Justin Morneau Winter Warm-Up Coat Drive (Part 1)

Every year, FanHQ, a memorabilia store in the Minneapolis area, hosts a coat drive, featuring 2006 AL MVP and former Minnesota Twin, Justin Morneau. Shawn, the owner of FanHQ and Morneau have become good friends over the years, and the two get together for a coat drive to benefit the Salvation Army every fall.

In past years, you were able to donate three winter jackets, and in return, get an in-person autograph on the item of your choosing. Those who couldn't get three together, or couldn't attend the event, could donate one coat in exchange for an 8x10 of Morneau that he signed ahead of time. This would be the ninth year of the annual coat drive, and this year, they really stepped things up. The number was moved up to five, but in return, you would not only get an autograph from Morneau, but also fellow retired Twins, Joe Mauer and Corey Koskie!

I was getting super excited for the event, and began to get my coats together, ready to bring them up for the Dec. 1 event, but three weeks ahead of time, FanHQ posted on their Facebook page, that all 200 of their autograph tickets had been claimed. I was a little down, as I was really looking forward to such a great opportunity. My luck would change, though, as the very next day, they announced, that all three parties had agreed to do 22 more, and that they would be made available the next day when the store opened. I knew what I had to do.

I told my wife that I would be driving to Minneapolis and back the next morning (7 hours round trip), and surprisingly, she didn't give me any pushback on it. It would be a big trip to have to essentially make twice, but getting those players on some premium items at a great price was too good an opportunity to pass up.

I left my house at 6 a.m. and got there at 9:30. I was the sixth person in-line, so I was definitely getting a ticket. I had six coats in total, which gave me the autograph ticket for the event, as well as a signed Morneau 8x10.

Now, I never like to leave without spending a little money, so I picked up two of their mystery packages. I got one baseball and one hockey puck. Basically, each sealed box comes with one signed item, which is a mystery until it is opened. My baseball was of former Twins pitcher Brandon Kintzler, who is now playing for my Chicago Cubs! The puck was of Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter. I already have a Suter puck, but it's on an official game puck, so even though I already have this player, at least it's on a different design.

Lastly, I also put in for a new concept they are doing with some of their surplus items: a multi-sport jersey draft. Essentially, 15 spots are open for a set price. When all of those spots are filled, names are drawn for the order, and then each person picks which one they want. There were four that I really wanted, and as luck would have it, I was selected to pick fourth. I ended up with an authentic model Twins jersey signed my 1987 World Series Champ Gary Gaetti. I was already home when the draft took place, so I would have to pick it up on the day of the coat drive signing. I'll share pictures of it when I post on that, but it looks amazing!

Well, my next post will be on the event itself. It ended up being a lot of fun, and I really came back with some spectacular additions to my collection.