I'm a little past 80%.  I'm throwing max effort and working on all my pitches and location.  The next part of my rehab starts on Tuesday and will be a rest phase.  This is where a lot of guys say they get back their velocity and feel good.  Starting Tuesday for nearly the entire month of December I will be alternating throwing long toss with conditioning afterward by a day of not throwing with a ton of conditioning.   Lanning Tucker our rehab coordinator here thinks once I hit January is when I'm going to start feeling great, not that I don't feel good right now but I'd like to add a couple more MPH's

For one really messed up kid's baseball video click to watch

I had another really good bullpen session today throwing all three pitching really well.  We had the radar gun out but for some reason it wouldn't work right.  The other radars were locked up in the equipment room and the man that had the key wasn't around.  The speed for me really doesn't mean much I just want to know where I am at...if I'm throwing 87 and thinking I'm throwing 93 or vice versa, throwing 93 when I feel like it's 87.  If I had to guess I'm in the 89-92 range right now but that's just a guess.  My slider today was still a little slower than I like and I think it will get faster with time and throwing it more...I've only been throwing it for 3 weeks right now.  At the field the past couple weeks there have been tons of teams from around the country playing in the Roy Hobbs World Series.  They have tons of different age groups, I think one is 29 and under, one is 39 and under, another is 49 and under and right now they have the 50 and over leagues going on.  It amazes me that guys can still throw really well, no offense to anyone but it's pretty cool to see...I noticed tons of sidearmers out there slinging it up.  The teams are from all over but over the past week I met people from 3 different teams in Minnesota...say hi if you are down here. 

For all you metal heads you are going to be happy.  I'm working on a new top 20.  Right now I'm in the gathering process and might have something out soon.  For me music has always helped me relax and escape and in some cases blow some steam off after a tough game.  Over the past couple years the music kind of got away from me a little bit and I feel this was one part of me that helped me get to the big leagues.  Maybe if I can find some awesome songs with riffs we can vote on my "walk in" song for next season.

Another couple weeks have gone by and my arm is feeling great.  I threw another great bullpen session on Saturday.  I'm still ironing out my slider because it's such a feel pitch for me but I'm really surprised at how easy I picked it up after surgery.  I'm very curious to see the velocity on my fastball because I think it might be coming in pretty hard...I'm going to try and get a radar gun out for my bullpen session tomorrow.  It's hard to imagine but I have 1 week left of rehab and then I am done.  On Wednesday it will be 1 year since my surgery, hard to imagine how fast the time went by.  My last day is the 23rd and after that I plan on playing catch every other day until January hits and then approach it like any other season to get ready for spring training.  I will be staying in Florida the entire winter working out with MN TWINS strength coach Perry Castellano and I know he is going to work me. 

I've had some pretty good autograph successes lately.  My brother & I drove up to get NHL autographs in Tampa last week and did pretty good going for the Wild.  The highlight was getting Tony Esposito on a stick.  The week before that I met Gary Puckett from the Union Gap, he had hits in the 60's like Young Girl...very cool guy.  He signed 5 items for me and posed for a pic.  I also met Jewel and got two autographs from her.  I also had a couple failures...one involved Smokey Robinson...just didn't see the guy.  This past week I went for T-Pain and Juvenile & now I see why there are so few autographs of rappers out there, those guys are tough and I wonder if they ever sign that's all I'll say haha, it was a mess.  All in all it was a blast getting stuff signed again, during the season I am so focused on ball that I don't get the chance to do this type of stuff.

I've been messing around with the site and changed the look up a little.  Let me know if you want more changes...looks pretty good for me.  I would like to add a cool banner on top...not that the one up isn't cool but was thinking it would be fun to see who could submit a cool banner that actually matches...write to me on the message board.

I think for the most part I will be updating this site very often from now on.  There seriously wasn't much to talk about with the injury and it got old answering the same questions, I'll go into all the stuff down the road in updates.  For right now though I just wanted to mention a quick update that things are going really well on the mound.  I've been throwing fastballs and change-ups at full speed off the mound and my arm feels better than it did before I went down during the season in 08.  This week we start with sliders and I'm excited because that's my pitch!  Last year I was hesistant when we started messing with breaking balls but this year I'm ready to go because mentally I know I'm good.  The trainers down here say if I didn't do anything the rest of the year I would be good to go for spring training.  It excites me because I'm at month 11 on the rehab and most guys say it takes to months 12-14 to feel 100%.  I'll keep you updated...

Got lots of autograph stories and other stuff, be sure to start checking in on the site often.

I couldn’t let this product go by without a review.  I just got done opening up 2 boxes of Topps’s latest installment of 2009 Allen & Ginter Baseball.  Once again this is the product I recommend to all people ready to get back into baseball cards.  They represent a little of the old, the new and the crazy part of collecting baseball cards.  These cards unlike a lot of other brands offer real value for the most part and are a lot of fun to open, trust me I’ve opened a lot of cards. 

For people not aware of the Allen & Ginter brand I’m going to quickly explain what it is about this product that makes it special.  These aren’t your usual baseball card.  After opening the first pack you might find yourself going “what or who the heck is on this card!).  You see 2009 Allen & Ginter not only uses the top baseball players in its product, they use champions from all sports and history.  My first pack I open had a card of the Milky Way staring back at me, then I got a card of the 2001 Scrabble champion followed by a Pujols card and a mini card of a Yeti…seriously it’s not your usual pack of cards.  The only problem with this brand is finding these cards in stores…they usually sell out pretty quickly in most big cities at Target & Wal-Mart stores although last year’s Ginter could be found with some effort.  I mentioned last year with the 2007 Ginter brand that people could buy the box and hold them for a year and sell the unopened box for a premium, not sure if that was the same for the 08 Ginter but the 09 product looks to be the same way, it’s very tough to find down here in Ft. Myers. 

For me this brand represents a little of everything.  It’s great for set builders.  There are tons of different sets inside this brand.  The mini cards have tons of variations such as the black bordered cards, Ginter ad backs, bazooka backs, no numbered backs and the regular minis.  The regular set also offers challenges with 50 cards being short printed.  I’ve put together a set from each Ginter year and am already close to checking off this one as well.  These cards are also great for autograph seekers.  They offer a non-gloss finish and the white background makes an autograph stand out.  Also this set offers a lot of collectors the challenge of getting every card autographed either in-person or ttm.  You might say how would you get the Milky Way signed or even the Yeti…well you have to be creative.  In one Ginter set the card Pluto was included and people went after the guy who denounced Pluto as a planet…you make the rules on who signs your Ginter card.  Another reason I love this product is that it’s a fun time.  As I mentioned above I’ve open tons of packs, some are fun, others you feel like you are doing a chore because you know nothing inside is worthwhile to open.  Allen & Ginter is different.  You could open up a Rip Card, a red autograph, a bazooka back, a printing plate, an autograph, a relic or even Napoleon Bonaparte’s hair…no I’m serious there is a piece of his hair in a pack of these.   The last reason this product is great and it’s a personal one, there are cards of me loaded inside for me to sign for collectors all over the country.  This year I’m in the set and have a ton of cards.  I even have a Rip Card…How do I know, well because in the box I just opened I got my rip card in it, what are the odds of that?  So what can make this product better?  Well, the last two years A&G has run a promotion called “Crack the code” in which they make code cards and anyone has a chance to crack the code.  I just found out that Topps used my card as the answer.  Check it out here http://2009gintercodeunraveled.blogspot.com/

Ginter is the brand I always buy each year because it’s the most fun box of cards to open (& no I don’t get any kick backs from Topps, I wish I did!).  Here’s how I did with my two boxes of cards.

2009 – 2 boxes of Topps Allen & Ginter results

Hits

Pat Neshek Rip Card (No way I’m ripping this thing) – My all time best hit, I’ve opened up a lot more expensive cards but this was the coolest card I have ever opened.  Considering there is one rip card in every 12 boxes and many subjects have rip cards… to open this card of myself is statistically crazy.

Chris Carpenter Silk Cloth card #’d to 10 (Another tough pull)

CC Sabathia GU Jersey, Nate Mclouth Jersey, Melvin Mora GU Bat & Ryan Ludwick jersey cards

Brian Cappelleto Game Used Shirt worn during the 2001 Scrabble Championship

Cuba & Constitution Cabinet cards as my box toppers

Analysis – Considering you are suppose to get 2 hits per box I did exceptionally well.  Not bad to get 7 hits in 2 boxes.  I still think getting my rip card was my all-time greatest hit.  The only thing better is if my Wood card is inside but I’ll never know since it’s staying unripped.  I liked the cards a lot.  I think the checklist of players works just as it has in the past.  I still liked last year’s state cards but the National pride cards are great as well.  Not much has changed since last year and this will once again be the top brand out.  As always if you find my printing plate or wood card we need to trade!

The pain in my elbow from the surgery has went away over the last month and it should...it's been 8 months right now.  I've known a lot of minor league guys that have came back in 9 months but the way we wrote up the rehab program I've been going a little slower and full recovery will be in 12 months.  It's pretty awesome to be able to stretch out my arm and bend it and not have any pressure or pain.  My elbow still acts up every once in awhile especially after I get done lifting my upper body or doing some of the rehab stuff such as resistence exercises.  I think the biggest thing I need to get over right now is trusting my arm once again.  I really like to baby it for stupid things like opening doors and reaching for things...I really still favor my left arm and I'm making it a priority to do everything with my right hand once again.  As always with my rehab I have my good days and bad ones...It still feels like I'm riding a wave with highs and lows but after each week I feel like I'm improving a ton from the week before so I know everything is going on track. 

I've still been collecting autographs and watching the games on TV.  I've added a couple really cool pieces to my collection.  I started getting into the online auctions such as RR Auction...you can search for it in yahoo.  In June I purchased an authentic original letter written by Napoleon Bonaparte talking about how he wants supplies and troops relocated...and it includes his signature written in French.  I also found an authentic Jimi Hendrix autograph from a guy in Sweden and added that to my collection as well.  It took me a lot of long hours doing quick opinions on PSA/DNA.com finding real stuff of Hendrix but I finally came through.  I've also been meaning to put this on here for a long time but never have.  I've been trying to track down Michael Lang the producer of Woodstock.  I bought a check that was written to Hendrix from Lang paying him for a concert...I sent it in to PSA/DNA and they said everything checked out but they needed Lang's final approval to say real/fake.  If anyone has any leads on how to get in touch with Lang or knows him please let me know how I can get in touch with him and I will reward nicely, message me on Facebook...my image is of my dog Kirby driving our car.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter made some sweet new baseball cards of me.  If anyone gets anything of me and need it signed send it my way with a SASE and I will ink them up for you.  The address is above.

I don't like taking this much time off between updates but my days really haven't been anything to write about down here rehabbing.  To start things are going great.  I just passed the 7 month mark and my arm is really strong.  Right now I'm throwing from about 70 feet and even doing push ups.  I will be game ready in November...still a long ways to go but it's great to be getting stronger each week. 

About 3 weeks ago the team came into Tampa and I met up with them.  I got to sit in the dugout for a couple games and it was fun to see everyone.  Taking BP with the team made me feel like I was making my Major League debut again...the balls were jumping off the bat and coming at me fast, it's amazing how fast stuff moves up there when you haven't been around for a little bit.  The highlight for me was the Rays annoucer Rusty gave me a shout out in the first inning.  Rusty also works for the Minnesota Wild in the winter and IS a Ryan Seacrest body double.  Anybody who has been to a Rays game in the past 4 years can verify this.

I've been busy buying autographs, trading autographs and cleaning up my collection.  I'm working on acquiring a new personal favorite autograph at the moment so check back later to see what I got...might take awhile to get here.  I've also been doing a lot of in-person graphing here...we get done at our workouts around noon each day and gives me the perfect schedule to get some autographs.  I'm a big fan of music graphs so that is who I have been going after.  Last week I got Steely Dan (Donald Fagan & Walter Becker) on an album and was pumped because they are tough signers.  The week before I got a couple guys in Blue Oyster Cult as well as a guy named Rudy Sarzo who played in Quiet Riot & White Snake as well as with Ozzy.  The week before that I got Vanilla Ice & Lita Ford.  I also had some misses but it's because I didn't know the venue I was working with...The county race track and casino here are tough to get autographs and I missed getting Charlie Daniels and John Kay from Steppenwolf.  So this is some of the stuff that has been keeping me going down here...It's starting to get very hot as well.

It's been very fun watching the Twins play lately.  I think we are going to be in the thick of it this year for sure.  I still worry about the White Sox...we'll see how July plays out, that's always a big month right before the trading deadline.

