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

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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 remember that I pick up all shipping cost to mail the package to you. Remember you can make as many offers as you want and update them as time runs out, good luck bidding and be sure to keep checking out this page and the message board for more game used items!

Now once a scout likes you or knows you have pro ability from going to the tryout camps all you have to do is sit back and wait.  The next move is for the scout's team to send you out a Q&A sheet.  During my Junior year of college I got my first Q&A in September from the Baltimore Orioles.  A little after that more and more came in.  Some came in November, more came in December, a ton came in January and a few other teams followed right up until the draft.  I kept track of each team by filing it by team name and I tried to write down each time they contacted me, see the pictures below.  Once it hit February things started getting out of control with phone calls and meetings and I didn't write down as much as I should.  If I remember correctly 28 of the 30 teams contacted me and I will try to scan all the sheets I have from each of the teams.  What they send varies by team.  Some want Medical Records, some want you to do personality evaluations and others just want to ask random questions Here's my sheets from the Orioles, the first team to contact me in 2002

Well I have a little bit more time now so I scanned some odd letters again, I know you guys like these.  These came in today and I get about 5 a week that are similar.  One included no SASE, no addy, nothing to trade or sign and wanted cards of me signed as well as others out of my collection...I'm shocked he didn't include his address I might have mailed back a team signed ball...kidding.  The other included a SASE but wanted free cards.  I have to give it up to guy #2 for including a SASE, he's halfway there!

The caravan list just came out and here's where we are going, I expect to see some of you out there! 

SOUTHWEST TOUR
Manager Ron Gardenhire, pitching coach Rick Anderson, pitcher Pat Neshek
Monday, Jan. 14: Hutchinson, Mankato
Tuesday, Jan. 15: Windom, Fulda, Worthington
Wednesday, Jan. 16: Spencer, IA, Sioux City, IA, Sioux Falls, SD
Thursday, Jan. 17: Marshall, Montevideo

Well I was lucky enough to get my hands on a hobby box of Upper Deck Black.  Right now it’s the talk of the industry because the hobby box is selling for $200 and it contains only 2 cards…you heard me right 2 cards.  Basically you are getting a big hit and you should for that price.  I’ve never opened up a box of cards (or should I say card) that had only one card so this must be pretty special. 

Specs

1 hobby box contains two packs.  Each pack contains one card.  All right opening the box.  I will let my wife go first and then it’ll be my turn.  First observation, man these things are tough to get into.  You open the box, which is sealed.  Then you open the pack, which is sealed in heavy foil that says void once opened.  Then you finally get to the pack, which is regular foil.  Pack is open and she pulls an Adrian Gonzalez???  Ouch, nothing against Gonzalez but we were expecting something to the extent of Babe Ruth.  All right, I’m kind of getting suspicious about UD Black right now and it’s my turn to open.  Alright, opening my pack that is about as tough to get into as Fort Knox…pack is open…WOW, what a pull…That is a sick card…A Cal Ripken Jr/Derek Jeter #’d to 15 AUTO.  Well I guess I see why we got the Gonzalez now, this card is unreal.  For some reason Jeter signed the sticker in Silver…never seen that before & Ripken’s sig is awesome as usual.  Just when I was going to write this product off it ends up flipping the switch and makes me a believer.  Now the only question is whether to sell the card and buy 3 more boxes or keep the card…This is an easy choice, the card is staying with me!

Just got a couple boxes of Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects.  I always love opening these just for the thrill of getting a 1/1 or low numbered refractor of an upcoming prospect.  This box as many of you know is just like Bowman Chrome as well as Bowman in that you are buying the box hoping for the prospect cards you get inside will do well making it a worthwhile investment.  As in years past these boxes usually get snatched up pretty quickly and hold a lot of value if you don’t open them.  Not opening the boxes isn’t fun but if you can hold the temptation you have a product Beckett calls “Best Product to Flip in Three Years”.  Well, I’m opening mine and going after the low numbered refractor or autographed card. 

Bowman Draft is almost all guys who are prospects or were drafted this year.  The hobby box I have contains 24 packs with 7 cards per pack in which 2 are Chromes.

