Twins Favourite Things

I recently heard about the Minnesota Twins 'Favourite Things' charity raffle, put on by the Twins wives organization. Basically the wives put together baskets of the favourite things of each of the Twins players, and they are auctioned off for charity.

Aside from the money for charity, I'm most excited about the little insights it gives into the boys I watch on the field every night. You can find the list here.

The Sandlot boys are some of my favourites on the team - probably because whenever the commercial comes on, I think of them as little kids playing a pick-up game in the backyard and that makes me smile. They did not disappoint me:

• Michael Cuddyer - He includes the Natural gift set (which totally plays into my image of him as a ten-year old kid dreaming of playing baseball when he grows up). Love the Sandlot signed poster! And he likes Skittles. How can you not love someone who loves Skittles?
  
• Joe Mauer - His basket seemed well thought out, cohesive, and more focused on experiences than things. I like that. Plus, I think a morning of golf followed by lunch at Cosetta's is a fantastic way to spend the day :) I'm a little bit anti-fishing (ever since I partially fell down an ice fishing hole when I was a kid), but I can't hold that against him.
  
• Justin Morneau - Okay, I'm not that enamoured of this basket - not that I dislike its contents, it just seems a little less personable than some of the others. I mean, iPod + iTunes giftcard? From that we can conclude...that he likes music? He did include a lot of different types of snacks. And I like snacks. So I still like him. But the basket didn't make me like him more than before.

And some of the others:

• I don't know that I'd get along with Boof Bonser. Based on his basket, he'd make me read car/muscle magazines while watching bad movies.
• I have no need for Jesse Crain's cologne or watch - but I am addicted to Chapstick and the fact that he thought to include Chapstick in his favourite things basket makes me think he is too.
  
• Do you think Jason Kubel is aware of the intense Packers v. Vikings divide and that he's squarely placed himself on the Green Bay side?
  
• I'm not really into Mike Lamb's taste in movies, but I could listen to the iPod and play sudoku and crosswords while he watched dvds.
• Based on the baskets alone, I'd pick Pat Neshek as my favourite. Not because I particularly want to receive the basket (I haven't collected baseball cards since I was about 12). But because it shows so much personality! He (and/or his wife) put a lot of thought into it, and I find it supercute.