Down here a lot of the new draft picks have been showing up.  It's fun to watch a guy show up for the first time with the deer in the headlights look.  After a couple days they seem to get use to the way things are done and settle in.  I think it's been really cool to meet a lot of the younger guys & hopefully play with them some day in the big leagues.  

Be sure to check out the new t-shirts at www.sidearmstore.com

My entire share of the sales goes to charity

I've been away for a couple weeks...actually I've had a couple friends come down to visit and there wasn't much internet time.  In the last couple weeks I've been to Busch Gardens, watched nearly every baseball game with the MLB Package and I'm in 2nd place in my fantasy baseball league. I haven't had any ebay purchases but that might change soon.

Rehab is going great, I'm throwing without worry right now and slowly but surely moving up day by day.  The rehab is a little bit easier this year because Boof is down here and it's been a ton easier having another guy that is going through the same thing.  Right now I am still at 20 and 30 ft. for my throwing program but right now I am throwing 60 pitches every other day. 

I've been reading a lot of stories about how much people hate the Metrodome lately that I thought I would chime in and let everyone know that I am a big time fan of the dome and don't want to see it go.  Contrary to newspaper articles that have quotes from players bashing the place I just thought it would be fair to let people know the general consensus amongst the players and what they think about the dome.  Let’s start with the cons from the player's point of view.  The clubhouse is awful and outdated.  It's very small in terms of space and the amenities.  It really needs to have more rooms such as a bigger video room, a weight room & training room.  Basically those complaints are the biggest concerns.  Yes some guys hate playing indoors or don't like the turf.  Others don't like the white roof and how hard it is to catch the ball in the outfield.  I'm sure there are other complaints but these are the most common ones I have heard.  Now for the pros, there are many.  Baseball players HATE playing outdoors from April til Mid May unless they are in warm weather.  Being in Minnesota everyone knows you can still have snow on the ground in May...let's just say nobody is looking forward to playing outdoors next April.  The Metrodome also provides the comfort of knowing that every game is going to be played whether it is snow or rain, cold or hot.  From a player's point of view knowing the game is on time is huge.  The biggest thing for me and why I like the dome is the home field advantage.  Opposing teams are scared to play at the Metrodome if we have a team in contention.  They know the place will be the loudest place in MLB and are not use to the turf and how the field plays.  I haven't looked up the exact stats but I'm pretty sure in my time at the dome we have kicked butt basically because of how comfortable we are there and how scared opposing teams are.  Granted the place doesn't look the best from a fan's perspective but I think the loudness, the way we play there and the uniqueness of the dome makes up for that.  Add in the 70 degree temp everyday of the year and I am sold.  I really don't understand the bashing of the dome.  I truly think after the nostalgia of the new stadium rubs off in a couple years that we are all going to wish the place was enclosed like the dome or we had the dome back.  Add in how cold it is going to be, not knowing if the game is going to be played due to rain or cold, the loss of the huge home field advantage and loudness of the dome, the smaller max crowd capacity and I think things will be just a little different in Minnesota.  It will be nice to play outdoors but sometimes it's a lot better playing in neutral conditions where the wind isn't blowing 20 mph some nights, the sun isn't torturing the players in the bullpen or it rains or snows so much that we have 10 doubleheaders throughout the year.  In my mind I'd rather have a place where the temperature is always 70 degrees with no wind any day of the year.  

Well, the team is gone and I am going at it with my rehab.  Yesterday was a hectic day for just about everyone.  I think the clubbies had to be the busiest people on earth.  They had to make sure all the uniforms, baseballs & equipment made it on the plane as well as clean out the clubhouse and make sure everything is in order before they left.  I packed up my locker at the end of the day and had one of the ushers drive me over to the minor league side in a golf cart.  On my way back I chatted with a couple graphers and made my way back to the clubhouse.  As I walked into the clubhouse I noticed that everyone on the team was gone.  All that was left were the batboys digging through lockers and grabbing freebies that the guys left behind.  Just like that the entire team packed up and was on the plane.  I did get to say goodbye to most of the guys and wished them luck.  During the season I will probably make it up to the dome sometime to visit the doctor and make sure everything is going as planned.  I'm also going to visit the team when they come into Tampa in late May.   As I grabbed my last bag of stuff one of the batboys hit the jackpot...a brand new pair of custom Nike cleats...not sure if he was pumped so he could wear them or if he was going to put them up on eBay later in the day! 

Today I walked into the minor league clubhouse at 7:30am and was amazed at how many people could fit into one little building.  If we were talking about bugs this would be an infestation with how many people were getting treatment from the trainers or just hanging out wherever they could find space.  To understand how many people were in one space I had to TRIPLE up lockers with Scott Baker & RA Dickey for a couple days.  I just left my bag packed and will unpack it in a couple days when the minor leaguers are shipped out to their final destinations and all the locker spaces will open up.  The 3rd throwing sessions went great again but I'm still having trouple mentally with trusting my arm...I think things will get better the more I throw.

I had my second throwing session today and everything went fine.  I guess during my last session our trainer noticed I wasn't bending my arm when I threw the ball...this time (2nd time) I was bending the elbow.  Every pitcher bends the elbow when they throw so I felt like this was a big improvement.  Our trainer didn't want to say anything the first time about how straight my arm was and was happy I was able to throw freely again.  I think a lot of it has to do with the trust factor.  I'm having a heck of a time trusting myself to throw the ball freely and not worry about my arm falling off.  I think it's going to take a lot more throwing and days to go by before I lose that awkward feeling.

Tomorrow the guys leave Ft. Myers and head back to Minnesota.  It's going to be tough seeing the team leave Boof & I behind.  In December the trainers gave me the option of sticking back in MN and doing my rehab up there or coming down for the entire spring.  At first I didn't think it really mattered where I did my rehab but over the past couple months I'm very happy I came down for the entire spring.  I think not seeing the guys would drive me nuts and really remove me from the game.  Seeing everyone again and hanging out on the field and in the clubhouse really helped make me feel like I was still a Twin and gave me a lot of motivation to get back on the field.  There will be a little bit of emotion tomorrow saying goodbye to everyone for the year, I've said it a million times already...I can't wait to get on the mound!

I was thinking about writing something on here April fool's style but the more I thought about it the more I thought to just skip it this year.  Today was the day I had circled on the calendar for a couple weeks now; it was my first day of playing catch since I tore my elbow back in November.  I wasn't nervous at all...I was basically at the point that if my arm gave out I was going to beat somebody up...I've never been hurt in my entire life and now I get to sit through the longest recovery injury in baseball...nervous was the last thing on my mind.  Being reminded of a couple things I talked about with other guys in the clubhouse that had Tommy John I was kind of anxious to see how my arm would hold up.  A couple guys told me that when they first threw the ball it immediately went to the ground...that kind of had me spooked.  The rest of the guys said they had no problems until the workload increased a little.  I'm basically expecting to be sore time and time again and to have a couple setbacks in the process.  My main goal is to still take things really slow and follow the plan.  So with that I walked out to the field today, stretched and starting my throwing program with bullpen catcher Nate Dammann.  Today the program called for 20 throws at 20 ft (stop laughing!), 10 at 30ft and 10 again at 20ft.  The distance felt extremely close and everything went as planned.  I had zero pain and if I wasn't telling myself to go easy I wouldn't have known anything was wrong.  Like I said before I'm taking this throwing VERY slow but I cannot tell you how bad I want to get on that mound already. 

As many of you know I am a collector of autographs & baseball cards.  With the injury I have had too much time to put towards the hobby & it has been a lot of fun.  The main tool I use is eBay.  During the past year I’m sure many of you know that card prices & autographs have took a huge hit in terms of price.  I thought this would be a cool time to reflect on what I am currently collecting this week and some other stuff.  During the past 6 months I have been the victim in buying a couple higher priced fakes off eBay.  Estimates that I have heard from different people such as friends in the industry and various people place the fakes on eBay between 70%-85%...don’t quote me though this is all from people that I do not know where they got these figures.  Of course you can always buy certified autos and cut autos that were opened from packs of Topps & Upper Deck but if it’s not certified from a place like PSA/DNA I would watch out.  From my experiences though just about everything I was buying in December was a fake.  I was lucky enough to become friends with a person at PSA/DNA and he has helped me out big time with the things I buy.  My biggest advice is to pay for quick authentications from PSA/DNA.  You can go to their website and for $10 they will tell you if they think this would pass authentication if it was sent to them.  Basically you just forward them the eBay item number and they will tell you what they think.

Speaking of eBay I was really frisky this week in trying to buy a high priced card.  I’ve never had a HIGH HIGH end card in my collection and this was my mission this week.  To start off the week I had my eyes set on a James Madison (4^th President) cut autograph.  For those of you that don’t collect card companies like Topps take old papers or letters or anything with an autograph…cut out the autograph and put it into a brand new card and place them in packs for people to find.  These cards are pretty rare especially the 1/1’s from various people in history.  To make a long story short I was outbid with 2 seconds left for $1010.  I really wanted the card but I also had my head set on a Chief Bender cut auto.  This didn’t look like a regular cut auto though, the piece was cut from a baseball it looked like.  Being that Chief Bender was from Minnesota and the 1^st Native American Hall of Famer I thought this would be an excellent piece to add.  Figuring the last cut auto of Bender sold for around $675 I thought I would bid $805 in the last 5 seconds to secure this card.  Well I did everything I thought I would do and bid but someone outbid me with a second left for $815.  Oh well, the thing I always realized with eBay is that if you don’t win something and have the cash you will find something again in a matter of time…in other words it’s hard to keep cash in your Paypal account!  The next item I was eyeing was a Carlo Gambino (Mobster) cut auto from Legendary cuts.  It was a 1/1 and I would bet they probably wouldn’t make another one.  The seller had a best offer with buy it now for $999.  I figured offer $650 and see where that would take me.  I thought $750 would be my highest offer.  The seller countered with $900 and the more I thought about it the less I wanted the card.  I backed off and declined the offer.  Off to the next item…This one was from National Treasures and was an autograph of Adolph Coors Jr.  I really wanted this card since I thought it would go pretty low.  There was 5 mins left when I used wikipedia to do some more research.  To my surprise this was Adolph Coors Sr. kid…thus not the original founder that died in 1929.  I really wanted the father’s autograph and not the sons and was confused…I decided not to bid, the card ended up getting $255…I wondered if the buyer knew what I found out…I’m sure he did.  What am I going to bid on next…who the heck knows.  I thought this auction http://cgi.ebay.com/2008-08-SP-Legendary-Cuts-Heinie-Manush-Cut-Auto-6_W0QQitemZ220382751846QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_SM_Sports_Cards?hash=item220382751846&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

 for the Heinie Manush card was a steal but I thought it might go for lower.  Someone else also listed the 1/6 card of him at the same time auction style…Let’s just say for $100 or less this card is a steal…I’ll be watching, until next week!

I'm pretty anxious for tomorrow and the start of the tourney.  This is the first time in my 7 spring trainings that I will have an off day during the start of the tourney.  I wonder what i'll do tomorrow haha. 

Contrary to what I said a couple weeks ago about throwing on the 18th of March things have changed.  I was informed yesterday by the staff that I would start throwing now on April 1st.  The reason given was that I had a lot of time and the doctors wanted me to start a week and a half later.  I think the main reason is that the Twins trainers didn't want to play catch with me...by starting on the 1st they would only have to play catch with me 2 times and then they would hand me over to minor league coordinator Lanning Tucker kidding kidding.  Seriously though the docs checked out my arm and it is going as planned and they just wanted to start me a week later.  Fine with me, I have what...12 months to go:)

I can't believe it but there are 500 brackets already filled out as I write this.  You still have a day and a half to join but winning the arod ball is going to be tough...The last day to sign up is early Thursday morning.

 Here's the info again

Alright I just formed the league for the NCAA Basketball tourney.  Everyone is invited to join & it's free.  All you have to do is sign up at this page

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/t1/register/joinprivategroup

Once at the above page - Enter the Group # 73482

Leave the password field blank

On Sunday or anytime before the first game of the tourney fill out your picks & see how you do against everyone who signs up.  Everyone can fill out a bracket and like I said before the winner will get an Official MLB Baseball signed on the sweetspot by Alex Rodriguez. 