Here’s how it went down.  As always the box toppers are 2 A-Rod cards.  I got HR’s #436 and #439…man these Arod cards are getting pretty close to whatever number HR I gave up to him last year (and yes for those wondering…I will sign that card when it comes out!)

Big hits for me, Beau Mills Auto – Kyle Lotzkar Redemption Auto

Phil Hughes X-Fractor, Jonathan Lucroy X Fractor, Joba and Carlos Gomez Blue #’d to 399 – Regular Refractors = Sean Doolittle, Maybin, Fruto & Michael Saunders.

I was able to finish the Green Base set and come pretty close to another.  The chrome set of the greens was nearly complete as well.  I need 26 of the regular white prospects to finish that set and I’m a little over halfway on the chrome prospects set. 

If you see anything you like I’m trading it away on the message board above trying to complete a couple of the prospect sets

Overall thoughts, I have and will always like this brand.  When you factor in the price (Under $5 a pack) you are probably getting the best bang for your buck in the hobby with this brand.  Although I didn’t have the super big hit it’ll still be fun trying to trade and piece together this set. 

All right so I talked a little about going to pro tryout camps as being one of the biggest things you can do.  Now here’s some more stuff I went through trying to make it into pro ball.  After High School I attended college and the rule there was if you attend a D1 school you had to wait until you were a junior or 21 years old to get drafted again.  So during that time I really wanted to learn how to pitch, gain some speed on my fastball and become a better pitcher.  It was nice for a couple years that I didn’t have to worry about being drafted.  I spent my first year really just trying to become a better pitcher and to throw strikes.  That summer I played in the Northwoods League and it was a different world.  Half the summer was spent on a bus traveling from city to city and looking back it was the same thing as playing in the minors.  That league really woke me up and prepared me for dealing with the struggles of minor league baseball and motivated me to work harder.  I did decent in the league but realized I needed a new pitch in order to compete.  Following that summer my college coach Steve Farley taught me the slider and the pitching world opened up to me.  That next year I still walked a few guys but I was in the top 5 in strikeouts per 9 innings.  It still was a struggle to get scouts to come out and watch and Coach Farley made pleas to teams in the Cape Cod League to give me a chance to let me play there that summer.  Lucky enough one team took a chance on me, Wareham and I was ecstatic just to get the chance.  They invited me to be a temp player for the first 2 weeks and then they would see if they wanted me from there since they lost a couple guys to Team USA.  After two weeks I think I was 4-0 in relief and became the closer.  They signed me to be a regular player after the first week and I didn’t really have to worry about going home early.  The thing that was special about the Cape Cod league is that that is where scouts try to get all the top guys they like into one spot so they can watch the players all summer long.  For me it was just what I needed, someone to watch me play.  Just the intensity and excitement of being in the Cape League was enough for me to go out there everyday with a nervous rush of competitiveness that made me excel.  I went from being a guy that had excellent stuff but was unseen and probably a later round 10+ guy to a Cape Cod All Star while giving up 1 run all summer in front of lots of scouts.  I thought for sure that would be enough to catapult me to where I wanted to be drafted.  But I knew there would be a lot of stuff that needed to be done in the meantime.  The biggest thing that I never was aware of was that nearly half my Cape Cod League team had what they called advisors already.  Basically an advisor was an agent but you couldn’t call him an agent due to NCAA rules and you didn’t pay the advisor until you were drafted and signed then you could start calling him your agent.  I was shocked that these guys all had advisors and it was all starting to make sense to me.  The player would go out and play and the advisor would call around to places and hype the player up.  The advisor would call around to scouts telling him to come watch the player play on certain days always keeping the player fresh in the scout’s head.  Ever wonder how a lot of the scouting reports make their rankings…Sure some of it is pure statistics and raw skill but a lot of it has to do with advisors calling the scouting place and giving him his list of top clients.  People might say I’m nuts but one guy I knew didn’t have an agent and wasn’t listed on any scouting reports.  Then he agrees to an advisor/agent that fall and the next week he’s number 15 on a list of top 100 prospects in the country after not doing anything during the fall and having a mediocre summer.  When I started seeing this stuff happen it kind of made me mad but I knew I had to start playing the game also.  I had an excellent Cape Cod League summer only giving up 1 run, striking out lots of guys, not many hits, low walks and throwing 90-94mph yet not one scouting report fit me into their top 50 Cape Prospects.  Luckily I had my dad on my side who would always go out of his way to find the best route I should take.  He eventually learned the best thing to do to find an advisor/agent was to contact the MLBPA and they would send out a list of certified advisors/agents.  In order to be certified by the MLBPA you have to make a certain criteria and also have a player in the big leagues that the agent represents.  If the agent is not on this list he’s probably just starting out, is very inexperienced or something is wrong.  I would be worried if an advisor approaches you that is not MLBPA certified.  The service the MLBPA does is free and if you feel like you have what it takes to be drafted high I would recommend going out there and getting this list from the PA and it’s free.  The next thing I had to do was pick out an advisor and I will talk about this as well as other topics in my next update.

