Twins’ Fan Re-discovers
Passion for Baseball
By Sue Warner
This
summer I re-discovered my passion for baseball in general and the
Minnesota Twins in particular. Although it was a disappointment
that the hometown team did not make it to the playoffs for the
fourth straight year, the season was a dream come true for this
diehard Twins fan.
My employer, Courage Center, and our vehicle donation program, Cars
for Courage, partnered with the Minnesota Twins, Dodge, FSN North
and WCCO radio to raffle the Ultimate Twins Fan Vehicle. The car
in question was a new Dodge Charger RT with hemi (whatever the heck
that means) autographed by Twins players, past and present. Heck,
even the TC Bear and Wally the Beerman signed the darned car.
As a communications
manager and general public relations maven, I’ve been involved
in many such promotions and events through the years. But, as a
lifelong Twins fan, this promotion was a dream. The highlight of
my summer was meeting my childhood idol Harmon Killebrew, Twins
manager Ron Gardenhire and pitcher Kyle Lohse, and to be one of
the volunteers who went onto the field the last game of the season,
as we announced the winner of the car.
Through my volunteer
efforts, I discovered a new talent, shilling or as they say “carnival
barking.” Call it what you will,
who would have thought I’d discover I’m good at shouting
and drawing a crowd? But I am.
My father taught me
to love baseball at an early age. I grew up listening to Halsey
Hall and Herb Carneal on my dad’s transistor
radio. I was one of those insane people who went to both Twins World
Series parades: Parade highlight 1987: Joe Niekro blindly hurling
confetti out of his convertible during a lull in the parade, burying
me almost to chin level. Parade highlight 1991: Almost being trampled
to death by the crowd outside City Center. My first celebrity crush
at age 16 was Twins catcher Butch Wynegar. (Calvin Griffith wasn’t
the only one who ‘really liked that kid!’). I re-lived
that kind of crush briefly this year, doting on current Twins player
Michael Cuddyer. So, what if these days, players are two decades
younger than me? A girl can still dream!
The raffle was an amazing
feat of volunteerism in action. We sold tickets at every home game
beginning July 1, until the end of the season, Sept. 30. That’s 40 home games. We needed a volunteer
to drive the car to the Dome and back, plus seven other two hour
shifts selling raffle tickets. Cars for Courage staff and volunteers
also made special appearances with the car at local Dodge dealers,
corporations and Twins Pro Shops. By season’s end, 140 individuals
volunteered 1,655 hours. The UTFV (whose acronym sounds a bit like
a Scandinavian curse) was parked in front of the Metrodome’s
Gate F or on the Plaza in 100 plus degree heat index, in rain (okay,
I personally avoided the rain) and, by season’s end, cold and
early darkness.
On Friday, Sept. 30 the fun ended. We sold more than 10,000 raffle
tickets, raising more than $53,000. Mike Sandoval, from Sante Fe,
New Mexico, had his name drawn from the overstuffed tumbler. Sandoval,
a broker with ING Financial was in town in August for a conference
and attended his first Twins game where he purchased a raffle ticket.
On the last day of the
season, almost 50 volunteers, including me, gathered on the field,
as the UTFV made its last appearance and Jan Malcolm, Courage’s
CEO announced the winner during pre-game ceremonies. But, the best
part of the day for me wasn’t being
on the field. It was being in the stands watching Johan Santana pitch
like only he can, Joe Nathan come in for the save, and the Twins
sweeping the Tigers in the last series of the year.
Sue Warner is the Communications Manager at Courage Center.