We were back in action today. The team went on the road so once again it was stretch, pfp & batting practice. Fake throwing and fielding baseballs got old really quick & I am backing off a little on the practice. I figure every time the team plays at home I will head out to the field if the team is away I will do some more exercises inside the clubhouse. I got to thinking yesterday that I was the only guy in camp that has done fielding practice everyday since we got here...I kind of feel like everyone is sick of watching me fake throw and hold up the line. Things are looking up though, in 7 days I will begin my throwing program. Most guys start throwing at 4 months after surgery and the 18th marks month number four for me. It's going to be slow though, I cheated and looked ahead at my throwing program and my first bullpen sessions starts in SEPTEMBER...you read it correctly, September.

At the field today I spent the majority of the time shagging down the left field line. A bunch of baseballs went over the fence and a few more went foul causing fans to go nuts and run after the baseballs. A couple fans got a little greedy and decided to test their luck and jumped the fence on the field behind us to try and get some more baseballs...that prompted security to run out and chase them away & get the balls back...It's bad when that was the highlight of my day! Other funny things that happened today was seeing Crain & Morneau back in camp already. I think they were a little upset with how many people kept coming up to them and asking them how the WBC went & how they lost to Italy...it got to be the joke of the day and they weren't having it. I'll end the day with this. I was shagging during bp when a ball went down the line...A fan yelled out "let me throw the ball in since it looks like it hurts when you throw with your left hand". I thought why not, a pretty good idea actually. So I threw the guy the ball and he asked where should I throw it. I said throw it near the guys doing the bucket...The guy reared back and threw it as hard as he could on the fly...My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I realized he didn't throw the ball on the ground and that it was headed right on the faces of the guys doing the bucket...Luckily the ball tailed left and missed the bucket...I don't know what I would've done if he would have been dead on...there would be a lot of questions to answer about that one! I think I'll stick to throwing left handed next time.

It was a pretty easy day for those that stayed back in camp.  The rest of the team headed over to Ft. Lauderdale to take on the O's.  The atmosphere in the clubhouse is pretty good right now.  A lot of the younger guys are getting comfortable right now and pretty much everyone knows each person's name & face now...it's amazing how long it takes to learn 60+ new names.  In the next week though the clubhouse will most likely get a lot more on edge.  First cuts are coming up in the next week & once that hits a lot of guys get nervous about where they will end up.  I've been on both sides of the cuts.  In 2006 I was cut the first day...I wasn't happy but understood the process enough to know I would probably be cut no matter how good I did.  In 2007 though I made the team & it was cool being there the entire time.

My day was the typical game day routine, show up, rehab, pfp & shagging and then watching the game. I kind of hit the wall today with my enthusiasm. I think you can only do something so many days in a row before it gets old & today I was pretty bored. I think I was just in a hurry to watch some college basketball finals today. I really get into college basketball especially at this time of the year. I love to play www.protrade.com and pick teams that I think are going to win and short the ones I think that are going to lose. The site is really cool though, it's a stock market for sports...play money of course! I've been playing this for a couple years and just crossed the 700k line in play money. I think they need to hire me as a rep since I've been on there forever and made a lot of people fake money when I got hurt last year and people shorted me down to nothing :) If anyone wants to challenge me be sure to let me know on my facebook page or message board.

World Baseball Classic fever hit Ft. Myers again today as Team Netherlands came into town. The lineup was made up with a handful of Holland players and a handful of players from Curacao. I spent the day trying to track down a couple WBC Logo baseballs during their bp session and I was successful. They are pretty neat looking baseballs that contain all gold writing and the WBC logo with the 2009 date. Let me know on the boards if anyone wants to make a trade.

I'm very happy to announce I was able to work out a trade for one of my printing plates that showed up on eBay the other day.  Whenever I see one of my tougher cards show up on eBay I get excited just to know someone opened it and actually put it up for sale then I think about how much it's going to cost me.  You wouldn't think a middle relief pitcher that just had Tommy John surgery would have any value but a couple of you guy's love to get in a bidding war with me and I usually don't win!  So with that said my best bet is to write to the seller & try to work out a trade...I'm still quietly giving it a go to try and get all my cards.  This one though was extra special.  I didn't know how many people opened 2008 Topps Series 2...I bet not many because I haven't seen anything pop up as far as 1/1's go ever.  As of right now This is my 7th 1/1 of me that I know of.  I have 2 of the plates from 2007 Topps, 2 of the 08 Ginter Plates, my 2007 Topps Platinum & my 08 ginter wood card.  It was a tough trade with me giving up my 4 tickets to the Cubs/Twins game at Wrigley but well worth it to me...I'm happy to add another impossible card to my collection.   If you guys know of somebody that has a plate of me or my 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights Refractor #'d to 25 be sure & let me know, I overpay for these things!

Today we had an off-day.  In the past I think there was only 1 off day the entire spring, this year we get 4...I think the WBC (World Baseball Classic) has a lot to do with this but hopefully it will be a reoccuring thing for years to come.  My legs & arm needed the rest and it felt great sitting back.  Today I did nothing...well I got my taxes done, it was not fun but needed to be finished.  The rest of the night I spent watching YouTube music videos of bands from my Junior High years...Lots of Goldfinger, Bloodhound Gang & tons of rap...oh yes I was a big rap fan back in the day and there was some good stuff I was listening to today, Warren G, Scarface, Gravediggaz, Geto boyz, Crucial Conflict, Brotha Lynch Hung & Celly Cel...I wish they did rap the same way as they did back then, it just isn't the same.

I wanted to write about the surgery and everything about it when I had back in November. The minute I got out of the surgery room I thought twice about the website and wanted to just rest and enjoy the time off with my family. I'd like to make up for a little lost time and update everybody on what I have went through so far on my recovery. My surgery was on November 18th. Like I said yesterday normal recovery time is 9 to 15 months so August 18th would be 9 months and February 18th, 2010 would be 15 months. Right now the entire rehab process is based on taking things slowly. As of right now we are on the 15 month plan more than the 9 month plan. Back to the surgery, the entire surgery took a little over 2 hours. I was put to sleep and woke up feeling refreshed but not knowing what the heck was going on, all I remember is being very tired and when I got into the car I fell asleep without even knowing. I woke up right as we arrived at our house and took a couple pills, one a painkiller and the other was some kind of bacteria killer, I slept the rest of the day. All I can remember that first week was sleeping and how I couldn't use my arm. After the first day I stopped taking the pills except for the bacteria killer one figuring I didn't want my arm to go rotten and green! I felt like I really didn't need a painkiller any longer & wanted my arm to heal naturally, plus every time I took one of the painkillers my stomach turned and turned...luckily the pain wasn't bad & I didn't need the pills. That first week was a ton of sleep, watching movies and wishing I could use my arm again someday. My arm hurt it seemed like more the third and fourth days than the first couple, it hurt exactly like I thought it would...just a constant pain where I was opened up.  About two weeks in I got to go to the doctor's office to have my cast removed. I was basically getting rid of the cast which couldn't be removed and having that replaced with a brace that could move around and I could get it off easier. I was happy because the cast really made me itch & since I couldn't move it annoyed me like crazy...that day it was going away. Nobody told me how much it would hurt getting the thing off, ouch. To make a long story short I got the cast off and got a chance to see my scar for the first time...it still wasn't healed up fully and I really didn't like looking at it...plus it hurt still. At about a month and a half in I started light rehab. It basically consisted of exercises that would make my shoulder stronger. One of the exercises was raising my arms with my thump up to my chin and back down...I did this at various angles and it was tough to get through. Over time though I built my arm up a little and could then do more exercises. At that same time about a month and a half I got the brace off...I could finally sleep with nothing on my arm, it felt great. Right now I am still doing the exercises with various weights and following the program. My next big step comes March 18th when I will throw for the first time. This is where a lot of guys say it hurts...I talked to Liriano and he said he hated that part of his rehab, the throwing early on was the toughest part he said...Sean Henn said that it wasn't fun because he couldn't believe how hard it was to throw 30 ft...and how there was nothing behind any of his throws. We will see how it goes, I like hearing how other guy's rehab went and learning about what to expect...I will keep everyone updated.

When the team goes out of town there isn't much news.  I figured today would be a great time to show off a couple pics of my scars from my surgery, aka Tommy John surgery aka elbow replacement.  It's a pretty big surgery but it has come a long way since Tommy John first had it done.  I really hate doctor offices, hospitals and that type of stuff so I will spare the gory details.  In simple terms they take a tendon from either your wrist or leg, drill a couple holes in the elbow and tie the tendon through the holes.  In a couple months the tendon turns into a ligament.   Recovery time varies from about 9 months to 15 months.  I had my tendon removed from my left wrist, notice the 3 notches...one on my wrist, another one about 2.5 inches away and the final one 2.5 inches away from the last one. 

I've been doing a lot of through the mail letters & signing autographs.  Every now & then I find letters that are just awful.  I found one today.  The person who sent this wrote out the entire letter leaving spaces to fill in the player's name & the team name as well as position.  If you look closely he uses a darker blue pen to fill in the "Neshek", "Minnesota Twins", "Pitcher" & once again "Neshek".  I don't understand why someone would go through this torture of writing out tons of letters like this...a please sign my card note would do just fine.  He also said I would lead the team very far...ahhh I guess that beats the letter I also got today from a guy telling me that he has a sure fire feeling that I would make the all-star team this year.  I was going to write back & tell him to never gamble again but I didn't.  

Today we had a road game meaning that about half of the club stayed in Ft. Myers and worked out while the rest of the guys played against the Reds @ Sarasota.  It wasn't much of a practice.  We worked on PFP's, ran and shagged for batting practice.  Most of the guys hate going on roadtrips & as spring training goes along will pay to pitch at home and never go on the road.  I refused to pay last year and it ended up costing me, if I'm correct my first 6 outings were on the road last spring. 

I signed my 1st Cert Auto card in the mail the other day.  It was weird signing a card that has already been signed but I think it turned out nice.  I've seen a bunch of the 09 Upper Deck cards and signed those up as well.  I had an interesting autograph request yesterday.  Usually if people send me the AROD HR card, I believe #460 (they made a baseball card for each HR arod has hit and he did hit one against me in 06) I write something like "I should not have thrown that pitch".  Well yesterday the fan wanted me to write "this one should not have counted".  I thought about it really quick, laughed but had to turn down the inscription.  I told him I love the idea but I don't want to make anyone mad at me...basically hold that inscription until I'm done playing then we can have some fun with that one!

There are tons of fans at the park now that full team workouts are underway.  I think a lot of us were glad when today ended because it was the last day of the two hour long batting practice sessions.  I've never had so much sun in my life sitting in the outfield shagging balls for a couple hours.  The way the batting practice session works is that it starts with a coach going through the normal 20 minute bp sessions that we go through before games during the season.  This is when every guy up at the plate is putting baseballs into play and the shaggers are having a heck of a time keeping up.  I asked Sean Henn how the Yankees do this and he said that the pitchers don't shag and they have fans come in and catch baseballs...I thought what an idea, you could charge money and there would be a huge demand to be on the field catching a liner off the bat of an MLB hitter, I know I would pay some money to do this if I had the option when I was younger.  Once the coach bp session gets over the coach throwing walks off the field and a pitcher comes in to pretend like it's a game and get the batter out.  It's pretty much our test before we start games so this is serious for most pitchers.  The pitchers want to make sure all their pitches are going good and they have a little control & for the most part aren't getting rocked around all over the field.  So far this year there hasn't been many beanballs that I have witnessed.  I remember my first spring training the four hitters I had to face were Torii Hunter, Shannon Stewart, Nick Punto & Tommy Watkins.  Tommy stepped into the box and I drilled him on the 2nd pitch in his kneecap.  Torii & Shannon both walked off the field and said something to the degree of "there's nothing I'm going to gain from going into the box against this guy!".  I thought that was the coolest thing in the world as a guy with no MLB experience. 

Tomorrow is the 1st game of spring training and it's a night game.  I'm pretty excited because we get to show up to the field around 1 and not 7am for a change.  Tomorrow is also the MLB Player's Association meeting.  Usually this is the time when they hand out checks to guys that had service time last season.  Nobody has any clue what the check amount is going to be, with the economy I'm crossing my fingers.  The check is basically the players share for letting them use our name and likeness for baseball cards, video games and other things like t-shirts.  Also during the meeting they will update the players with any new things that need to be talked about...should be interesting.