Well I don’t really know where to start with this.  I guess this is how I felt when I first started my trail to make it into pro ball.  I was kind of clueless.  I remember back in high school the big thing was to try and impress a college to get a scholarship and this is pretty much the same process as that.  Where to start, where to start…I would first say there are many scams out there that involve things called showcase camps where you show up to a college and they say they will film your tape and grade you and then send it out to 100 different colleges.  It’s a great idea but a lot of the times schools charge upwards of hundreds of dollars for this service and most of the time they are sending the tapes to schools you never heard of!  Don’t get me wrong this is a good idea for kids that have all the time in the world but I have something better and it’s free and will def be the best thing you can do.  I found this out very early on (15 years old) and what it involved was going to tryout camps held by major league teams.  In my case every year there were at least a handful of tryout camps nearby that were put on by the area scout for the ball club they worked for.  Now most of you are thinking tryout camp am I really trying out to make the team that day…For the most part no unless you are older and are good enough to sign for no money then that’s a perk of the tryout camp.  The point of the tryout camp is that you are going to get graded on the scale of a major leaguer by a pro scout.  The scout is not going to lie to you and will give you a grade in which he thinks you might grow into.  At this point you kind of find out if you have the skills to make it.  Even if you are younger these camps are awesome to go, my first camp was when I was 15 and I think most have an age limit.  These camps are ideal if you are in your Junior Year of High School or going into your senior year.  If you fit the age limit you have to go and test your skills.  Now here are the numerous reasons why these camps are important.  The biggest reason is to obviously try to impress the scout so he will follow you during your next season in high school ball.  Another important reason is to get a grade from the scout and be on file with him.  Ask the scout for a business card after the showcase gets over that way you can write to colleges across the country and attach a copy of the scouts business card telling the college coach to contact the scout and he can give the coach a report about how your skills rank.  Another reason and is pretty shocking as I will explain is that if the scout likes you he will send you a Q&A that you will return.  Now here’s why that is shocking…if you do not fill out a Q&A with any team or do not talk to an MLB scout or fill anything out for an MLB scout you will not receive a draft number meaning you WILL NOT be drafted.  One easy way to tell if a kid might get drafted is whether or not he has received a Q&A from a baseball team.  If he hasn’t there is pretty much no chance he will be drafted.  So right there this is one of the best secrets out there…go to every Pro Tryout camp you can find.  Back in high school the internet was not as big as it is now and I had to read the paper to find ads for Pro Tryout camps…if these things are out of your way I still think this is the best thing you can do.  One scout with the Reds told us back in the day that we were some smart kids to show up to his tryout camp because this is how he decides what high schools to watch next spring.  He also said he doesn’t have too much off time to randomly search high schools for the next big thing, they pretty much have to come to him.  To my surprise that spring I had scouts from various teams watching me play and it was pretty excited.  I never thought I had what it took to beat out some of the other top high school kids around me but I knew how to go out of my way to prove I had what it takes and that was the difference in me being one of the only Minnesotan high school players taken that year.  Please if you think you have what it takes or know someone that might have the skills to get drafted you have to tell them to attend as many Pro Tryout camps as possible…they are free and if nothing else you are evaluated by a professional scout.  Also try to avoid colleges or companies that charge for a recruitment service unless you understand what you are paying for and there have been past results.  In my next update I will talk about more stories along the way in getting drafted and advisors.  

Well for the past week my parents have been down to FL visiting us and Stephanee's parents are coming in next.  I wanted to get a lot of updates in but have found myself worn out and not being able to get on here.  Hang in there with me once again.

