Scott Ullger

Sent: 6/7/12
Received: 6/14/12
Time: 7 Days
Address: c/o Minnesota Twins
Item Sent: 1984 Donruss, 1984 Topps, 1986 ProCards Toledo Mud Hens, 1989 ProCards Visalia Oaks
Item Received: 1984 Donruss, 1984 Topps, 1986 ProCards Toledo Mud Hens, 1989 ProCards Visalia Oaks.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Scotty Ullger has how spent over 30 years in the Twins organization as a player, minor league manager, and major league coach.  Since the mid '90s he has served as a first base coach, third base coach, hitting coach, and bench coach for Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire, and is the go-to choice to manage the team whenever the umpires elect to let Gardy shower early.

1986 ProCards Project

Craig Monroe

Sent: 5/25/12
Received: 6/2/12
Time: 8 Days
Address: c/o FSN Detroit
Item Sent: 2008 Topps Heritage
Item Received: 2008 Topps Heritage, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Craig Monroe suffered with some terrible Tigers teams at the beginning of the 2000s, but when they turned their fortunes around in 2006 he was at the forefront.  He had career highs of 28 home runs and 92 RBI during the regular season.  He turned it on even further with an incredible post-season that included five more homers as the Tigers advanced to the World Series.  He got off to a hugely disappointing start in 2007 and was traded to the Cubs for a bag of balls.

Monroe was a notorious Twins killer (.321 with 13 homers and 48 RBI in 80 career games against them), so the Twins brought him in the next year to help provide some right-handed outfield power following Torii Hunter's departure.  He did hit eight home runs in a part-time role, but struggled to keep his average above .200.

R.A. Dickey

Sent: 2/21/12
Received: 5/29/12
Time: 98 Days
Address: c/o New York Mets Spring Training
Item Sent: 2010 Topps Twins Team Card, 2011 Topps Heritage
Item Received: 2011 Topps Heritage, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Who would have thought that "the one who got away" from the Twins might have been R.A. Dickey?  Since getting released by the Twins during the 2009 season, he has been the most dependable starter for the New York Mets.  He's been better than dependable, actually.  He has been outstanding.  Now in his third season for the Metropolitans, he's having an All-Star caliber year.  I'm thrilled to get this back, but am a bit disappointed that he didn't return the other card I sent.  Dickey never had a card as a member of the Twins.  The only card he appeared on in a Twins uniform is the 2010 Topps Twins team card, which pictures him in the background while Joe Mauer and Ron Gardenhire celebrate a Twins victory in the foreground.

Ray Miller

Sent: 5/11/12
Received: 5/18/12
Time: 7 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1986 Topps, 1986 Twins Team Issue
Item Received: 1986 Topps, 1986 Twins Team Issue, Baltimore Orioles postcard.  All signed in black ballpoint.

Notes:
Ray Miller has an interesting place in Twins history.  I'm not sure how many of today's Twins fans can name the man who was skipper before Tom Kelly, or can recall a time when the team went outside the organization to find a manager.  The Twins surprised a lot of people by contending late into the 1984 season and finishing the year at .500.  Hopes were high in 1985, but they struggled badly out of the gates.  Manager Billy Gardner was fired and Miller was brought in.  Miller had been one of the top pitching coaches in the game while with the Baltimore Orioles and he did reasonably well with the Twins over the rest of the 1985 season.  Great pitching coaches do not necessarily make great managers, though.  The Twins scuffled through another disappointing year in 1986.  Near the end of the season, Miller was fired after just over a year on the job.  Third base coach Kelly was promoted and a year later the Twins were celebrating their first World Series title.  Miller would spend several more years as a pitching coach for the Pirates and, later on, back with the Orioles.

In addition to signing my cards, Mr. Miller added an Orioles postcard.  On the back of that, he thanked me for my letter and for being a fan.