Yesterday we started team workouts and I got my first taste of this today. Basically we go through all the infield drills like 1st & 3rds, bunt plays and pitcher's fielding practice. On Wednesday this week we start games already with the Red Sox coming into play us at our place. A lot of the pitchers are joking around about how bad they are going to do & where the ball is going to go once it releases their hand...like I said the other day there is a lot of built up anxiety which will be relieved once each guy gets their first appearance in. Today at the field we took batting practice as a team...for pitchers these are the worst couple days of the year due to the long amounts of time we spend shagging in the outfield. Once games start the practices tend to get a lot easier & quicker. I think today we got out on the fields at 9am and walked away without a break at 1pm...it gets old really quick plus you get a very bad farmer's tan...My wife is already making fun of me.

We did a lot of stuff today as a team. Today was the annual physicals...Media day & drug tests. Since I wasn't able to attend Twinsfest this year due to my Grandma passing I missed getting our team physical, usually they are done at this time...So today I had to do all the test to make sure I was healthy. Trying to think of all the test we had to do, eye exams, glaucoma check, eye pressure check, ecg or whatever it is called, blood pressure, weight, taking blood (I always hate this day because of this one) & other things like blowing into a pipe to see how strong our lungs are...I scored a 103% on this one, the lady said it was the best score of the day, I asked her how the heck does someone get over 100%? After all the checkups we were told that everyone on the roster had to do MLB Drug Test. These aren't fun either. Not going into to much detail but enough to make everyone understand what we do since this is a hot topic. First we have to submit our Driver's License & have a Twins person there to verify it's us. Then we wash our hands, grab a cup & fill it up. The only part I don't like about this is that the official doing the checking is watching you like a hawk & makes sure you drop your pants & raise your shirt to make sure you don't have something like a whizzinator in there. It's pretty degrading but if it's to make sure the game is clean then it is fine with me.

After all this stuff the day was hardly over...it was media day also. This is when all the card companies like Upper Deck, Topps, MLB.com & magazines come in to take pictures of us to use throughout the season. After doing all the same old poses such as hold the glove near your chest, pretend to be pitching out of the stretch and look at the sky & the holding the baseball & tossing it up in the air my photo session over. Once I got done I was talking with Kevin Slowey on ways to spice up the photo sessions...after 4 years of doing the same shots & seeing them year after year on baseball cards it gets old...I basically want a cool looking baseball card. Slowey & I talked about ways to make the cards better...we agreed that next year we are going to bring a bat for one of the sessions....pose lefty with it in another & finally wear a lefthanders glove & pose left-handed in a bunch of the shots. I thought to myself about making a 2000's version of the Billy Ripken card but I figured with Photoshop nowadays that it wouldn't get past 1st edit...who knows though, I'm already planning for next year.

Wow, the crowds have died big time ever since the 1st day.  I'm guessing things will pick up on SAT when the entire team is on the field.  Today we have a golf event for the team so things at the field were over pretty quickly, I think I left the clubhouse at 11am to head home.  I sat around for a little bit after practice and finished a bunch of ttm letters...signing cards and putting them back in the mail.  Keep the mail coming if you need anything signed. 

The first day of the year is over...to keep track of the season and how many days it is though we will consider it day two since we had to show up yesterday.  Overall it was a good quick day at the field.  I showed up at the field around 7:30am and there were tons of fans already walking around, some waiting near the parking lot for players to show up and others waiting near the batting cage watching guys hit.  I usually park in the general parking lot because it is a quicker walk to the locker room than the player lot, I think I'm one of the few that does this.  There is also a rule that if you have no big league time you cannot park in there either but that applies once the entire squad is in town...I think that happens next week.  As I said above the day went by pretty quickly.  It was the first time I put on my glove since I hurt my arm and it felt good to do so.  I nearly dropped my first couple catches when we did pitching fielding practice which prompted Gardy to laugh at me, I felt like I never caught a ball in my life.  The drills went on and on and it felt good to be on the field again.  As of right now it has been about 3 months since my surgery.  At the 4 month mark I will begin to throw and play catch so right now I'm doing all the drills with no throwing...it feels weird.  The entire recovery time is usually 9-15 months for guys and with how much time I have to recover we are going to take it slow and make sure everything is fine. 

On the autograph front there were tons of people out today, probably the most that I could remember being there on for the first workout...I think a lot of people read this website a couple years back when I posted in amazement how very few people came during the first week.  It has changed a bunch since that post but this is still a great time to get things signed.  I stopped for probably 20 mins today and signed up everything that was offered to me.  I want to get everything signed up since I will not be in MN this season and the only way to get me for most people is TTM (through the mail).  Today I signed my 1st 2009 Upper Deck card...can you believe it took that long for me to sign that card.  Pretty much everytime someone brings me a card I have not signed before I will inscribe it with "The 1st time I signed this card" & also put down the date.  I'm wondering if anyone is going to have me ink up the 09 Topps Cert Auto card...that would be weird.

We are still setting up the house and can see a little light at the end of the tunnel.   I can't wait to sleep in a real bed...we have been using an aero bed for the past couple days and it's nice but real furniture sounds better right now.  It really feels like I am back in New Britain or Rochester (minor leagues) and setting up my apartment there.  Happy graphing...I'll have another fresh update tomorrow.

Hey everyone, I'm back on and hope to have daily updates the entire season.  Today was reporting day for the MN Twins.  Basically all the pitchers & catchers show up and unpack their bags and set up the lockers.  This is when you get all your clothes such as jerseys, hats, undershirts and jackets.  I like getting set up as quickly as possible and showed up at 8am...I was the first one there since I was meeting up at the minor league side to do rehab.  When I got done with rehab around 10:30am most of the team was in the clubhouse getting squared away.  Today was an excellent time to get autographs since there was probably only a dozen people getting graphs...note to graphers mark this date down for next year if you want some sure-thing autos as well as the days leading up to today since most of the team is in town early. 

I'm not really sure what my days of spring training will have in store for me since I'm out for the season but I will keep everyone updated.  Since we will be in Ft. Myers until next spring training (or at least the majority of the time) we bought a house in the area...btw check out house prices down here if you are looking for a home...pretty shocking, suprised me.  We have a lot of moving in to do still and it might take us a a week or two to feel moved in...At that time I will probably have a ton of time to be on the message board.   

I'll have another update tomorrow as well as everyday after...be sure to keep checking out the site.

Just wanted to give everyone the heads up that my first autograph issue in Topps is out.  I noticed this under eBay just a minute ago.  I signed 1000 cards for Topps.  On 100 of the cards I wrote different inscriptions.  I believe I did 10 different inscriptions at 10 cards a piece...so the card on eBay with my debut is really a 1 of 10.  I signed this one with my debut #...oh yes # 72.  Pretty pumped to see my 1st cert autograph card.  I'm hoping my value is down to nothing so I can pick up this card, we'll see:)

 From my Nov 25th 2007 Update on signing the cards

"For the first 5 auto I wrote, 1st certified autograph ever with the date and the next one I wrote 2nd cert auto ever with the date.  After I did that I wrote 10 that contained www.patneshek.com.  You guys get the point.  Here's all the inscriptions I wrote.  10 that said www.neshek.com, 10 that said sidearmer, 10 that had 7/7/06 MLB Debut and #72, 10 that had 2007 MLB ALL STAR FINAL VOTE, 10 that said Go Twins, 10 that said STRK 3 and finished up the day signing my last cert entitled "my last cert auto!"  Hopefully you guys will get a kick out of finding these and seeing them pop up next year in different Topps products"

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pat-Neshek-2009-Topps-SERIES-1-PERSONALIZED-AUTOGRAPH_W0QQitemZ120373394317QQihZ002QQcategoryZ166746QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hi everyone,

This is Pat's wife Stephanee.  I just wanted to let you all know that his surgery went really well and he is on the long road to recovery.  He got out of the plaster cast last week and is now in a brace.  He started physical therapy last Monday and he's feeling great.  Once things settle down, he will be back updating the site regularly and continue posting on the message board. 

On a side note:  The animal rescue group I work with, Puppy Porch, will be doing a fundraiser this Saturday, Dec. 6th.  We are going to be at the Minnetonka Petco from 11am until 4pm... bring your pets and/or kids to get their picture taken with Santa! The photos will be framed by Petco for only $8.95 and $5 of each pic we take goes directly to PuppyPorch.  So you can support a great cause and get a professional quality pic for the holidays

Today I'm Picking up where I left off last offseason with my draft notes from the NY Mets.  If you missed this last year I kept all my letters and notes from when I was getting scouted back before the draft...Today is the Mets.  This is everything they sent to me when they were scouting me before the 2002 draft.  The scout was Rodney Henderson, straight out of playing professional baseball.  He seemed like a great guy but was totally new to the scouting thing.  I actually had a classic 4 sport card of Rodney in my pocket when we had my first draft interview but I never had the guts to ask him for an auto!  My first meeting with Rodney was 11/27/01.  Two days later he sent me a Q&A in the mail and I returned it.  Around Christmas time I got a Christmas card from him.  After that I got a phone call from Rodney around May asking me where he thinks I would go in the draft.  As always my response was rounds 1-6.  Anyways here's all the notes I got from the Mets, enjoy

I just wanted to give another quick update on my arm.  Everything is still going as planned...About a week from today I will be throwing off the mound and a week after that I will be mixing in my slider.  I'm pretty sure things will go well since I haven't had a problem since I hurt my arm back in May.  If everything goes well I will be finishing up my throwing/rehab program on Nov 14th.  In the meantime I will be here for about another month and if you need anything signed be sure to send it down with a SASE.

This past week down here the instructional league wrapped up.  Instuctional league is something the Twins have every year.  It is basically spring training for a month with all the new guys to the org.  Lots of 1st rounders learning the ropes and getting to know the coaches.  This week also marks the start of the organization meetings.  Everyone from coaches to front office people to scouts are down here right now making decisions about the future of the Twins.  I've seen nearly everyone in the organization so far including a couple teammates! 

This morning I had a couple weird things happen.  After not doing a media request for about a month I got 4 calls before 11am!  So far today I went on XM Radio, the WCCO Sunday Sports show in Minnesota, tonight I have mlb.com with Noah Coslov and on Tuesday I'm doing a podcast with Seth Stohs from sethspeaks.net.  I thought it was very strange that I got calls from everyone that I had to quickly google myself to make sure I wasn't in the news for anything! 

I have not had an update for awhile and that's because there really hasn't been too much talk about.  I'm still down here in Ft. Myers...I'm expected to be down here until November rehabbing my arm.  So far everything has been going as planned.  What suprises me even more is that I have not had a single setback yet...I probably just jinxed myself.  I feel good though, I'm letting the ball go with good speed and velocity and it feels like I can play again.  Last week I did my last session of 40 throws at 120ft. with 75% effort, it went great.  This week I'm going every other day at different lengths...10 throws at 60ft.  10 at 75ft. 10 at 90 ft. ect.  If everything goes as planned I will be throwing off the mound in 3-4 weeks.  The thing that scares me the most is when I start throwing my slider.  They said I can throw my slider again once I get on the mound.  When I hurt my arm it was on a slider and since I've been throwing I cannot wait to throw the slider again and test my arm...this will be my biggest test of things I have left.  Once I get off the mound I will throw bullpens for about 3 weeks and if everything goes well I will be free to resume my offseason, as if I haven't had the longest offseason of my life so far!  Most guys cannot wait for the season to get over right now, for once in my life I cannot wait for the season to start up and I can start striking out guys again...you never know how much you miss something until it is taken away from you. 

I'm still signing autorgaphs through the mail and if you need anything signed be sure to send a SASE and I will sign everything you need.

Just wanted to let everyone know I will be doing a live chat on my message board on Wednesday from 8pm Eastern to 9pm.  Also be sure to check out the great content on the message board as well as the free contest on there.  I just gave away Twins tickets to a lucky winner and up right now is a Game Used hat.

My rehab is still going great and I'm really suprised how good my arm feels.  I have not had any setbacks and have not had any pain or weakness in my arm...I'm wondering if someone got my mri mixed up because this injury has not hurt one bit even when I partially tore the ligament.  Right now here is my schedule for the upcoming week for throwing.

Sept 1st - 1x15 & 1X25 throws at 75ft, 50% intensity

Sept 2nd - 1x15 & 1x25 throws at 75ft, 50% intensity

Sept 3rd - Day off throwing

Sept 4th - 1x15 & 1x25 throws at 90ft, 50% intensity

Sept 5th - 1x15 & 1x25 throws at 90ft, 50% intensity

Sept 6th - Day off throwing

Sept 7th - Day off throwing

Sept 8th - 1x15 & 1x25 throws at 60 ft. 75% intensity

This past week we went back to our house in Melbourne and everything there was fine.  It was pretty scary seeing everything on the news...Hopefully this will be the last bad storm.(as I speak there are a couple big storms brewing heading that way!)  In the meantime we spent last Monday night at a Brevard County Manatees game.  It was pretty sweet checking out a Florida State league baseball game, it gave me a lot of time to think about how far I have come and a lot of time to think about the days when I played in the FSL and all the memories that were made.