For the past couple years there have been many things on this site that I have helped educate you guys on various subjects in baseball.  Right now I'm hoping to do something that I have wanted to do for the longest time, talk about getting drafted.  I usually get this question a lot from younger players and parents and there is no right or wrong answer.  For the most part getting drafted takes having the skills and being lucky but that's not the case all the time.  During the year of 2002 I was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round.  The entire time leading up to draft day was insane and had me worrying every night before I went to bed about if I was good enough to get drafted high and to make it in pro-ball.  I basically came to the conclusion that it was stupid to worry about something like that and to go out there and compete, give it my best and let the ball fly.  I also thought it would be cool to chronicle that year in hopes of one day telling my story to others in the form of a book or website.  So with that said I think it's time to start the how to get drafted story here on the site.  During 2002 I kept nearly every article and Q&A that scouts sent me, I also tried to mark down every phone call I got from a scout and what the meeting was about.  It's pretty interesting stuff and I was contacted by nearly everyteam.  I will post most of my Q&A's from 28 of the 30 teams that contacted me so you can see what they send to players and I will try to just tell a story with that stuff.  Keep checking back this might take awhile!

Stephanee and I made it down to FL with the dogs and have set up the house here and are finally getting time to relax.  We drove down and it took 26 hours of driving.  Right now I am going at the weights, running and everything else really hard.  I'm also taking time each day to jump into the waves with my Boogie Board and getting my butt kicked.  I set up the PO BOX down here and have already got my first 5 letters.  As always if you need anything signed such as cards or baseballs be sure to send them here.  Just remember to put a SASE in the letter, for those of you that don't know what that is it's a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.  That way I can seal up the envelope and throw it in the mail.  Also I only return envelopes with SASE's in them so basically if you want a response, throw in a letter with a stamp on it. 

As promised I am going to be on here a lot more and on the message board as well.  This time of the year is when I have my game used auctions and tonight is item number 1 of 2007.    So here we go with item #1.  THIS IS A THREE DAY AUCTION AND WILL END MONDAY NIGHT AT 10pm. This item is from 2007 Spring Training. It's my Spring Training Game Used Minnesota Twins Short Sleeve Jacket.  The jacket was worn by me in 2007 Spring Training and has my number written on the tag as seen in the picture.  I also have a long sleeve jacket and that will be item #2 going up once this is over.   

This is for everyone in the past that has asked me to come to South Dakota to make an autograph apperance...I'm coming.  Here are the details.

Next Saturday - 10/20/07 - 11am - 12:45PM - Place: Beresford, SD (close to Sioux Falls) - Address -  One Sioux Plaza - Beresford, SD 57004

Autographs are Free, Multiples Autos are Free, so bring lots of stuff, Pictures are Free

There will be 8X10's for purchase and proceeds will be going to charity

 For more details and better directions Click Here

Update - Wow 12 hours later and through the power of you guys and trading I only need 5 more cards to complete 4 of my ginter sets ...the power of the internet!

Earlier This Morning Update - I've decided my first set I'll be working on this offseason is Allen & Ginter.  I think it will be best to go one set at a time and 1 set inside of a set at a time that way it makes it easier for everyone to trade.  So far with Ginter I've completed 1 set already and am close on three others.  Check out the message board baseball card section if you would like to trade. 

I just changed the address for the off-season so if you need anything signed send it to the addy above.  If you send to the Metrodome I will get the item around April...that's what happened last year to mail that was sent late.  What will I be doing during the off-season? Lots of things, relaxing, catching up on things I've wanted to do and didn't have the time, lifting weights and getting ready for next year.  Speaking of getting ready for next year for the past week I have been rehabbing my shoulder and making it stronger.  It's been going great and I'm no longer worried that something is wrong with it.  What happened was that my shoulder got really weak and kind of just ran out of gas.  After getting a bunch of rest and doing a lot of shoulder work it's starting to feel back to normal.  I'm pretty excited and have learned how to really strengthen my shoulder for the grind of a long season.  There should be a bunch more updates coming up, expect to see me on the message board soon trading cards and building sets and also there will be tons of auctions...I've been saving up all season.

