REFLECTIONS

He has Joe Mauer’s first signing uniform (71), Kirby Puckett’s Hall of Fame plaque and shoes worn by Minnesota Twins notables over the years.

You name a Twins highlight, and Clyde Doepner will be right on top of it. He is employed by the team as a paid curator.

What is his job description? Collect all original stuff. In this respect, he collects things surrounding the Twins as they happen. Since the Twins have been on a roll with some fine, young talent, Clyde has been able to collect lots of items that relate to the team’s recent successes.

Clyde is a former teaching staff member of a school in North St. Paul. He has been collecting for some time.

He really got turned on to it when former Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith invited him into his office in the old Metropolitan Stadium, located in Bloomington.

Griffith was tossing out valuable baseball items, Doepner said.

“Why would anyone want this junk?” Griffith said.

With an early interest in baseball, Clyde scooped up some of the Twins items that Griffith was about to throw out. Among the items were letters from presidents (Hoover, Coolidge, FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower).

In the pile was Harmon Killebrew’s first contract. As you can imagine, these collectibles were one of a kind, and Clyde has them.

If there is a particularly important catch or hit, Clyde is there to get the ball or glove. He then places a Hologram on the item to record the important details.

Clyde explains that his job is to determine who does what. He recently followed Royce Lewis’ Grand Slam Home Run Tour. He asked for these items from Lewis: batting gloves, ball, batting helmet, and bat.

Clyde collects for the Twins at home and away. Often, he has to barter with a fan to get a certain item back, like a baseball. The fan is often given a signed bat or signed jersey.

Doepner does his own work when the Twins are at home. He does not go on the road, but he has his scouts out there like Dustin Morris and Mitch Hestad.

“A group of us team together,” he said.

Doepner first documents a Twins baseball player as he plays his first Twins Major League game, by getting him to sign a hat. He said he has hats dating back to 2010 in his collection.

Clyde was on the Jim Thome watch (Thome as a Twin), meaning he was going to get pertinent items that were associated with Thome’s 600th home run.

“The hit was not registered as a home run until Thome touched home plate,” Clyde explained. “When Thome touched home, I quickly had the grounds crew remove home plate and replace it with another one.”

Clyde also retrieved the pitching rubber from Jack Morris’ historic victory in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

Doepner is responsible for most of the action displays found throughout Target Field. You might say that Doepner has created a museum within a museum. He acknowledges that he would like to create a Twins museum some day in one building or room. Other Major League teams, like the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, have done this.

A master of ballpark tours, Doepner would gladly grant one to those who ask.

His phone message is clear: “I will return your call ASAP; I’m out doing what curators do.”