Just wanted to give a quick update on a few things.  First off I'll start with my arm.  Things have been going great still and I haven't had any problems but I am on the Really Really Slow plan.  As I look ahead at the plan I do not think a return this year is going to happen.  I feel like if I needed to pitch I could pull it off but the safe sure route is to take it slow and gradually get better and this is the route that we are taking.  I don't mind it but it is extra tough sitting in FL watching the team in a playoff race.  I'm jealous and I wish I was with them.  So for right now we are going to follow the plan that is laid out and see where I am in the next two months.  If things are fine I'm sure I will be playing a little winter ball someplace...if things go bad then I might need surgery.  Right now things have been going perfect.

For all the message board members be sure to check out all the free contest in the next couple days, I'll be giving away tickets, cards and whatever else I can find down here.

Live Chat - I will be on the message boards tonight (Friday) under the chat from 8pm-9pm Eastern time so if you have any questions be sure to get on.

Also for anybody wondering, we survived tropical storm Fay here in Ft. Myers but our house in Melbourne had us worried.  Our neighbors told us everything is fine but it was pretty scary how close the flooding came to the house.  We are heading over there this weekend and I hope there are no suprises.

Well it's almost been a week for us down here in FL for rehab and things have been going pretty good.  Right now I'm nowhere close to coming back and facing MLB hitters.  I've started throwing from 60 feet and am slowly working my way up...I think the word slowly should be in bold!  I would love to return but I think it's more important I don't push things and blow out my arm totally.  This is a tough injury and from what I hear I'm expected to have a couple setbacks when I start throwing more and more.  I've never had anything like this happen to me before so I think it's best to do what the docs (& Twins rehab coordinator Lanning Tucker) want me to do.  We will see how everything goes, right now I'm in the very early stages of throwing and things feel good.

Mail - Yep I'm signing up stuff that comes in the mail...the addy is above just remember to include a sase.   

I got my first in-person in a long time tonight.  What was even cooler was that I was able to find a card of him on my way to the field without knowing he was going to be there.  The guy I got to sign for me is Mark Spitz and he is featured in the new 2008 Allen & Ginter baseball card set. Mark was throwing out the 1st pitch and I didn't even know until I was getting out of my car.  I had trouble telling who he was without the facial hair but I ended up getting him to sign the card, not to bad for another day at the park!  Not the prettiest graph but I'll take it, the man is a legend

Well it just arrived around baseball card shops all over the country and it’s shockwaves are being felt by collectors and newcomers to the hobby everywhere, it’s 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter.  This is easily the top product of 2008 and is filled with even more stuff than the previous 2 releases.  What makes this card brand special?  Well there are tons of things and I will go through them because this is my favorite box of cards of the year to collect and I want to get everyone on board and those that are thinking about buying their first pack in years to go out and give them a chance at resurrecting that feeling of collecting again. 

To start I better give a quick summary of the cards.  Back in the day Allen & Ginter was a real brand of cards…I’m talking early 1900’s.  Not only did the cards feature pictures of famous baseball players but they went further and picked out champions in other walks of life and plastered their faces on cards.  Flip ahead 100 years and the brand is put back out by Topps with pictures of baseball players as well as tons of other famous people.  For example I just noticed that one of the cards inside the packs is of Hotdog eating champion Joey Chestnut, there’s another one of fisherman Kevin Van Dam, one of Harriet Tubman and even the Gateway Arch in St. Louis has a card this year.  The coolest part is that Topps put out a card of me in the set…#307 to be exact.  I’m very thrilled because this set is my favorite set and I would honestly be content for the rest of my life if I do not get another card…to put it another way this is the set I have wanted to be in for the last 2 years!

Like I said above if you are new to the game this is the brand that got me back into cards a couple years back and renewed my love for collecting.  Now I don’t want to scare anyone but these cards sell out quickly.  If you are lucky enough to have a baseball card shop in your area they will more than likely have these unless they are sold out.  For those that aren’t as fortunate you can run over to Target or Wal-Mart and check out the baseball card section.  In Target the card section is usually at one end of the checkout lines on one side of the store entrance, kind of hard to find but if you ask someone they should find it for you.  Wal-Mart is kind of the same way and they are usually located by the tobacco counter.  I’m telling everyone this because after about a month the only place you can find these things are on eBay and for more than retail price.  Now I’m not sure when these are going to arrive in stores, last year it was about a week after release when they showed up in MN and I was only able to find them in one store up here.  Also if you are in the Brooklyn Park, MN area do one thing…be sure to leave me a box to buyJ

Okay for all of you collectors there have been a couple changes this year.  Those annoying Dick Perez cards have been replaced by something called the US set.  It’s a set of all 50 states represented by a player that was either born or lived in by that player.  I thought it would be cool if they had a guy born in each state for all 50 cards and I thought that was the set but I noticed the Nick Markakis Georgia card and it said he was born in NY so that throws out that idea.  Anyways I made the Wisconsin card and will be signing and inscribing up that bad boy for whoever sends it to me to sign. 

Another couple of minor changes, there are things called silk cards #’d to 10, the snake cards have been replaced by sharks, roman emperors with world icons and countries with world leaders.  There is also a thing called Crack the code…I’m sure it will take tons of hours to solve this code but what the heck it’s worth a shot and under the message board on the site we will be sharing cards and trying to figure out the code…I guess the winner that cracks the code will get their own A&G card in next year’s set…I could just see it now, one card for our entire message board…cool.

There’s also tons of other stuff that will stay the same, rip cards, short prints, mini cards, wood cards, an Abraham Lincoln hair card and the relics.  It’s a fun set…let’s see how I did

1 box of A&G

143 base cards…not sure about short prints right now, there isn’t a list

4 Game Used card…not sure how this happened because I think you are only suppose to get 2

Vlad, Hafner, Ryan Howard, Garrett Anderson

1 Crack the code card

David Wright Box Topper

20 State born/lived in cards

1 Shark card, Mako

1 World Icon Cleopatra

2 World Leaders

12 regular base minis – 4 Ginter Back mini’s – 4 Black Bordered mini’s

Final word

Well I opened a lot of Ginter boxes over the past two years and I think this is going to be the best Ginter release yet.  The content inside is overflowing with different sets to go after and lots of nice looking cards that are waiting for ink to get put on in the form of a signature.  As you can see above I didn’t have any major hits but for the $ it doesn’t get any better than this.  If you are a set collector this set will have you working for days.  My final word…this will be the one and might be the only set I will be working hard on for the rest of the summer, if you want to dabble in cards for the first time in years this is the set for you!

Just wanted to warn everyone that 08 Topps Allen & Ginter cards will be arriving in stores shortly.  This will be the main set I will collect this year and once again the set I tell new collectors to go after if you are just getting into the hobby.  Here's a little note though, these boxes sell out quickly so be sure to start now if you want to have some fun.  They are not priced high and are a pretty fun set.  In MN the best places to find these would be Target & Wal-Mart and anywhere else you can try eBay and your local card shop.  I have a case coming in later next week and should have a box here to review tomorrow sometime.  As for now here's a pic of my new card! As always send it over to be signed if you pull one!

Alright I promised a TC bear story and here it is.  For those of you that don't know the Twins Mascot is TC Bear...He also can hit a ball farther than I can...seriously.  Well TC bear was involved in the Mascot stuff for the All Star game.  He got to go to all the events and entertain the crowd as well as be in the All-Star Mascot HR Derby contest.  TC Bear has cleaned up in the event the past couple years and was once again the favorite to win this year.  Well his toughest competetion I heard came in the 1st round when he knocked out Bernie Brewer...From there he cruised to the finals and eventually ended up winning the thing.  Well he was pretty excited because he got a nice looking trophy to put in his bear house and be proud of from the last couple years.  This year though MLB changed sponsors and he got a sweet crystal trophy that said "Mascot HR derby Champ".  The trophy was given to him, he took a picture and quickly the sponsor took the trophy back.  When asked about it later the sponsor told him it was going into storage for next year and they would use the same trophy.  I don't know about you but it seemed pretty unfair that a big time sponsor couldn't swing for a nice little trophy that a bear worked hard to get.  What do you think 

I just got back from my signing in Mankato...man what a long day.  At 4pm we left the Metrodome...when I say we I mean Wally The Beerman, Sue the Organist, TC Bear (who is fresh off winning the mascot HR derby in NY) and our drivers!  Well we got back around 11pm...what a day.  It was pretty neat to head back to Mankato.  I played in the Northwoods League 8 years ago and the place really changed.  The place was packed, they had a winning team on the field and it was a fun place to be.  I remember when I was there they were the Mankato Mashers and they wouldn't stop playing the song "Monster Mash" and it got old quick.  Flip through 8 years and they are now the Moon Dogs and they are selling out.  I signed autographs for about an hour and met a lot of people from this site.  I did a radio interview for a little bit....I threw out the first pitch...with my left hand since I cannot throw still, I hope the video doesn't end up on Youtube...it was ugly and I almost fell because I was wearing dress shoes!  It was a fun time and pretty cool to go back to a place that had a lot to do with my success on my way to becoming a Big Leaguer. 

Please keep checking out our sponsors below.  Also I have a great story on TC Bear that might make you upset.  Keep checking out the site for that later in the week. 

I just wanted to let everyone know I will be signing autographs in Mankato on Wednesday 7/16 this week.  The signing will take place before the Mankato Moondogs baseball game at 7pm.  Be sure to stop by and say hi if you are in the area!

I was just thinking that one year ago the madness of the Final Vote for the All-Star was blowing up this site after I got nominated.  It got me thinking about a lot of things.  Things like why wasn't the final totals ever released.  I noticed in an article the other day they finally gave out Okajima's vote total...4.4 million.  It would just be nice to have known what type of damage we did on the polls instead of hearing what place we got, maybe someday somebody will come out and give the #'s.  It also got me thinking about what if I had made the team.  For me it would be cool to sign baseballs with AllStar07 inscribed on them and when I get older I would always be able to attend Tristar events and put that ever needed inscription on the balls!  The last thing I thought about was what each guy on the final man vote was doing now a year later...what I found was kind of shocking.  I call what I found the curse of the 07 final man vote.  Nearly each guy who was on the vote is currently injured or struggling.  Don't believe me let's check it out.

Me - Partially Torn Ligament in the elbow,

Kelvim Escobar tear in shoulder hurt and hasn't pitched in the big leagues this season,

Jeremy Bonderman - Out for season with surgery (blood clots)

Hideki Okajima - Not hurt but has struggled a lot according to media

Roy Halladay - Hit in the temple on a line drive - Made the All-Star team

Roy Oswalt - Currently Hurt with a bad hip

Tom Gorzelanny - Sent to AAA after struggling with Pirates

Chris Young - Hit in face by a line drive and has been out for awhile

Carlos Zambrano - Just came off the DL with shoulder problems

Brandon Webb - The only guy that goes against this curse...MLB All Star - Great season

Please support this site by checking out the sponser below this update, thanks!

Just a couple quick things I thought I should note.  On the message board we are going to start a tough project next week for charity.  It involves getting an autographed baseball card of every guy that played in the big leagues during the 2008 season!  So far there have been nearly 1100 guys that have been on a big league roster this year.  What we are going to do is make a huge checklist and try and go after every guy.  Hopefully once it's completed we will auction it off on eBay with 100% of the proceeds going to a charity Stephanee and I will pick out.  It's a tough task but I think we can do it...Once again this is going on under the message board next week and we need all the help we can get. 

Lastly there is another false article out there saying I'm heading to FL at the end of the month to start a rehab program and I have a strained elbow.  As far as I know I will be up here until at least late August at the earliest and my injury was diagnosed as a partially torn ligament in the elbow.  Another case of don't always believe what you read!

The Minnesota Twins and the Twins Wives Organization, will be hosting a special event this Thursday, July 3rd at Majors Sports Cafe in Bloomington from 5pm-9pm.   

"Hang with the Majors at Majors" is an opportunity for fans to interact with their favorite Twins players and support a good cause!  There will be a private dinner for 100 lucky fans to dine with the Twins.  Tickets for the dinner are $100 each and are limited to the first 100 people, so call and reserve yours ASAP.  All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Midwest flood relief.