Another new product came to me in the mail the other day and it was ripped open minutes later.  The product in review is 2007 Fleer Ultra SE (I’m assuming the SE stands for special edition).  The box is small in size and only contains 5 packs.  It also says inside is 4 memorabilia cards and an autographed card…nice.  Basically every pack has a nice hit in it.  This has been my first pack of Fleer opened since last year’s Greats of the game so I didn’t know what to expect.  Right off the bat I’m totally mislead.  The outside of the pack says 5 cards per pack but once I ripped this pack opened there were 15 cards inside and an insert relic jersey of Anibel Sanchez.  Very interesting so I move onto the next pack.  Inside is another huge lot of 15 cards with a Sean Henn auto.  As of right now I really like these cards, I’ve always been a sucker for jersey relics or autographs and this product is teasing me.  Pack three contains another 15 cards and a Jim Thome Phillies jersey swatch.  Two more packs to go…Bam, Printing plate of Morgan Ensberg.  I have also noticed that one card in each pack looks like it has gold plating around the border and not the regular silver that most cards have…(aha, just checked the latest Beckett and there is a 1 card per pack that is the gold border.)  Last pack contains 15 cards with a Cano jersey swatch.  I must admit when I first wanted to check this set out I didn’t think much of it.  After opening these up I must admit these have probably been one of the funnest boxes to break in the past year.  The reason, you know you are going to get something cool inside and for a price that will not kill your wallet.  I would think these would be an awesome present to give to a young baseball fan as a birthday present.  Even one pack of these would be cool for a kid to open up.  The only flaws I can really see is that there are not too many high priced cards you can pull out of this box.  Carlos Silva struck gold when we did the box breaking in Cleveland with this box and hit a Cal Ripken auto and looking at the Beckett that is one of the better pulls.  Overall though this box was a real hit with the people I opened it with (my wife Stephanee and brother Paul) because they are not serious collectors and it was fun for them to get a jersey or autographed card with each pack they opened.  I think I would definitely take a chance on these again if I could find a hobby shop that had them.  On eBay these are going for around $50-$70 a box or $10 - $15 per pack. 

Box #2 Hits

Kerry Wood Dual Materials #73 of 75

Derek Jeter – Feel the game jersey

Zack Greinke auto #199

Carlos Beltran – Hitting Machine Jersey Swatch

We are on the road still this time in Kansas City.  I have a lot of stuff to talk about since in the last week there hasn't been an update.  First off I must get this out of the way to help through the mailers out there.  This upcoming home stand is our last of the season so if you need anything signed I would try to send it in the next couple days.  I would say that Friday is probably going to be the deadline.  If you send after no big deal.  I'm sure it will still be placed in our mailbox and we can pick it up when we come back from our last road trip of the season.  After that though any mail sent gets stored in the Metrodome until spring training starts...just thought I would give a heads up.  I will still be doing the PO box thing for the winter but will have to get that sorted out and find out where we are going to be.  Stephanee and I just bought a small house near Melbourne, FL so we will be commuting a lot in the off-season between MN and FL.  I will keep everyone updated so we can keep the success rates near 100%.   

The other day we had our Rookie Dress up and it was a blast once again.  Contrary to a couple writers out there I am NOT a rookie this year, therefore did not have to humiliate myself like I did last year!  This year though I think they went a little easier on the guys.  The theme was more around food than last year's theme of showing skin.  Off the top of my head we had a grape, an apple, a banana, an egg, bacon, an outlet, a socket, a horse, a snake charmer, a Reno 911 cop, a convict and 2 babies.  Guerrier and Rincon took the photos so hopefully I can get them to transfer me them for the site.  Instead of signing autographs at the Metrodome for fans and going to a Cleveland Indians game we made the rookies walk halfway around US Cellular field, travel on plane to Kansas City and go out on the town for a meal with the costumes on.  I think we definitely had it worse last year but anytime you are in the costumes it's not fun.  Everyone had a great time and I'm sure all the costumes have been thrown in the trash. 

One quick last note on PM's.  I have not got to them in about 2 weeks and I'm trying my best but cannot guarantee when I will.  I promise to get to them sometime but it might take me a little bit with all the end of the season stuff going on.    