Orlando Cabrera

Sent: 8/30/10
Received: 5/7/12
Time: 616 Days
Address: c/o Cincinnati Reds
Item Sent: 2010 Topps
Item Received: 2010 Topps, signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
New record!  At 616 days, the recently retired Orlando Cabrera is now my longest wait for a successful request.

Although his best years were behind him, he was energized by his late-season trade to the Twins in 2009.  In turn, he helped spark the improbable run toward that year's classic Game 163 and the AL Central title.

This request was sent to the Reds while he was helping to lead Cincy to their own division title that season.  He moved on to Cleveland and San Francisco last year, but somehow still had my request lying around when he caught up on his old mail.  Awesome return!

Tom Brunansky

Sent: 4/18/12
Received: 4/30/12
Time: 12 Days
Address: c/o Rochester Red Wings
Item Sent: 1982 TCMA Spokane Indians, 1982 Topps Traded, 1985 Fleer
Item Received: 1982 TCMA Spokane Indians, 1982 Topps Traded, 1985 Fleer.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
The cards for this request were chosen with a purpose.  Tom Brunansky, one of my true childhood heroes, is as automatic as it gets when it comes to signing through the mail, but I was still reluctant to send his minor league card the first time I wrote to him.  I was also kicking myself for not sending his 1982 Topps Traded rookie card.  With my decision to start collecting the 1985 Fleer set, I thought it would be nice to send those three cards together and knock out three major pieces in my Bruno collection.  Success!

Brant Alyea

Sent: 4/13/12
Received: 4/23/12
Time: 10 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1971 Topps, 1972 Topps
Item Received: 1971 Topps, 1972 Topps.  Both signed in black ballpoint.

Notes:
One of the great one-year wonders in Twins history, Alyea platooned with Jim Holt in left field for the Twins 1970 AL West Championship club.  In only 290 plate appearances, he hit .291 with 16 home runs and 61 RBI, putting up an OPS of nearly .900.  He dropped off severely in 1971 (.177 with only two homers in 188 plate appearances).  He split 1972 between the Cardinals and A's and didn't play in the majors again after that.

Paul Sorrento

Sent: 4/14/12
Received: 4/21/12
Time: 7 Days
Address: c/o Inland Empire 66ers
Item Sent: 1989 ProCards Orlando Twins, 1990 Score
Item Received: 1989 ProCards Orlando Twins, 1990 Score.  Both signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Some players simply don't like receiving fan mail at their home.  Take Chili Davis.  I think he was a decent TTM signer throughout his career.  At least I remember getting him through the Twins when I was a kid.  But he built up a solid reputation as a non-signer following his retirement.  That suddenly changed last year when he accepted a position as the hitting coach for the Pawtucket Red Sox.  Suddenly Chili was a signer again, as long as his mail was sent to his team. 

It looks like the same thing is happening this year with another former Twins slugger.  Paul Sorrento, who was a power hitting prospect trapped behind Kent Hrbek and the aforementioned Chili Davis on the Twins depth chart, won the World Series as a rookie bench bat in 1991.  Traded to the Indians the next year, he put together a solid career as a part of some of the best offenses of the '90s in Cleveland and Seattle.  His TTM return rate, as reported on SCN, was hovering somewhere around 10% at this time last year.

This spring, he started a new gig as the hitting coach for the Inland Empire 66ers in the Angels' organization.  I noticed a success posted on SCN, so I immediately wrote.  A week later, and I had these two beautifully signed cards.  Through the first month of the season, it looks like Sorrento has turned into an automatic autograph... as long as you send to the team.

Jared Burton

Sent: 4/6/12
Received: 4/17/12
Time: 11 Days
Address: c/o Minnesota Twins
Item Sent: 2007 Topps '52
Item Received: 2007 Topps '52, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Jared Burton is the biggest reclamation project in the Twins' revamped 2012 bullpen.  He had some success in Cincinnati a few years ago and even flashed glimpses of being a potential closer.  Then injuries derailed his career.  Healthy again, he has landed in Minnesota with a chance to become the primary right-handed setup man.  He's been effective so far.  Who knows?  Maybe he still has a chance to become a big league closer.