The dinner will be from 5pm-6:30pm.  Only 100 tickets will be sold and are on sale now for $100 each. Tickets may be purchased at Majors in Bloomington (8301 Normandale Blvd, Bloomington, MN, 55438) or by calling Major's at 952-835-8308.

During the dinner event, the rest of Majors will remain open to the public from 5 to 9 p.m., with Twins players bar tending.  So if you can't make the dinner, you can still stop by and hang out.  There also will be a player autograph station (the players will rotate through and autos will be $5 each), a tip jar to collect additional donations, and the wives will be selling Twins tank tops.

Players and wives planning to participate are: Pat & Stephanee Neshek, Joe and Lisa Nathan, Mike Lamb, Matt and Dejie Guerrier, Jesse and Becky Crain, Glen and Alisha Perkins, Kevin Slowey, Brian Bass, Mike and Michelle Redmond, Nick and Natalie Punto, Boof Bonser and Jessica Clark, Delmon Young and Brendan Harris.  Participants are subject to change.

Hey guys I just wanted to give a quick update on my injury.  I just got my hinge brace off on Monday and have started rehab.  So far the rehab has been pretty boring, I do things with no weight right now and it's not too much fun.  I understand that it's going to take time so I'm going to be patient with it. 

What has been up with me lately...not much.  I've been spending a lot of time trading stuff on the message board on here.  Right now I'm going after baseballs signed by Hall of Famers...It's been a lot of fun and if you are a collector the message board is a must.  Also I give stuff away on there and it's a fun little community to chat about anything.

Baseball cards...Well Topps Series 2 and Upper Deck series 2 came out a little bit ago and I'm in both sets.  To tell you the truth I'm not too impressed with either card...I find the Topps design boring and they put too much gloss on the cards that they are impossible to sign even after rubbing them down with powder and signing with a Staedtler pen.  Upper Deck is Upper Deck, you get a nice looking photo and that's about it.  Either way it's another card to add to my list of cards...and as always if you pull one of them out of a pack I always sign for free just make sure you include a SASE.  Now for the good stuff and what I'm really excited about...Topps decided to put me into the Allen & Ginter card set.  This is my favorite product of the year and comes out in a couple weeks.  I always recommend it to people who are looking to get back into cards, it's probably the funnest set out.  Anyways I'm in the set, not sure if I'm a Short Print but they also put me in as an insert.  They took guys who were born from every state in the US and made a card...I get the Wisconsin card...I can't wait to see it.  I'm really happy that Topps has put me in the set and I owe a lot to you guys for writing letters during spring training and letting Topps know that you wanted to see me in a good set.  I have a strong feeling this product is going to sell out quickly once again so get ready for it.  Once again if you pull my card from this send it over with a SASE and I will sign it up.

Hi everyone, thanks for being patient with me while I sort out this injury.  I also wanted to thank everyone for all the support.  It's pretty neat to see and it has helped me feel better about everything that has happened.  Right now it looks like I'll be out the rest of the season.  They told me it will be 3 months before I will throw then I can start to play catch if everything goes as planned.  Right now I'm in a restrictive brace that basically forces me to stay in the same arm position...I even have to wear the thing while I sleep.  It's not been fun but it's something that happened and I understand what it will take to get back so all I can do is keep my head up.  Right now I will still be going to every home game and hanging out with the guys.  I usually watch all the games inside the clubhouse and lift my legs during the first 3 innings of the game. 

As of right now I have a lot of time to do things I don't normally get to do.  So far I have been on my message board trading items and having a giveaway and auctions.  The best item up for auction right now is the 2007-08 Pink my little pony bullpen backpack signed by all the bullpen members...Be sure to check it out.

I'm sitting back here early in the morning after another nice off-day.  Someone thought it would be good to give us 3 off-days this week...I'm not complaining but I think I would rather have them spread out more over the month so we could get them when we really need them. 

Yesterday was spent hanging out with my family, playing with the dogs, playing some Wii and cleaning the house.  I've been doing a bunch of baseball card box breakings lately and the latest ones are chronicled here http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/mlb/events/nbbcd/index.jsp

Right now is when we start getting some major baseball card releases to come out.  In the next month we will see Topps Co-signers, Bowman Baseball, Topps Series 2 and Upper Deck SPX.  I will be opening up all of these and hopefully I can trade on the message board to finish some of these sets. 

I've also got a lot of game used stuff to trade on the site and some giveaways, maybe on the next road trip I will be able to get a bunch of stuff up.

You guys wanted to see the video of me getting hit in college, here it is - Warning, this video is graphic.

Alright it’s now time to review one of my favorite boxes of the year.  Today we have 2008 Topps Heritage.  Very quickly I will give a brief overview of the product.  The Topps Heritage concept is pretty cool in that they take an old Topps design…this year they are copying the 1959 topps design…They basically go back almost 50 years and use that years card design.  So next year we will be seeing the 1960 design with all the players from today.  In 2057 they will be using the 2008 Topps design…pretty cool to think about. These are sold at all hobby shops...Wal Marts and Target's.   

Now the reason I like this set is that it is nearly impossible to put together.  They have these things called short prints which for baseball card illiterate people means some cards are put in packs at a lot less rate than the normal cards.  So if card #7 is a short print and numbers 6 and 8 are not short printed card #7 is produced in a lot less quantity making set building fun and irritating!  This set also has other weird variations…last year they had cards with the player’s name in Yellow and others of the same guy in White and one of the variations was an extreme short print.  This year some card backs have “Black Backs”  Here’s the variation/short print list if anyone is starting to build this set, http://www.topps.com/sports/news/toppsNews.aspx?news_id=191

 Also Topps uses a lot of players in this set so it’s also a favorite of autograph collectors who collect the set and then try to get it signed!  The non-glossy surface is great for getting signed and one of my favs to get my teammates on.  Well I guess I’ll say let’s get this fun and emotionally grueling set started…I got two boxes to open so here we go.

Well let’s stop talking and open the cards up.

Specs

24 packs with 8 cards per pack

Relic card or Real One Autograph in Every Box

Here’s how I did

2 Box Toppers Advertising Panel –Maddux, Ruiz, Swisher – Velez, Iwamura, Betancourt

Black Backs – Box #1 = 23

Black Backs – Box #2 = 23

SP’s – Box #1 = 8

SP’s – Box #2 = 8

Chrome #’d to 1959 – 6

Chrome #’d to 559 – Manny, John Maine

Chrome #’d to 59 - Joba

Relic/Auto = John Smoltz, Ivan Rodriguez

Well I got the big hit in the Joba #’d to 59 Chrome Card.  I also knocked off a bunch of SP’s.  In some odd way in both boxes my Sp’s the exact same…So it looks like I will be trading these on my website to try and put this set together.  I also noticed the black backs were in nearly every pack.  If you are bored and looking for a fun challenge of putting together a tough baseball set then this is for you…This was my favorite set to collect last year and I think any fan looking to get into baseball cards would like this set.   

Just arrived in Detroit last night and it felt just as cold as KC.  Today I thought would be a good time to talk about mail!  As a lot of you know fan mail is a pretty high priority for me.  When sending a letter there are a lot of things that will help you have success.  Basically when you send out a letter it arrives at the Metrodome and is sorted out by Ryan, one of our clubhouse guys.  Each day a big mail pile arrives and has to be sorted.  I wish I could take a picture of our mail boxes but we are on the road right now.  Basically it's a big cubby on the wall with little cubby holes with our names over each box.  Some guys do their mail, some don't and some pay marketing firms to open their mail and throw in a generic letter with a photo.  When sending to players one of the biggest things you have to know is if the guy does his mail or not.  I mean it's a waste if you spend a $1 on a couple stamps and lose a baseball card...nobody likes that.  So finding out who signs is huge.  There are a lot of websites out there that offer a pay service and provide up to date signing habits and which address works to send to guys.  Also there are the Jack Smalling address books that list every address of players.  Lastly you can check out message boards and try to get some freebie addresses or trade with people.  On my message board we have a cool section where people post their recent successes (as of right now though we have restricted access to the message board so if you aren't a lucky member you have to look elsewhere). 

Okay so you have the address and the guy signs what else?  Well for me my favorite letters are short and to the point.  In a perfect world my favorite letter would be "What's up Pat, I know you are busy, just wanted you to sign this card if you have time!"  I think most players would like it this way also.  There are many times in the clubhouse when guys are opening their mail and they either get a 2 page letter or something so ridiculous they have to show everyone.  To be honest probably only a handful of guys read the longer letters...most guys grab the SASE, sign the card, toss the letters without reading them and put the mail in a pile. 

Never ever ask another player to get something signed from another player.  It happens...every week I get one of these and have to toss it.  I guess in Junior High terms it would be like a guy trying to get the hot girl and using her ugly friend to get in with her...it's just not right.

Always include a SASE.  What's a SASE some of the younger people might ask.  It's short for Self Addressed Stamped Envelope...What's that...it's a return letter that has a stamp and address already on it so the player can throw the card in quickly.  When I do my letters if there is no SASE there will be no response.  I've collected tons of baseballs, hats, shirts, cards and other things over the past couple years because there was no SASE.  I don't want the stuff but I also do not think I should have to go to the post office, buy an envelope, address it up and pay for the postage.  This would def make me want to never do fan mail so I try to spread the word and make it clear that a SASE is a must if you want a reply. 

What to send?  Most TTM (Through The Mail) autograph request are for baseball cards.  I don't mind signing a lot of cards at one time.  Other guys will only sign one and keep the rest, again you have to do your research.  I also sign 8X10's, baseballs, hats, shirts, jerseys you name it if it has a SASE send it over.  If you need a birthday inscription that's fine also, I'm easy on that stuff.  Other guys have different signing habits and you'll have to look into them.

So in conclusion know the player and how he signs, short letters, SASE, 1 card if you are not sure and you should have a lot of success.  Time wise all guys are different.  I like to do my mail in the clubhouse once it comes in.  Sometimes we are on the road for a long time like right now so it might take 3 weeks to get back from me.  Be patient and if you follow the rules above you might have some success.

Also the offer still stands...Send me any signed baseball or hockey card no matter how good the player was or is or at what level and I'll trade you for one of my cards signed!

I totally felt like I was playing MN high school baseball again these past couple games.  I say this in that IT HAS BEEN FREEZING outside!  I thought those days of going out and playing in snow and sub freezing temps might be done but oh I was wrong.  The last two days were games that you don't know how you are going to do because a lot of us haven't played in that type of cold in a long time.  Running out to the mound tonight I kept telling myself to make good pitches and work quick.  The air was so cold I had a lot of trouble feeling the ball because my hands got really cold and it really showed when I let one get away that nearly hit the batter in the head.  People thought I was headhunting and others thought it was a good pitch but honestly the thing got away and had a mind of its own.  I guess this whole trip is a tuneup for the new stadium in a couple year!!!  The next three days look just a little cooler.  I think it's pretty safe to say that I've never wanted to get back to the Metrodome as bad as I do right now! 

Kansas City has been doing some offseason work and I think I might have a new favorite ballpark when the construction is done.  So far they made an excellent bullpen and are really hammering away the rest of the park.  This place has always been one of my favs and I cannot wait to see the finished product. 

Usually when we go to Kansas City there are more Twins fans than Royals fans.  So when looking at the schedule and seeing an early series in Kansas City and then checking the weather I figured we'd be lucky to draw 10,000.  Boy was I wrong, I think a lot of people just wanted to watch ballplayers freeze their butts off!  Tonight I believe was close to a sellout (Billy Butler Jersey Night).  I've never seen that many fans at a Royals game since I was in high school and drove down to watch Mark Mcgwire pack the place.  The fans must have brought some warm clothes because most of them stayed the entire night.  We have one more here and then we head to autograph headquarters (Detroit...lots of graphers there)! 

Today we got a rare off day and I basically spent it catching up on everything...emails, other stuff and right now the site.  Right now we are in Chicago and it's pretty cold outside.  I always hate the first month because it's tough to adjust to cold conditions...tomorrow night might be the coldest game of the season but I'm sure it will be nothing compared to last year when we strolled into Chicago. 

The other day I did an opening day rally in MN and a guy came up to me with my 2008 Topps card.  I guess they released the card in the Minnesota Twins Team sets.  I'm pretty sure it's the same card image they will use for series 2.  I also got an update that the signatures I signed for Topps last season will be introduced in a late product this year...Updates & Highlights.  I think the stickers got piled up on someone's desk and someone found them during spring cleaning. 

