Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Monday, January 27, 2014 First TwinsFest at Target Field a success. MLB.com (Bollinger) pg. 1 Joe Mauer excited to reinvent himself at first base. Fox Sports North (Mason) pg. 2 Twins to utilize metal detectors at Target Field in 2014. Fox Sports North (Mason) pg. 4 How will fans react when Chuck Knoblauch joins Twins’ Hall? 1500 ESPN.com (Zulgad) pg. 5 Twins prospect Byron Buxton a natural as a father, too. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 6 TwinsFest attendance drops, but fan feedback is positive. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 7 Minnesota Twins’ Chris Parmelee expects to be ready. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 8 Minnesota Twins: Rehabbing Johan Santana still on free-agent radar. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 9 Minnesota Twins: Arcia no-show at TwinsFest approved. Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 9 Minnesota Twins: Darin Mastroianni sports new look, but for how long? Pioneer Press (Berardino) pg. 10 TwinsFest works on smaller scale. Star Tribune (Miller) pg. 10 First TwinsFest at Target Field a success Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com – 1/26/14 MINNEAPOLIS -- The first TwinsFest held at Target Field came to a close on Sunday, and Twins president Dave St. Peter said he was pleased with the three-day event, which was created in 1989 and used to be held at the Metrodome. St. Peter estimated that 13,000 fans showed up at Target Field for TwinsFest, which also raised roughly $200,000 for the Twins Community Fund. More than 75 current, former and future Twins players were in attendance over the three days. "I think the feedback we've gotten has been very positive," St. Peter said. "I think the thing we maybe underestimated was how much our fans would enjoy accessing the different clubs within in the ballpark -- whether it be the Champions Club, the Legends Club, the clubhouse or the Metropolitan Club. These are areas some fans have never been able to be in, so that's been a positive -- and so has the increased player interactives. So I think it's been reinvented." St. Peter added that he expects the event will return to Target Field next year, based on the feedback he received from the fans, players and staff members. But the Twins will still meet to determine if Target Field is the best option to hold TwinsFest moving forward, now that the Metrodome is in the process of being torn down. The drawback is the size of the venue, as the Twins had to cap ticket sales because they didn't want the ballpark to be too congested -- especially in the hallways of the service level, where the collectors held their trade show and Twins players were brought from the visiting clubhouse to the various signings, photo opportunities and fan interactives on the club and suite levels. "In a big day at the Metrodome, we could have 13,000 fans in one day. But that wouldn't be conducive to a good experience here, so I think that's the biggest drawback," St. Peter said. "I think we're going to be at about 13,000 in the door, which was a little bit down from what we thought we might have -- but I don't think the weather helped. But I think, all in all, it's been a positive. This is an event you can sell too many tickets for, because it can lead to congestion -- which isn't conducive to a good experience." ~ 1 ~ The Twins used the ballpark to their advantage, however, as they opened up areas such as the clubhouse and even the team archives to fans as part of a "White Glove" tour hosted by team curator Clyde Doepner. St. Peter said the tour was so popular the club is considering offering it during the regular season, as well. The club also added more than 100 player interactive opportunities throughout the three-day event. Activities with players included Pop-A-Shot, baseball-themed Basebowling, Down on the Farm Bean Bag Toss, Home Run Derby on Playstation's "MLB 13: The Show" video game, T-Mobile Call-A-Friend, Reading With TC, interactive bingo, Twins Fan Feud and player question-and-answer sessions. "I think the player interactives were really cool, and [they are] something we'd never done at TwinsFest," St. Peter said. "So from things like playing [Fan] Feud to Joe Mauer playing bowling games with kids, those were really positive additions to the event." But, perhaps, the biggest draw was the opportunity for fans to meet the club's top prospects. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Alex Meyer drew some of the longest autograph lines of the weekend. "The biggest hit with the fans was Sano, Buxton, Meyer and those guys," St. Peter said. "I think that's the story of TwinsFest, which in some ways has always been a story for TwinsFest. I remember the first time Torii Hunter came to TwinsFest, and the same with Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer." Buxton, ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect by MLB.com, said he enjoyed the attention from the fans, who are excited for the next crop of top Twins prospects to reach the Majors. "I had some fun talking to the fans," said Buxton, who drew lines of more than 500 people for autographs. "They're really excited -- and I am, too. I'm going to keep working hard to be able to get up here." Joe Mauer excited to reinvent himself at first base Tyler Mason / Fox Sports North – 1/26/14 MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins drafted Justin Morneau as a catcher back in 1999. After less than a season as a minor league backstop, Morneau made the position change to a full-time first baseman. For the 2014 season, Morneau's good friend Joe Mauer will be making that same change -- albeit for very a different reason. In Morneau's case, the move from behind the plate had more to do with his defense at catcher. Oh, and there was the fact that Mauer was drafted No. 1 overall out of high school in 2001. "It's funny, I always give him a hard time, saying that I got drafted because he was a catcher," Mauer said this weekend at TwinsFest. "He didn't like to hear that. My first instructional league, they were kind of trying out different positions, so I actually saw Morneau in right field, too. That was a treat. He found a good place over at first base." Mauer also hopes he finds a home at first base after a concussion this past August forced the change. The Twins' All-Star catcher and face of the franchise took a foul ball of the mask in a game against the New York Mets. The result was a concussion that sidelined him for the rest of the 2013 season. ~ 2 ~ Knowing just how valuable Mauer is to the franchise, the front office and Mauer made the decision to get him out from behind the plate to a position that wouldn't beat up his body on a daily basis. He had played a handful of games at first base over the last two season as a fill-in for Morneau, and he picked up the new position with relative ease. Yet Mauer had been a catcher nearly his entire baseball career, dating back to his days as a three-sport athlete at Cretin-Derham Hall in nearby St. Paul. As much as Mauer loved catching, the new father of twin girls saw the bigger picture and knew the change was the right thing. Morneau also offered encouragement as a fellow catcher-turned-first baseman. "Actually, when I was kind of going through these doctors, he was real supportive," Mauer said. "He actually told me, "Joe, you need to move. It's just not worth it.' That's coming from a guy who experienced a lot of the things that I was going through. He was very supportive in that. He's thinking about me as a friend, not just as a teammate." The hope now is that Mauer's bat -- which has hit its way to three batting titles, an MVP award and six All-Star Games -- will now be in the lineup on a more regular basis. Mauer's career high for games played was 147 in 2012. Minnesota's front office believes a healthy Mauer at first base should be in the lineup at least 150 times, if not more. For a team that has lost 90-plus games in each of the last three seasons, more Mauer can only help this offense. "This guy is an All-Star and one of the best catchers in the game but health-wise we need him on the field. We've said that all along," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. "I think I'm going to be able to write him in the lineup an awful lot this year, which we have to have. It's not saying that you can't get hurt at first base -- there's a lot that can happen over there -- but those foul tips and shots off your body, that's definitely something that's kind of hindered him a little bit and he's still hitting .330." Mauer said he had plenty of discussions with his family -- especially his wife, Maddie -- about the move. Their twin girls, Emily and Maren, are now six months old, and Mauer has fully embraced fatherhood. There were nights, though, that he couldn't be near his baby girls because of his concussion.