Today I got a box of 2007 Upper Deck Goudey that I will be opening and reviewing.  I don’t really know much about the cards other than the fact that they are suppose to resemble the 1933 Original Goudey set.  In the past couple years there has been a surge of brands that resemble older brands such as this year’s Topps Heritage (1958 Topps), Turkey Red (original TR), Allen & Ginter and a couple other brands.  These look pretty neat to open so I’m going to break it open.

2007 Upper Deck Goudey Specs, there are 24 packs that contain 8 cards per pack.  There is one autograph and game used card on average per hobby box.  288 cards in the set with a lot of variation and #’d cards and the chance to pull an original card from the 1933 set.  How cool would it be to pull an original Nap Lajoie #106 card! Here we go with the first pack.  Box opened and notice a top loader, inside is a card of basketball player Kevin Durant…wish that thing had an autograph on it!  All right the first pack is opened and my first impression is that these cards are different than normal cards.  I get 8 cards; they are all about half the size of a normal card.  I also got two Pujols and Tulowitski cards.  After looking closer 4 of the cards have greenish colored backs and the other are red, this is one of the variations I talked about above.  Pack two is opened and I get the same results, 4 greenish backs with 4 red colored backs.  Skipping ahead I am about halfway through the box and it’s been the same greenish and red cards.  I did get a Kei Igawa and Nolan Ryan card that had cartoon bodies on them and the insert set is called “heads up” named after the 1938 Goudey set that was called the same name “heads up”.  I’m not sure if this is part of the base set or not because they have numbering in the high 200’s.  Also I just checked the Short Print List and it contains most guys that are superstars right now or retired players.  After completing the box my only complaint is the red and green backs seemed to really create the doubles.  I would get the same guy with just different color on the back.

How I fared

Autograph Card – Kevin Kouzmanoff

Game Used Jersey Card – Richie Sexson

Green Back set complete – 82/200

Green Back Short Prints – 6

Red Back Set Complete – 95/200

Goudey Head’s Up – 3 – With Writing - 3  

Here are my final thoughts on 2007 Upper Deck Goudey.  I’m a fan and have to say I would honestly considered trying to make this a set I would try to complete.  Most Upper Deck brands contain excellent photography, tough SP’s and a wide number of autographs.  This set is different and to me really resembles something Topps would produce.  Usually when I think of Upper Deck I think of top-notch photography with lots of autographs from young stars.  This set is different in that they are taking an older brand and adding a fun feel trying to recreate the excitement that you would get as if you were opening original packs of Goudey from the 30’s.  I’m a fan and if you want a unique twist on an old card design you should give these cards a look.

