Twins memorabilia collector Clyde Doepner does it for love of the game

Seconds after Jason Kubel sailed Target Field's first major-league home run 388 feet over the right field wall, 39,000 attendees watched the ball land in the glove of 13-year-old A.J. Nitzschke.

But none of them wanted that ball more than Clyde Doepner.

Doepner set out to drive a hard bargain with the stunned seventh-grader from Iowa. The deal between the two would prove that they had a lot more in common than a coveted baseball.

Despite urging from other fans to keep the prized ball, A.J. gave it up to Doepner, the Minnesota Twins' first-ever curator, who collects and displays memorabilia of the utmost importance to the franchise -- past, present and future.

In return, A.J. walked away with a signed Joe Mauer MVP jersey and 20 minutes with the catcher after the game. Most important, though, he realized that he helped keep that moment alive for other fans.

"We're big enough sports buffs that he understood the magnitude of when he caught that ball," said his mother, Holly Nitzschke. "He made a very mature decision and the experience will be something he'll never forget."

Before Clyde the Curator, there was Clyde the Collector. It started with the Twins' first game as a franchise at Met Stadium in 1961. A teenage Doepner walked out of his first major-league game with a new appreciation for the sport and, of course, a few Twins collectibles: a popcorn holder in the shape of a megaphone, a bobblehead and a program.

And, yes, he still has them.

A teenage hobby grew into an obsession that eventually transformed Doepner's St. Paul Victorian attic into a Twins museum and quite possibly the largest personal Twins collection in existence.

"Over the years I just kept adding and adding, and one day I had over 7,000 items," he said. "I think my wife -- though she's not certified in this -- said it best: I have a defective gene."

Defective gene or not, the Twins are happy to have Doepner, 65, on their side. During his collecting days, he earned the trust and respect of Twins officials for his passion to keep the history of the game alive.

"I could argue he's been the unofficial curator for a long, long time," said Twins President Dave St. Peter. "He's the most curious man I've ever met ... always looking for that little morsel, that diamond in the rough, so to speak, in terms of history."

Two become one

Several years ago, Doepner and St. Peter agreed over a handshake that if the Twins ever got a new stadium, the two would work together to preserve and showcase the history of the team in a meaningful and more permanent way than the Metrodome allowed.

"Our history was probably subdued at the Metrodome," said St. Peter. "It just wasn't conducive to telling stories of what this franchise has really meant to so many fans."

About 18 months ago, Doepner and the team began merging their collections. Neither party will differentiate between "Clyde's collection" and the "Twins collection." It's officially become "our collection."

But without Doepner, the story of the Twins wouldn't be neatly displayed in glass cases at nearly every turn in Target Field.

'It's not about money'

Doepner won't talk about the worth of his collection. He's never sold an item and vows he never will. The former high school history teacher collects a paycheck from the Twins, but insists quietly he'd do the work for nothing. He even continues to run the driver's education program for the School District 622 in North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale.

"It isn't about money, it isn't about me," he said. "It's about collecting the game for the fans to see and enjoy long after I'm gone."

Fans like A.J. Nitzschke. The teenager and others like him are the reason a passion for baseball lives inside Doepner and now is displayed for all to see. It's their testimonials -- the multigenerational conversations as a grandfather admires Harmon Killebrew's actual Hall of Fame speech, a father takes note of a pair of Kirby Puckett's game-worn cleats and a son checks out Joe Mauer's No. 71 rookie jersey -- that continue to fuel his love for the game.

"I have died and gone to heaven," said Doepner, who has three sons and two grandsons. "It brings generations together. It brings families together. That's why I'm here."

Up next to be displayed is a commemoration of Target Field's opening day -- April 12. Those cases will include everything from the first pitched ball to the home run ball that A.J. snagged with his broken-in mitt.

After doing some quick interviews, A.J., of Lawton, Iowa, was escorted to the Twins office to meet with Doepner and seal the deal to give up his first major league catch.

Any true fan would have given up the ball, he said. "I wanted the Twins to have it. It'll be at Target Field forever."

Aimée Blanchette • 612-673-1715