Lester Straker

Sent: 3/21/12
Received: 3/29/12
Time: 8 Days
Address: c/o Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training
Item Sent: 1987 Topps Traded, 1988 Topps, 1989 ProCards Portland Beavers
Item Received: 1987 Topps Traded, 1988 Topps, 1989 ProCards Portland Beavers.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Les Straker was a 28 year old minor league free agent who became the default #3 starter on the 1987 World Series champion Minnesota Twins.  Although his career resume pales in comparison to the Twins top two starters that season (World Series MVP and Cy Young winner Frank Viola and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven), Straker started two games in that World Series.  In one of the great forgotten performances in Twins history, he shut out the Cardinals for six innings in game three before being lifted for a pinch-hitter with a 1-0 lead.  Juan Berenguer came in, promptly gave up three runs, costing Straker a World Series victory.

Straker has been one of the more difficult autographs from the 1987 Twins team to obtain until recently.  He works as a Latin American pitching coordinator for the Phillies, spending much of his time in Central and South America.  The best time to get his signature through the Phillies is during spring training.  I finally remembered to write this year and was quickly rewarded.

Chuck Baker

Sent: 3/6/12
Received: 3/19/12
Time: 13 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1982 Fleer, 1982 Topps
Item Received: 1982 Fleer, 1982 Topps.  Both signed in thin blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Weak-hitting shortstop Chuck Baker's Twins career lasted for only 40 games in 1981.  In those 40 games, he only accrued 70 plate appearances as most of his work came as a defensive replacement.  He is definitely one of the more obscure Twins players of the 1980s, but he still managed to find his way into the 1982 Fleer and Topps sets, and those two cards were two of the very first Twins cards I ever owned.

Phil Nevin

Sent: 3/6/12
Received: 3/15/12
Time: 9 Days
Address: c/o Detroit Tigers Spring Training
Item Sent: 1991 Topps Traded, 2007 Topps Heritage
Item Received: 1991 Topps Traded, 2007 Topps Heritage.  Both signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Phil Nevin was the #1 overall pick in the 1991 amateur draft by the Houston Astros, taken over prospects such as Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon.  Coming out of college as the Golden Spikes Award winner, it was widely assumed that Nevin would be on the fast track to the big leagues.  It took him three years to make it to Houston, though, and when he did he hit a paltry .117 and was discarded to the Detroit Tigers for aging reliever Mike Henneman.  After four more years of floundering as a spare part and utility player, trying to fend off the "bust" label, Nevin wound up in San Diego.  He blossomed offensively with the Padres.  He peaked in 2001 with 41 homers, 126 RBI, and a .976 OPS.  In 2006, he came to Minnesota at the August trade deadline.  He only played 16 regular season games for the Twins, but finally got a taste of the playoffs for the first and only time in his 12 year career.  Since moving into coaching, Nevin has quickly climbed the Tigers organizational ladder.  He just started his second season in charge of the AAA Toledo Mud Hens.

Ryan Doumit

Sent: 2/9/12
Received: 3/15/12
Time: 35 Days
Address: c/o Minnesota Twins Spring Training
Item Sent: 2010 Topps Heritage, 2011 Topps Heritage
Item Received: 2010 Topps Heritage, 2011 Topps Heritage.  Both signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
The Twins' offseason signing of Ryan Doumit mirrors their typical bargain basement free agent gambles, but I'm a fan of this one.  Doumit can hit.  Flat out hit.  He can't field much, but he's willing to play anywhere.  Health has been a recurring problem over his career.  That's undeniable.  But he's a switch-hitter with a lot of pop and is a huge offensive upgrade over the Twins usual utility players and backup catchers.