Alrighty, we are heading out of Cleveland right now and our plane is being weighed down by all the cards everyone got from going to the baseball card breaking on Tuesday.  I don’t even know where to start with this story.  This box breaking was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  I can’t explain how sweet this was so I am including a bunch of pictures of the damage.  On Monday night I got to preview the event and opened up three boxes of Allen & Ginter.  To my surprise I pulled 3…yes, 3 rip cards.  I thought it was a fluke but the other two people opening the packs with me (Evan from the MLBPA and TwinsBB17) didn’t get one.  We’ll I thought Monday night was a blast but didn’t even know what was to come.  Early Tuesday I woke up and headed down to the breaking at 10am.  I asked anyone on the team to show up and we had a bunch of guys in attendance.  Off the top of my head here’s who was there, Guerrier, Cali, Nathan, Rincon, Silva, Garza, Santana, Cuddyer, Mauer, Jones, Watkins, Buscher, Twinsbb17, Gardy and me.  A couple more guys would’ve showed up but they had a fantasy football draft at the same time…c’mon reschedule…nobody cared though it just meant more packs for us.  10am came quick and I was surprised that everyone showed…baseball players are not morning people.  This event was hosted by the MLBPA and is being made into a short show to be played on ESPN around September 16^th.  The purpose of the event was to show kids that baseball players get a kick out of opening up packs of cards and to show how we acted like we were 10 again opening the cards.  Basically I spent the last week organizing the event trying to get my teammates to go trying to explain to them how baseball cards have changed.  Most guys on the team haven’t opened a pack of cards in over 15 years.  We started the day sampling cards in this order.  Topps Series One, Upper Deck Series 2, Topps Heritage, Bowman Chrome, Allen & Ginter, Fleer Ultra SE, Upper Deck SPX, Topps Chrome, Co-Signers, Artifacts and finally finishing with a bang…Triple Threads.  Each guy was given a box or two depending on how quick they opened the cards.  At first guys were asking questions about Topps Series One, “I got a Mantle, how much is it worth” and “what is this hobby masters card?”  It was really informative for all the guys and they started to really understand what things like short prints are and the different types of variations out there.  Quickly after moving from brand to brand and the price points started going up guys were pulling better hits and the room started getting livelier.  Lots of the times there were pulls of cards for guys that were in the room and that player would get his card flung at him.  Other times we would get a card of a guy we use to play with and laugh and it would make us reminisce about him.  Then you could start seeing the anger when guys would pull something good.  One guy got a Cal Ripken Jr. signed # to 10 while another guy next to him got a AAA prospect that just got sent down and was on his way out of baseball.  The day kept going and we decided to play a game of Pack Wars.  Basically you call out a stat before you open a pack and try to find whoever has that call out on the back of one of their cards.  For example one pack war game involved most stolen bases in one season…somebody won with Ichiro.  Usually you play pack wars for packs of cards…not today, there were 5 PS3’s that were up for grabs.  Sadly to say I didn’t win one game and will have to wait for another time to get a PS3.  I’m not going to explain anymore of the details as you can truly go nuts just from the pics, well one stat…45 boxes of Ginter were opened!  Best hits of the day…there were a couple.  Gardenhire had the best one if I was judging.  A 1/1 Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George Bush card that contained their inauguration seat pieces on the card…unreal, try asking Gardy for a trade on that one, he said that one is staying with him.  One guy pulled a Buzz Aldrin signature out of Co-signers.  Lots of cool stuff came out of Allen Ginter like a J-Mac auto, I pulled a Mark Zupan auto and thought that was pretty cool.  Another cool pull on the day was a triple signed Mattingly, A-rod, C Wang signed card.  Who knows what some of the guys got because a few guys didn’t really understand what things were worth and never really got too excited.  One guy totally hosed someone with a trade and that’s all I’m going to say…You can really take advantage of someone who doesn’t know baseball cards nowadays…not me, I tried to help everyone and show them what made each card unique.  My best on the day, a JFK sweater card that said “Ask Not”.  I also had a Griffey Jr. Auto in one pack.  My fun was running around trying to finish my Ginter sets.  I tried to get a lot of the mini cards especially the flags, roman emperors and snakes set.  This is surely going to take me into the off-season trying to sort out what I have and what I need.  Just when I think I’m finally caught up and ready to trade with everyone on here more card come in.  Sadly I found out at the field today that a couple guys took out their favorite cards in their break and left the rest of the cards in the hotel room because they didn’t want to carry them home.  Once I found this out I wanted to run back into the hotel and clean out their room.  I wish I could’ve went through some of those cards to make sure there wasn’t a weird card that went unnoticed like a rip card or a low-numbered card that was hard to see.  It just hurts thinking that a Ginter Bazooka card #’d to 25 got thrown into the trash! 

The main point of the event was that everyone had fun and went home happy.  I think everyone learned a lot about the card industry and hopefully this will make us players better at understanding cards and collectors!  Be sure to keep an eye out for the show on ESPN around the 16^th and also check out the pics below!

We are in Baltimore on the first leg of another road trip.  Baltimore is probably the easiest place for me to come hang out and walk over to the park and sign autographs.  The collectors here all kick butt and understand the hobby and it's always a treat to come here and see them and how they have been doing. 

