Howard Lestrud
ECM Online Editor

A true American history buff, Clyde Doepner is. A true Minnesota Twins fan, Clyde Doepner is.

Who is Clyde Doepner? To many former students, he is an extremely competent history teacher and to many other students, he is a well-traveled and well-versed drivers training instructor.

To the Minnesota Twins baseball club and to many of their fans, he is the premier Twins memorabilia collector on the planet. Some day, this St. Paul native hopes to see his collection be part of a museum in a new Minnesota Twins baseball stadium. ìThey (Twins officials) have already said they are planning a spot for a museum in a new ballpark if it comes to fruition,î said Doepner.

If thereís a Twins collectible to have from the very beginning when the Minnesota Twins came to Minnesota from Washington, Clyde has it. If thereís going to be more Twins collectibles, for example, four new bobbleheads to be issued in 2006, Clyde will definitely be there to get them.

Sure, this Twins collector has had his connections with the Twins baseball club over the years and he has put together countless baseball displays for the Twins at the Metrodome during the season and at TwinsFest every January. For his work, the Twins have helped add to his collection but for the most part, Doepner has dug and dug some more to uncover some highly collectible items over the years.

First-game collectibles

He wrote the late Muriel Humphrey Brown and asked if she still had the baseball she threw out at the first Major League game ever played at the Metrodome in 1982. Doepner now has the ball. He has the official lineup card as prepared by the chief umpire, Bill Haller, at the Twinsí first game at the Metrodome.

Doepner says he has over 6,000 Twins items stored in his 1904 vintage, two-story home in St. Paul. Most of the items are stored in a large, upstairs attic. As one traverses up the stairwell, you immediately see a chair which came from the old Metropolitan Stadium. Traverse a little further and see some original promotional signs and pennants of the Twins which were used during their inaugural season of 1961.

Doepnerís attic full of treasures includes game-used items of former Twins greats Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett and Jim Kaat. Doepner owns a game-used Killebrew jacket from the Twinsí first World Series year of 1965. He also has bats, batting helmets, hitting gloves, socks, shoes, pants and hats worn by former Twins.

Jersey after jersey of former Twins players including several Twins jerseys worn by Hall of Famer Paul Molitor grace the nooks and crannies of Doepnerís attic.

Doepner also has a large collection of baseball documents once owned by the Griffith family. Clyde explains that when the Twins moved from Met Stadium to the Metrodome, owner Calvin Griffith ordered many old documents to be thrown away. Clyde retrieved some boxes of old Twins records which uncovered Presidential signatures going back to Calvin Coolidge.

These Presidential signatures were on letters to Clark Griffith in regard to throwing out the first pitch at Washington Senators baseball games. He found one letter from former President Harry Truman to Griffith, cautioning Griffith on his decision to let Vice President Richard Nixon throw out a first ball in the early 1950s. ìDonít let him throw you a curve,î Truman joked in his letter.

Anything Twins

While visiting with Cal in his Twins office, Clyde said Cal asked him what types of things he likes to collect. ìAnything Twins,î Clyde explained, ìlike that photo (aerial photo of crowd at 1965 All Star game in Bloomington) on your wall.î Calís quick retort was: ìTake the damn thing down and get it out of here.î

Clyde says he always appreciated what the Griffith family did for baseball. He said that being a former high school baseball coach in North St. Paul, he was fortunate enough years ago to glean a season pass from Griffith and the Twins. ìCal was good that way and would give coaches passes, this was a great gesture,î Clyde said.

Of all the items he has collected, he says his most favorite is possibly the blue base Twins bobbiní head doll his father bought for him in 1961.

What was his toughest item to obtain? His answer is quick and quaint: ìItís the item I donít have yet.î He also admits to being quite creative in obtaining some tough items. ìI try to think what is going to be collectible and try to get there before the dealer does,î Clyde says.

He wrote Twins batboys from 1961-80 and actually got together with five of them and through these contacts, picked up a champagne bottle tapped by Twins players during the 1965 World Series. He also picked up some playersí game pants.

Wants the complete story

Being a history teacher, Clyde always likes to tell the complete story of a particular item and often, would take his other collectibles to his school classroom. He owns autographs of all United States presidents and said kids were ìreally impressedî when he would bring in a signature of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln., saying he was the original ìAntiques Road Show.î

Clyde developed a love for baseball at a very young age. ìWe also would always have a pickup game after supper,î he recalls. His father often took him to Saint Paul Saints games at the old Lexington Park. ìIt was magic; when you went to a game, you got a Coke and you treasured the cup it came in.î

First real exposure for Clyde to Major League Baseball came when he was in ninth grade and living in Watertown, WI. He said he would hitchike about 35 miles into Milwaukee and watch the Milwaukee Braves play during the hay days (1957-58-59) of the great Braves teams featuring Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Lou Burdette. During those times, Clyde said he became a friend of Spahn. ìSpahn would take me into the clubhouse and make me a sandwich,î

While in school, Clyde wanted to play and live baseball all the time. ìI went to Winona State on a baseball scholarship, but blew out my arm in my sophomore year and my career was over.î

While in college, he got into coaching at Pine Island. He taught there for four years. His next stop was Tartan where he taught from 1970-2000.

First Twins game

Clydeís father took him to his first Twins game in 1961 when he was a junior in high school. He still has the program and the bobble head his father bought him at that game.

His serious collecting began in 1981. He had a huge Vikings collection in the beginning. He recalls reading an article on a guy they said was the biggest Twins collector. Looking at the picture accompanying the article, Clyde said he had every Twins item in the picture. He and a friend, the late Joe Meyerl, did a lot of antiquing and flea marketing together. His collection also grew with his involvement in the Twin Cities Sports Collectors Club (TCSC). The club is still in existence.

Clyde is most proud of his Twins collection but equally proud of some of his other holdings. He owns three Babe Ruth signed baseballs, as they were three of 100 that Ruth tossed out at an event on June 16, 1926 in St. Paul. Clyde then picked up a copy of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that chronicled Ruthís visit.

Clyde said he picked up two of the Ruth baseballs at a garage sale only four blocks from where he lives. He said the woman who owned the balls said she did not believe the signatures were real. They are, Clyde says. He paid $20 apiece for them.

Clyde looks at himself as an historian, a kind of Twins historian. ìYouíve got to have a passion for this, itís only money out. I donít sell anything. Iíve gotten lots of things from players because I have developed a trust with them. What I get from many of them are gifts and you donít sell gifts.î

Clyde owns current Twins Joe Mauerís first Twins jersey. It was No. 71. Mauer wears No. 7 but when he was drafted, he was the first pick of the baseball draft which is what the #1 signifies and he chose to wear No. 7.

Some day Clyde hopes to see his dream realized, a dream of having his Twins collectibles on display in a Minnesota Twins baseball museum. ìEverybody will get to see it then,î he says.

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