Charlie Manuel

Sent: 2/9/12
Received: 2/21/12
Time: 12 Days
Address: c/o Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training
Item Sent: 1971 Topps, 1987 ProCards Portland Beavers, 2010 Topps Heritage
Item Received: 1971 Topps, 1987 ProCards Portland Beavers, 2010 Topps Heritage.  All signed in black gel pen.

Notes:
Charlie Manuel is, of course, best known as the folksy, down-home, World Series winning manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.  He has a reputation as one of the true gentlemen of the game and as the consummate "player's manager."  All this is true.  What many younger and casual Minnesota Twins fans don't know is that Manuel spent a great many years as a player and coach in the Twins organization.  The bulk of his short major league playing career was spent at Met Stadium, before he became an MVP slugger in Japan.  After retiring as a player, he became a minor league manager for the Twins from 1985-1987.  One of the players on his 1987 Portland Beavers squad was a just-hanging-on utility infielder named Ron Gardenhire.   

Floyd Chiffer

Sent: 1/18/12
Received: 1/25/12
Time: 7 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1983 Fleer, 1983 Topps, 1987 TCMA Richmond Braves
Item Received: 1983 Fleer, 1983 Topps, 1987 TCMA Richmond Braves.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Floyd Chiffer pitched for three seasons for the San Diego Padres, including 15 games for the 1984 National League Champions (though he was not on the post-season roster).  His spot in my collection, though, was earned by logging time in the Twins' minor league system in 1985.  I figure that if I'm going to collect autographed Twins minor league cards, I should also include guys who played in the Twins system even if they didn't have a card depicting them as a member of the organization.  I'm actually pretty surprised that Chiffer didn't get a call-up to the Twins.  He had a great year at Toledo in 1985 with 9 wins, 13 saves, and a 2.49 ERA.  As brutal as the Twins bullpen was in the mid '80s, he couldn't have been any worse!

Phil Wilson

Sent: 5/12/11
Received: 1/24/12
Time: 257 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1986 ProCards Orlando Twins, 1987 ProCards Portland Beavers, 1988 CMC Portland Beavers, 1988 ProCards Portland Beavers
Item Received: 1986 ProCards Orlando Twins, 1987 ProCards Portland Beavers, 1988 CMC Portland Beavers, 1988 ProCards Portland Beavers.  All signed in black marker.

Notes:
As great as the Twins were in the late 1980s, they were not exactly bursting at the seams with major league quality talent in the minor league system.  Few names really stood out in their minor league baseball card team sets.  Phil Wilson did stand out... not because he was on the fast track to the big leagues (he never did make it), but because he had the name.  He was the brother of Mets star* Mookie Wilson.  [* "Star" not meaning "elite player" in this case, but rather meaning "average player with a big smile, popular because he played in New York and his name was Mookie."]

Phil Wilson did look like he had a chance to be a major league player for a couple of years.  In 1985 at Visalia, he hit .297 with 49 stolen bases.  More impressively, he posted a .389 on-base percentage.  He carried that performance to AA Orlando in 1986, hitting .293 and showing a tad more power.  There were signs, though, that the higher level was giving him more trouble.  His walk rate plummeted and, most important to his game, he stole 25 fewer bases than the year before while getting thrown out just as many times.  Promoted to AAA in 1987, he badly struggled to a .227/.317/.288 slash line.  His 35 steals proved he had big league wheels, but he just didn't have the bat and he ended up getting passed on the Twins depth chart by similar but younger players like Jarvis Brown and J.T. Bruett.  After a half-season in the Expos organization in 1989, Wilson's playing career was over.

Gorman Heimueller

Sent: 1/13/12
Received: 1/21/12
Time: 8 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1986 ProCards Toledo Mud Hens, 1987 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1988 Cal League Visalia Oaks, 1989 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1990 ProCards Orlando SunRays, 1991 ProCards Portland Beavers
Item Received: 1986 ProCards Toledo Mud Hens, 1987 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1988 Cal League Visalia Oaks, 1989 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1990 ProCards Orlando SunRays, 1991 ProCards Portland Beavers.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
First of all, I'd like to say this: You can scan the archives of this blog and you'll find many requests where I sent two to four cards to the recipient.  This is the only one to date where I have sent six.  Here's why: I had six different Gorman Heimueller cards in my box of Twins minor league cards.  I couldn't decide which three or four to send, so I simply sent them all.  I asked if he could sign a few of them and told him he could keep any he wanted.  Mr. Heimueller graciously decided to sign and return all six.  He also included a note answering a question for me.