I tried a bunch to sign after a couple of our games during the last homestand.  It's not my favorite time to sign because we spend all day at the field and I get kind of anxious to get home but in reality signing only takes around 10 mins to do.  I usually try to sign after day games that aren't getaway days.  Other things about signing, I love signing before the game outside the dome and my favorite place to sign is in the bullpen about 8-20 mins before the game...Just come down to the bullpen and give me a shout.  I heard they are selling my t-shirts at the dome, if you pick one up be sure to stop down and have me sign it.  It's always tough to sign during BP or coming off the field because we have to eat and get dressed in a short amount of time.  As always if I don't sign keep trying, I'm easy. 

Well I haven't been on here in awhile and there's a good reason...I just got worn out and am sick of having to update it all the time...Therefore as of right now I am shutting the site down and erasing all content later in the week... 

gotcha...April Fool's!  Man this past week has been all about moving and cleaning.  I think every guy has been packing up stuff, cleaning up things and trying to set up houses now for the past week and it gets very old...this time of the year is always a mess. 

Opening day was pretty special...what a game.  It definetly had playoff atmosphere where every pitch was under the microscope.  For me it was an intense game...you go through all of spring training with crowds that barely break 9000 people and a couple of loud cheers to a crowd of 50000 that are going nuts for every pitch...gotta love it, it got my adrenaline pumping.  After the game last night I was walking up the stairs and a guy from the other team shouted to me "hey Pat, I'm Darren O'day and I just wanted to say it's cool to meet you...I read your website all the time last year."  I had to do a double take...just about an hour before that I was sitting inside the clubhouse watching this sidearmer from the Angels make his debut.  I kept asking myself who is that side/sub throwing guy was, turns out it was O'day.  Not a bad debut either, got out of a jam, pitched right out of the chute on opening day for his debut...I asked him if he was nervous and he said it was pretty intense.  It was nice to see another weird throwing guy in the bigs and even cooler that he stopped to say hi and let me know about this site.  I ended up snagging a foul ball with the opening day logo on the baseball and had it authenticated because they are very rare to find...after Darren said hi I think I'm going to offer him the ball because stuff from your debut is pretty special and means a lot more! 

I just wanted to give a big shout out to the 2007/2008 Butler Basketball team.  You guys got me watching college hoops this entire past season after many years off.  What a team, it's sad to see it over but I think everyone who follows basketball closely knows how special the team was.  Can't wait for next year! 

Hey guys, lots of cool updates.  We just had a winner in the Joe Mauer Figure contest so that is over.  I just got a cool package from GAMEWEAR the makers of those sweet baseball bracelets http://www.wearthegame.com/ We had some Neshek 17 bracelets made up and I will talk about them in another update down the road.  You will be seeing a lot of their products in stadiums all over the league so I just wanted to let you guys know of the next big thing that will be coming to a stadium near you this season. 

How about the new commercial...if you haven't watched it yet be sure to check it out right here!  Would you believe that it took me almost 6 hours to make!  A lot of the people in the commercial were actually from Park Center with the exception of I think it was 4 people that were actresses and Chad the tour guide.  My favorite part of the commercial...the kid that points at the end...it took him about 40 takes to perfect that part.

The arm feels great and I'm pretty excited to have my stuff working...that's all I'm going to say about on-field stuff...I'm ready for the season to start right now.  Camp is slowly winding down and we have about 2 weeks left.  There are lots of cuts that will be happening soon and that's always the toughest part of camp.  So far to date this camp feels like it has went by the quickest...pretty soon we will be standing in 30 degree temps in Chicago...I can't wait.

I got a lot of baseball card products to review and have been falling behind lately with pitching on the road and having other things to do.  I've opened a bunch of Topps, Upper Deck, Topps Heritage and Moments & Milestones and will be trying my best to get those reviews up soon. 

Just wanted to comment real quickly about the Vegan Article that ran in the MN paper yesterday http://www.startribune.com/sports/16582911.html.  I really didn't want this to be a big deal and that's why I wrote on here before that I will not talk much about this during the season but I cannot speak for the press and they will write about whatever they want.  I wanted to clear some things up that I felt weren't addressed right, otherwise you get stories like this http://www.kfan.com/pages/psn_danbarreiro.html shooting out on the airways that make me look bad and slander my name, "Yes, another Twins pitcher has come forward to say the reason he didn't pitch as well as he should is that he ate too much"?  Now I know the S&T article is tough to follow and I can see where Dan made that assumption that I said things but if you read it closely I never stated that in any way or made an excuse or was quoted saying anything close to that.  It would be cool to go on his radio show and talk about this and clear things up.  I felt the Star Tribune article was good but it sent mixed messages.  In the article it stated that last year my diet was poor...this is not correct.  Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a diehard juicer (Fruits & Vegetables) and have been doing this for the past 6 years.  The last time I ate a whopper jr. was in 2004...the article never gave a date but people might have thought I ate those things last year...not the case.  I didn't go Vegan to do better on the field or improve my game, the article makes it sound like I was looking for answers and this is what I came up with, not the case.  I feel like the article was suppose to be about me getting stronger and how I struggled late last season and in some odd way the vegan thing got tied in.  The simple fact was that my arm wasn't ready to pitch everyday and it wore down.  I like the stuff about the workout program I'm trying to utilize this year...Strong workout program, strong results.  So far in Spring Training the results have been great.  The simple fact here is that this is a touchy subject because there are a lot of people that have a special interest (money, job, family) in these industries and they do not like press that might hurt their industries.  For me I'm not proclaiming this as the way, I'm not trying to hurt anyone, this is my personal choice and the conclusion I have drawn (I'm doing this for my health and has nothing to do with baseball) and a couple reporters wrote stories about it.  It's a mixed subject as I found out, I never had so many people ask me where I get my protein, pretty funny I think they think I just read a book and decided to be a vegan...not the case.  If you really care and I'm sure most of you don't, I'm getting tons of good protein in a lot of the things I eat.  I'm also getting all my vitamins from various sources...hooray.  BTW did you know horses don't eat meat and they have tons of muscle, pretty neat to think about!  In all honesty I really never liked meat and only ate it a couple times a week if that in the past.  For the most part of the season last year I was vegetarian (didn't tell anyone) if I had the choice and when we were on the road I really didn't have a choice and ate what the clubby had or whatever restaurant was close...  This really isn't new to me its just another step that I'm trying out.  I'm not telling anyone to go out and go vegan, I'm not here to say this is the best thing in the world, as is everything I do on here I'm telling my story and shedding light into the life of a ballplayer...Good, it's over...You won't hear anything on THIS site until June and like I said before the press will write what they want...I don't really have a choice.  Also as a side note the only reason I'm arriving early at the field is to get my mail done and hangout, I'm not that diehard...All my workouts are done after practice...listening to SLAYER on my ipod...no hippie stuff for me!

Well lots of stuff today to talk about.  We got stuff about a chiropractor and a vegan meal, a Joe Mauer Autographed Figure, a Good & Bad Letter from the mailbag and also a Japanese Package! 

First off things are going really well on the mound and a lot of the credit goes to Dr. Mark Marien (Gold Coast Chiropractic, gotta give a plug) who is a Chiropractor down here in Ft. Myers I have been going to for a couple weeks now.  I was having a little bit of problems with my range of motion on my throwing arm and this guy does something called Active Release Technique...I'm not going to bore you on the details about it but the guy is a miracle worker...My velo feels like I am at my prime and I couldn't feel better on the mound.  I would recommend it for anyone who has any pain...I still like all you doctors out there but I want results and not just told what is wrong with me!

About 2 months ago my wife turned me onto the books "The China Study", "Slaughterhouse",  and one called "Skinny ***" (I think this is the book Prince Fielder was talking about as to why he doesn't like meat).  I'm not going to go into the details but if you have time and want a real eye opener that might change your life I would recommend either book.  Now most of you that know me know that I'm a big raw food person...I love to juice fruits and vegetables and watch what I eat...You can find the articles out there but a couple years back Stephanee really opened up my eyes with the stuff I was eating and it changed my life.  Well to make a long story short for the past 2 months I have been total Vegan and feel better than ever.  I'm not going to sit here and preach about why things are bad because it's really a lifelong learning process and takes years to digest the simplest things about food and something that can't be forced upon anyone.  I'm pretty proud though that I made the change in my life and can avoid the garbage that is out there.  This year will be tough though with our schedule and being on the road but I will be prepared and update you guys as to how I'm doing and what I do so I don't have to eat Burger King or Popeye's chicken ever again...and yes that was the meal after the last two road games I played in...It's hard to believe.  I'm sure I will eat meat again because our society is set up to reward convenience rather than our health

Fun stuff now...Up on the message board is a FREE contest for a Signed Joe Mauer Debut McFarlane figure from this year's collection.  I need to keep up with Phil Hughes's site...that guy will probably give away a car next!  Anyways Joe was cool enough to sign one of these up for me to put on the site...Good luck, I must mention though that on the message board I have suspended registration due to a couple posters that were making threats.  I don't know if I will open up registration anytime soon so if you have an account on there it just might be your lucky day to win a Mauer Signed Figure.  

The other day I was doing my mail and got a surprise package waiting near my locker from Japan.  Inside was a Sadaharu Oh (Japan All Time HR Leader) shirt as seen in the picture with a box of Japanese chocolates and decorated chopsticks.  I thought it was the coolest gesture that a fan has done in a long time and I'm proud to wear the Oh Shirt!  I get a lot of mail each day and a few from overseas...got one from Australia, another one from Korea a few from Europe and numerous from Japan.  Japan ones are always my favorites because they are written on very thin paper with excellent handwriting and they are fun to read because they are very polite and also because of the translation factor, you see some funny mix ups.

All right time for good letter/bad letter segment.  I should do a post about how to write a letter again because it seems like there are a ton of new people sending.  Real quickly, if you want a response send a return envelope with postage, I stopped replying to those years ago and you will not get a response.  Anyways here's good letter bad letter.  The good letter is awesome and one I rarely get.  Usually when I open mail you can feel what is inside, ones with cards are heavier and contain a sase...others that want responses also contains sase's...the scary ones are the ones that are light because it is usually someone wanting something...Scott Baker sits next to me and every time I get a light one I look at him and say something like "Oh no, what do we have here" and he just smiles.  Most of the time it is something like a charity wanting money (you would think they would add a SASE when they ask for money but they don't) or a kid who says something like send me back cards.  These letters usually get tossed, I know some of you are probably saying that I should write back to the kid but you know what...I would love to also but I get over a hundred of those each year and don't have the time to be paying money and using my time to fill out a badly written envelope and also supply a card.  Anyways today I got a letter and it was a light one, I opened it up and all it was was a kid giving praise and saying how he liked watching me pitch...I smiled...it was a very rare letter and I didn't know what to do...he didn't want anything and just wanted to say what's up...I thought it was one of my all-time favorite letters.                                       The bad letter...well...just read and decide!

Pretty much everyone has thrown in the games and our second outings are already coming up.  I'm throwing again tomorrow against Boston.  The first couple weeks are rough on the pitchers because we are throwing every other day and if a guys arm isn't ready for this test it can be a challenge.  Right now most guys are pumped up because we are into games and most guys will get over 2 days rest and not have to throw as much as the first week. 

 I'm pretty excited about the baseball cards coming out this week.  I've always been a big fan of the Topps Heritage set and that is suppose to be out any day now.  I will have a full review of this years product sometime next week.  I like this set because they include tons of guys in the set (cough...not me...cough).  Another thing that's cool about the set is that it is very tough to put together and it's a fun challenge for the year.

 If you are registered on my message board I just wanted everyone to know that I'm giving away a 2007 Spring Training Game Used hat for free if you can answer the correct question! 

 And if you are bored and need a laugh check this out from a couple weeks ago...I know you may have watched this already but some of you may not have seen this and yes I'm copying aarongleeman.com by inserting a youtube video...I love his site! 

Just released from www.sidearmstore.com are some pretty sweet items.  I don't know how they were designed but the hats have a pretty cool logo of me on them.  This is the fourth installment of t-shirts I have put out and the T-shirt's have the MN License plate with something that is very similar to my actual MN license plate...strike 3!  As always my portion of the sales all go to charity.  Also these have once again been produced in limited quantity so if you like them be sure to order them quick before they are sold out.

I just updated the address with my spring training location above.  Please do not send anymore mail to the FL PO Box (Indialantic) as it will be shut down for good and never used again.  I'm heading over to Ft. Myers for spring training in about a week and a half so mail sent by today should be fine.  I just wanted to give everyone the heads up that the above address is the place to send mail now.