There really hasn't been anything new so that's why I haven't had an update.  I thought it would be better to read the message board entries this past week than make up an entry babbling on!  It sure beats reading articles about me saying, "Hitters have once again figured me out".  I've sat here a long time shaking my head with who writes this.  It seems like every time I give up a run something like that gets put out there.  It's kind of like the lefty stuff saying I can't get out a lefty, I don't know where it starts but it's funny every time I give up a lefty hit that's what gets published yet I'm having a better year against lefties stat wise.  It always amazes me at how much emphasis people place on the media and that's why I think blogs are going to be the place where people start turning for in depth analysis because you can only find  (most of the time) sensationalism in print media or one sided views that have players like me shaking their heads unable to defend themselves.  For better analysis I recommend turning to blogs like aarongleeman.com, sethspeaks.net, twinkietown, stickballguy, Lavelle's and Joe C's blog or just go to mngameday.com and they have all these blogs in one spot.  These guys back up their comments with reasons that make sense and not ridiculous things like (they are figuring him out or lefties own him).  For example if Aaron Gleeman would write something with the headline “The League is Figuring Him Out” I know he would have concrete stats detailing things like BA during second time facing player, 3^rd time, 6^th time, 100^th time.  I know he would then go out and do some crazy statistic adding up the entire leagues 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th at bats against me and lay it out and I would read it and go man, this guy is right.  Tired...we all are, tired where it is affecting me...heck no, that's about the lamest excuse there is.  The skinny, I made a couple bad pitches and got beat, balls got hit and dropped in and runs came in.  My slider sucked and hung, when you hang the slider against MLB hitters you get beat.  There's the reason and something that you didn't read about because it didn't have the pizzazz and was boring to actually comprehend.   

I’m on the plane right now heading back to Minnesota.  We finally get an off day after playing for a long time without one.  It’ll be a nice time to kick back and relax.  Speaking of flying some of you are probably wondering how we travel.  Nearly all travel up here is done through a charter plane meaning the team rents out a plan and it leaves whenever we show up.  We usually just drive our bus right up to the plane and go through a security stand that is waiting for us.  The whole process takes about 10 minutes to do the entire team.  We usually have two buses leave from the stadium one earlier than the others for press and the early bird players that want to get out of the stadium and on the plane.  Once there we just need to wait for the equipment van to show up and load and we are off and flying.  It sure beats going through an airport and all that security…it would be a mess having to do that every road trip.  The only two cities we have to go through the normal airport is Texas and Toronto and it really takes a little bit longer to do the process.

In Seattle Ramon Ortiz asked me if I wanted to meet up with him to eat dinner at Benihana’s the first night we were in town.  I quickly accepted remembering the last time we ate there in Detroit.  I think there were about 10 of us and it was quite the sight!  Carlos Silva bet me he could eat more than anyone else including me and I was up for the challenge.  Word of advice, don’t ever bet Silva when it comes to eating…oh my.  Silva and Ortiz let everyone pick what they wanted to eat because they were buying and we spared no mercy.  In all my life I have never seen a mountain of rice as big as what was on that Benihana stove.  I hung in there long enough but couldn’t make it to the steak after devouring everything thrown at me including shrimp, chicken, scallops, three bowls of rice, a salad, soup and probably a bunch more stuff that I forgot about after I went into a coma from eating so much food.  Silva kicked everyone’s butt eating a record 5 orders of rice and everything I ate including the steak and other’s leftovers…I now crown him the eating champ of the team.  Anyways Ortiz and I tried to do the same Detroit feast again in Seattle but we didn’t make it too far…2 rice bowls and the normal, shrimp, steak and chicken…I barely made it through!

We are heading out of Kansas City right now and I am still sweating from the game.  Man, that was probably the hottest game I have played in the last couple years if not the hottest ever!  Just sitting in the bullpen I thought I was on a frying pan waiting to be cooked…I actually felt better running out to the mound and pitching than baking for 8 innings in the heat…glad that trip is over, hopefully California will treat us a lot better.

The more and more I play in KC the better I like it.  I think that KC might be my 2^nd favorite place to play now right behind the Metrodome (I love the dome and it will never change so quit shaking your head in disbelief).  I think the neatest thing about KC is that it is so family friendly.  They have parking that caters to tailgating.  Outside there are mini baseball fields for the youngsters and other things such as a speed pitch and monuments.  It just has that relaxing baseball feel where the only thing on people’s minds is baseball.  I think the Royals definitely do that the best in the big leagues.  I couldn’t imagine that place sold out, it would be a tough place to play.

As I mentioned before we are heading to California right now.  My wife and parents made the trip to KC and have been with me for the past three days.  I should have a little bit more time now to get on the message board and try to finally complete the 2007 Topps Heritage set.  I only need 4 more cards and then I can move onto another set.