Gorman pitched briefly in the big leagues for the Oakland A's in 1983-1984.  In 1985 he signed with the Twins as a minor league free agent.  He retired following the 1986 season and immediately accepted a pitching coach position for the Twins' Visalia Oaks affiliate.  I had read somewhere a long time back that the Twins had given World Series rings to all the coaches in the entire organization in 1987 and 1991, so I asked Mr. Heimueller if that was true.  He confirmed that he is the proud owner of three World Series rings: from the 1987 and 1991 Twins and from the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he was the minor league pitching coordinator.

Tim Nedin

Sent: 9/20/11
Received: 12/30/11
Time: 101 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1989 Star Elizabethon Twins, 1990 Star Kenosha Twins, 1991 Classic Best
Item Received: 1989 Star Elizabethon Twins, 1990 Star Kenosha Twins, 1991 Classic Best.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Tim Nedin made quite an impression after signing as the Twins' 21st round draft pick in 1989.  At Elizabethton in the Appalachian League, the hard-throwing lefty went 6-2 with a 1.58 ERA and struck out 102 batters in 74 innings.  In his first full season at Kenosha the next year, he had a hard luck 3-13 record, but still finished with a respectable 3.39 ERA and continued striking out more than a batter per inning (144 whiffs in 140 innings this time).  His production declined as he climbed the minor league ladder, though, and after one game for Fort Myers in 1992, his pro career was over.  For a couple years, though, it appeared the Twins might have a late-round steal on their hands.

Rich Becker

Sent: 11/5/11
Received: 12/19/11
Time: 44 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1993 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Xpress, 1997 Fleer, 1997 Topps, 1997 Ultra
Item Received: 1993 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Xpress, 1997 Fleer, 1997 Topps, 1997 Ultra.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
For several years in the early '90s, Rich Becker was hailed as one of the jewels of the Twins farm system.  He was a switch-hitting outfielder with outstanding speed and a great glove, and possessed some nice power potential.  He had nothing left to prove in the minors when the Twins made him their everyday center fielder in 1995.  But he proved nothing in the majors that year, as he struggled to get on base, showed no power, and was caught more times than he was successful in base stealing attempts.  He was at a crossroads in 1996, and he answered the call big time.  Spending most of the year hitting between Chuck Knoblauch and Paul Molitor (who each had historic seasons that year), Becker posted a .291/.372/.434 triple slash line, clubbed 12 homers, scored 92 runs, knocked in 71, and stole 19 bases (while only being caught five times).  He also played Gold Glove quality defense in center.  He regressed in 1997, though, and was dealt to the Mets for Alex Ochoa after the season.  He would play for five clubs over the next three years and wouldn't come close to approaching the promise he showed in 1996.  Regardless, his '96 season was one of the most underrated and seasons from a dark decade in the Dome.

Mike Misuraca

Sent: 9/13/11
Received: 12/6/11
Time: 84 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1989 Star Kenosha Twins, 1990 Star Kenosha Twins, 1991 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1993 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Xpress, 1994 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Xpress
Item Received: 1989 Star Kenosha Twins, 1990 Star Kenosha Twins, 1991 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1993 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Xpress, 1994 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Xpress.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
The Twins signed Mike Misuraca in 1988 and he spent eight seasons in their organization.  After tossing over 1,000 career minor league innings in the Twins system, he was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers.  In the summer of 1997 he finally made his big league debut.  He appeared in five games for the Brew Crew as a 29 year old rookie and retired after the season.