Well last week my wife, brother Paul, friend Ryan and I got to do something we have always dreamed about doing…we went to the NHL ALL-STAR game!  This year the ASG was in Atlanta and we were pumped to be able to go.  Like I said in my last post the past weekend was very busy with Twinsfest going on but I was lucky enough to find a way to make it to the game.  My brother Paul and my good friend Ryan made it to Atlanta just in time on Saturday to do all the events like the Red Carpet arrival, the evening party and the Skills competition.  We arrived later Saturday night carrying 2 large bags on the MARTA (subway) and arriving at our hotel.  I really didn’t know where to start for an event like this.  I knew it would be tough as heck to get autos (It was back in 03 when it was in MN) so I told myself to just enjoy the experience and if I get an autograph it’ll be by chance.  The day of the game we decided to check out the CNN center where they were having a big trading card show.  A couple greats of the game and young guys were signing but the lines were literally out the door and I knew from signings that I have done that there was no chance of me getting the autograph…it was basically a Joe Mauer line for you Twins fans!  There was also a line to get your picture with the Stanley Cup…that also had a line out the door.  We didn’t know where to start so we looked around and decided to tour the CNN studio.  About an hour later we got done with the tour and the lines were even more intense.  I remember reading online there was an Upper Deck redemption set giving out at this event so I went to check out the details.  Sure enough if you opened 6 packs of Upper Deck cards you could turn in the wrappers for a special All-Star game collector set.  I opened up 12 packs and walked away with 2 of these rare sets.  I felt good with the day and as I was walking out there were graphers there that hit me up for Autos.  These guys came prepared…I was at the NHL All Star game and getting hit up for graphs…After seriously signing nearly 50 cards, I walked away…then another person came up with a single card.  I thought it was funny that people knew I would be there and brought cards to get signed…you guys are good.

At this point I felt pretty good, I learned that the previous day it was tough as heck to get anything signed and the hotel (four seasons) wasn’t easy because there were tons of dealers working it.  It made me happy with my approach of if I get somebody I get them and if I don’t I don’t.  We walked back to the hotel to change and get ready for the game.  The next thing we got to do was head over to the Pre-Game reception that was being held at the Georgia Aquarium.  At first I thought it would be cool, free food and I might be able to see some cool fish.  When we got in we were amazed at how big that place was.  I’ve never seen an aquarium that big before…it was like an indoor sea world.  Once again the events the NHL put on went above and beyond what I thought it would be.  We toured the entire aquarium and before I knew it the game was ready to start. 

Of course I wanted to be as early as I could for the All Star game because I’ve never experienced anything like this before.  Our seats were excellent…about 15 rows up on the blue line.  We all sat down and just gazed in amazement that we were able to do this and couldn’t wait for the game to start.  Well about a half hour later the players took the ice and I swear I felt like I was 10 again.  I don’t know what it is about hockey but it really gets me pumped up.  We got to see it all…Ovechkin showing off having fun, Zdeno Charo looking out of place like he should be at a Basketball game and our own Marian Gaborik.  Star after star kept flying by…Iginila made everything look so smooth, Jovanovski slapping the puck as hard as he could and Vokuhn stopping every puck from going in.  Once the shoot around was over a large stage came down from the top of the arena with a band on it getting ready to play.  I’m not the biggest fan of the band but they put on a great pre-game show.  It was the Hives playing a couple songs as the players got introduced.  During this time I got some great pictures and tried to get the opening puck drop picture but the ref dropped the puck before anyone could snap a picture quick enough.  The game went on and you could definitely tell it was an All-Star game.  There might have been one check and no penalties during the entire game.  But what lacked in hitting was made up for in passing and stick handling.  We were lucky enough to see first hand how quick these guys were and it was crazy how good they are.  My head felt like a bobblehead watching them pass to each other so quickly.  Well to make a long story short this probably goes down as the biggest sports event I got to attend, it was definitely right up there with the boxing match I went to last year.  Even Stephanee thought it was an awesome experience although I think she had more fun watching all the mascots run around and her getting pictures with them!  As we walked away that night we didn’t even have to look at each other, we were all smiling inside and knew that we just had the time of our life!  

Well these last couple days have been some of the busiest in my life.  On Wednesday night my wife Stephanee and I flew into Minnesota for a busy weekend.  As soon as we got out of the airport I had to run over to Mall of America to pick up my first suit I have ever owned...seriously last week I bought my first suit for an event on Thursday called the diamond awards.  I always told myself that whenever I needed a suit I would go in a week before and get one...that time was this past week.  The rest of the night was spent sorting through PM's on my message board (which I have been on A LOT lately) and digging out cards that I traded with to other collectors.  Thursday was probably one of the busiest days for me in recent memory.  It all started by me showing up to the Metrodome at 9am.  I was starting my filming career by filming my first big budget commercial...well I like to think it was big budget...they hired paid actors for some of the parts.  The commercial was one of those funny ones that the Twins do every year and I don't really want to ruin the surprise before it comes out but it involves my high school, a lot of students, me and I don't know how it happened but Joe Mauer managed to sneak into it!  It was a lot of fun and also grueling.  From 9am until 2:30 we had to be on camera saying the same lines and the finished product will be only 30 seconds long.  After about 20 minutes you could see some of the faces in the crowd were getting tired and they didn't know how much longer they would have to wait.  I think the commercial comes out in late March so be on the lookout.  Right from the dome I ran into my car and headed back home to put on my suit and head to the diamond awards.  The event is an award show for the Minnesota Twins but mainly a way to help the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota raise money to try and find a cure.  This year I won an award for Upper Midwest player of the year and with that I had to go up and accept the award and talk for a little bit.  The event started at 5pm and went until 10:30 so it was a long but fun night.  I got to meet a lot of my new teammates and it was pretty cool listening to how happy they were to be playing for the Twins.  When I got home lets just say I slept very good!  On Friday Twinsfest started and that's always a fun event.  The Twins brought in a lot of players this year and there were autographs galore.  I always love Twins fest for grapher watching.  Guys come prepared and have the entire night plotted out where they are going to go.  I always laugh at the collectors juggling the big bags that come in filled with memorabilia and stacks of notebooks overflowing with 8X10’s and cards, it's should be a form of art.  This year I brought a Lumicolor by Staedtler pen for my signing sessions so I wouldn't have to rub the gloss off my Topps & Upper Deck cards and it was cool hearing praise by the graphers for doing so.  Man o man there were tons of people there that check out this site and I couldn't believe the demographics of who reads this little journal I make...I swear I heard people telling me from all walks of life that they read the site, little kids, big kids, adults and even grandmothers!  It's pretty neat hearing that and the reason I keep it going.  Another thing I did at Twinsfest was take pictures with fans for a half-hour and a kid’s question and answer session.  The Q&A with the kids is one of my favorites because you hear some questions that even the best reporters couldn't think of.  One little girl asked me if it's tough leaving my 2 doggies home when we have to play road games.  I thought that was the coolest question I have ever heard.  Keep having fun I have another busy day planned for today.  Twinsfest goes all day then Stephanee and I are flying to Atlanta for the NHL All Star game tomorrow.  I'm going to try to get some autographs but I don't know how I will do in dealer heaven!  We'll be taking pictures though and I'm sure we will never forget the experience.

All right I just got back from the Twins Caravan and it was a blast as usual.  I don't think fans understand that we are on a bus for 4 straight days stopping at nearly 20 different places.  Honestly, I love the whole caravan concept and wish other teams would do what the Twins do...it's pretty special.  Highlights of the trip: Seeing the different cities, chatting with people from this site, and getting cards from fans.  I thought it was pretty neat hearing people say how much they like watching me pitch.  Last year at this time only a handful of people said that and now I'm known as the "Weird Throwing Pitcher" and you wouldn't believe how many people commented to me on that.  The caravan was a lot of fun but it is very grueling and could drive you crazy.  The thing that drove me nuts was saying the same thing at nearly every stop...by the end of the trip I thought I became a much better speaker, but I hated hearing my voice (if that's possible).  Inside I felt like Gardy and Vavra, as well as TC bear, were going "not again, if I have to hear him explain why he throws like he does another time...ahhhh" from listening to me deliver the same old lines.  But as we went along I kind of opened up and touched on a lot of topics, and people had some good questions.  Gardy is one of the funniest guys to hear speak.  Every stop I kept wondering what he was going to pull out of his hat to make the crowd laugh, and each stop I wasn't disappointed.  He was fun to go with.  At the end of each night we would hang out, grab a bite to eat, just kick back and talk about anything...I think that's what I enjoyed most about the caravan. 

 Note sheet: Cool things on the caravan...Visited the Daktronics Plant and got to see how they make MLB Scoreboards, found a long lost neighborhood friend in Sioux City that I played baseball with as a kid, chatted with Gardy, Vavra and others about anything you could think of, received numerous cards as well as Northwood’s leagues sets in Mankato...Got bashed in the Sioux Falls paper for I guess disappointing the sold out crowd...(I thought the crowd loved me and I'm sure people there liked me as well so there).  I think the person who wrote the article must like not me...I probably said no to his wife after she demanded I sign more than one card in a "One Auto per person line"... jk, Watched TC bear go nuts after some unappreciative parents made him mad!  I'm sure there's lots of other stuff I'm forgetting but overall this was a blast and I was happy to see everyone come out and say hi, even those of you at the Hardee's in the small town of Windom!  I always think it's pretty neat that there are fans everywhere.   

Well guys just thought I would give an update on what has been going on.  On Sunday I'm heading back to MN to go on the Twins Caravan.  The week after that is Twinsfest and I will also be back for that.  I'm pretty excited for the end of the month as I will be heading to Atlanta to go to the NHL All Star Game.  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and let everyone know how that whole experience goes.  I'm a big fan of hockey and it will be one of the coolest events I have ever attended so I'm pretty pumped up to go. 

Right now the weight lifting is in full swing.  I feel very refreshed and very strong where I need to be so it's pretty safe to say I'm ready to start another season.  About a week ago I started playing catch.  Each week I like to take baby steps and get my arm ready for the grind of an entire season.  Right now I'm basically playing normal catch with Stephanee and tomorrow I'm going to start moving back for long toss.  Eventually I will be ready to throw bullpens in a couple weeks.

 As for what else is going on one of the big things I have been doing down here is bodyboarding.  It's one of the toughest workouts you can do in my opinion and is a lot of fun.  One of the main reasons we picked this area of FL is for the waves and the ocean and the spot we are at is Surfing central in FL.  Today we drove down to the Sebastian Inlet where a big surfing contest called the SI Pro was being put on by O'neill.  If you've never been to a surf contest you should try to check one out sometime it's a pretty cool thing to see.  There were a lot of highly ranked surfers at this event and graphs were pretty easy to get.  We went to the finals and got to see the winner crowned, check out the pics of Patrick Gudauskas being carried off after winning the championship...Maybe next year I will pick up a surf board and drop the bodyboard...we'll see, I love my bodyboarding.

Just wanted to remind everyone that the auctions have been going strong for a month now under the message board right above this post, check them out if you see something you like.  Here's the latest auction.

2 day auction on this next item and this will end Friday Night at 10PM.

Alright this is kind of a unique item, it's my 2007 Luggage Tag with my alias on it. Pretty much everyone on the team has an alias (another name they check in at the hotel under). We do this so idiot financial planners, radio stations and random people can't call us up at 8am. As most of you know if you do in person autographing one way to find the hotel of the team is to call it up and ask for a player. I would always ask for an assistant coach because they usually don't have fake names to find out which hotel teams were at and it works a lot. 2006 I didn't have an alias and I'm not lying I would get appr 4 phone calls a day...it sucked. So this year I went with good ole CY DAHMER as my nickname...If you say it really fast and together it sounds like sidearmer...I like to switch things up and Cy will no longer be needed...I also need to switch because people are pretty scared when they come to my room to deliever me pizza with the name Dahmer haha. Next year I will have a new name so this tag has to go. A pretty cool piece and only with my 1st alias and something that I will never forget!

The tag can be inscribed and signed with whatever you want just let me know if you are the winning bidder. This auction is 2 days and will end Friday night at 10pm Eastern.

All you have to do is make an offer, pictures can really sway who I pick also.

I'm not really looking for anything special. I have a want list with cards I need on the footer of this. I also like sets, game used cards, cert auto's, signed balls, game used stuff and anything that might be fun to have. Bascially if it's something cool I'm probably going to like it so make an offer if you want this item. Also remembe