Popular items went quickly, as fans snapped up everything from bobblehead sets of the 1965 American League champs for $400, to major-league baseball media guides for $1. Framed newspaper pages went for $50, and T-shirts were available for $5.
Ron Miller of Buffalo, Minn., started waiting outside the Metrodome at 4:30 a.m. He managed to score the one item he really wanted: A 30-foot banner noting the late Kirby Puckett’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
“I’ve been collecting Puckett stuff for 15 years, so this was a no-brainer at $100,” Miller said. “This is the one thing I came here for.”
Centerville, Minn., resident Kevin Peickert bought a life-size cutout of Kent Hrbek for $50. It was worth the 12-hour overnight wait, he said.
“I knew you had to be here early to get the good stuff, because it was going to be gone right away,” he said.
The event was one last chance for fans to snap up leftovers from the team’s 28-year residence in the Teflon bubble, which closed at the end of this season. The Twins open next season at Target Field, on the other side of downtown Minneapolis.
As team staffers packed up for the move, they set aside anything and everything that wasn’t worth taking.
Team spokesman Kevin Smith was amazed by the brisk turnout Saturday.
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “Maybe this is kind of closure for people – we had the last (regular season) game, then the 163rd, then it was all over. It’s one last chance. A lot of the stuff in here really resonates for people. And if you’re a collector, there’s good stuff to be had.”
The sale began at 10 a.m., most of the items piled on folding tables along 15 sections of the Metrodome’s concourse. Within two hours, the pickings had grown slim.
“Not much left but bobbleheads, Homer Hankies and refrigerator magnets,” said Rusty Krentz, who drove three hours from her home in far western Minnesota. “It was worth it, though.”
Among the other deals: a bobblehead of TC, the team’s furry mascot, for $5; logo-emblazoned socks for $4; ball caps and straw hats for $3; and plastic bats for $2.
A bobblehead collection of the entire roster of the 1987 World Series champions went for $350.
Ben Golnik, a political consultant from St. Paul, found that particular deal too good to pass up.
“It’s a serious collectible, and at what, $17 a doll, really isn’t that expensive,” he said.
___
Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
AP-CS-11-07-09 1653EST
