I'll gladly send it back.
Fan Fests
- Thread starter Tony Kozelichki
- Start date
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Sorry in advance for the lengthy post, but here is my review of the Cardinals Caravan and Winter Warm Up from this past weekend.
I am very behind in posting my review this year. Seems every night this week there has been a basketball game or practice to take the kids to. Tuesday was also my daughter’s birthday. At any rate, here goes.
Friday my wife and I took our 2 children to the Cardinals Caravan in Champaign. Admission was free, and autographs were advertised as only being for the first 400 children 15 and under. I have been to the caravan in Champaign 3 other years and know they will sign for the children first, then for anyone else as time allows. For some reason this caravan almost always is on a Friday at noon, so the number of kids is not too large because of school being in session. This year 164 kids received auto tickets. The schedule was the same as year’s past: introduction of the players, a short question and answer session, then the autograph session. This year’s players included alumni Andy Benes and Tom Lawless, minor leaguers Michael Ohlman and Luke Weaver, and current players Mitch Harris and Carlos Martinez. There were 6 different Caravans this year, some having more star power than others. The Memphis stop had Michael Wacha and Stephen Piscotty. I was content with the Champaign stop because Weaver is a 2014 #1 draft pick, and Martinez was an All Star last year. My 2 kids went through the auto line first. My daughter had the players sign our family bat. 5 years ago I had a Louisville Slugger made that we take to all free signings. I believe there are 44 signatures on it. My son had all the players sign cards except for Ohlman. I did not have a card of him so he signed a Fleer sticker card. He joked that we needed to get a card of him. After all children went through the line, there were 30 minutes left for anyone else to get autos. I had Martinez sign a 2015 All Star ball that he inscribed 1st All Star game. He also signed a Cardinals mini helmet for my son. His English is getting better, but he still used an interpreter. I was pleasantly surprised he inscribed the All Star ball perfect. If I had waited to get these autos at Winter Warm Up, Martinez would have been $35 each and Harris $5 each. My son also had his picture taken with Weaver. I knew he was signing at the WWU for free on Sunday, so my plan was to print the picture and have it signed. More on that later. Not a bad savings of $150, plus the kids enjoyed not going to school. They only had a half day on Friday anyway. Not sure if this makes me a good dad or bad dad for taking them out of class.
Winter Warm Up (WWU)Day 1
This year was the first time in 4 years the entire family did not go to WWU. My daughter had a dance competition on Saturday afternoon, so it was just my 7 year old son and I. I was unsure we would even go to WWU, but Jaime Garcia was a late signing addition so I decided to go. I did not buy passes before hand because I had hoped to find them cheaper than the going rate $40 for adults and $10 for kids 5-15. No such luck, so I arrived at will call about 8:30 to buy passes and pick up the autograph tickets I purchased online. Auto tickets were sold online on January 5th. Most of the big names like Molina, Wainwright, and Holiday sold out in 1 day. Paid signers sign for 2 hours with 400 tickets being sold. Tickets for free guests were handed out 1 hour before their signing time if the signed before 12:00, and 2 hours before their signing time if they signed from 12-5:00.
Jaime Garcia signed from 9-11. I bought 2 tickets for $20 each. I had him sign a 2011 World Series bat that I am trying to get the entire roster to sign. He was the 13th signature on it. He also signed a Jason Motte Foundation poster that features Cardinal players wearing the backwards K cancer shirts. He was the 9th different player to sign it.
After we finished with Jaime Garica, we noticed there were still tickets available for Greg Garcia. My son has a thing for him. A couple of years ago we attended 2 minor league games in Nashville. Garcia stopped before each game and talked to my son and signed an autograph. During the first game he caught the last out of an inning and gave the ball to my son. His auto was $5 and I bought an 8x10 for $5 more. My son was thrilled Garcia inscribed the picture to him.
We had some time to kill before our next autograph time, so we went to the kid’s game room. The games included football toss, baseball toss, basketball shooting, and baseball on the Wi. There was also inflatables set up. Games were free to play, and they gave away past promotional items. My son came away with 2 draw string bags, a Fredbird bobblehead, and a Cardinals American Girl shirt. He was most excited about the shirt because he could give it to his sister for her birthday. I think we spent about an hour in the game room before we went back for our next auto.
Yadier Molina signed from 11-1. His auto was a bit pricey at $125, but he never does public signings and his private signings are close to that price. One of the workers told me his auto sold out in less than 5 minutes. Most players will also sign anything like a jersey or helmet for the asking price. If you go to shows, there is usually a premium price for such items. I bought a 2006 World Series ball for $20 that I had Molina sign under the logo. I was a little surprised he was somewhat talkative. He thanked us for coming and wished my son well. This is the 3rd year in a row Molina has been to WWU. I guess in past years he has cancelled his appearance with little or no notice. I was offered $175 for my ticket, but passed on the offer.
After the Molina signing, we checked out the Cardinals Care store. I was not expecting to find much here because you need to be one of the first 10 people in to get something good. The Drury hotel where WWU is held sells room packages that includes a priority line pass. These usually sell out before Thanksgiving. I saw a few people walking out with carts full of jerseys, bats, and helmets. Game used jerseys were $100-150, not sure on the bats or helmets. There were plenty of Jason Heyward items for sale including autograph photos for $15 and jerseys for $75. Most of those sold out in the first hour. The was also a section for clothing from past years at a good discount. I bought a $12 cap for myself and a $8 cap for my son.
Kerry Robinson was signing free autos from 1-2. His free autograph ticket was not in demand because he signs for free almost every year and also signs on one of the caravans. I got a ticket at 1:15 and was #98 out of 200. I had Robinson sign a 2001 Fleer Tradition card. Dean Kiekhefer was scheduled to sign free autos from 3-5, so tickets were passed out starting at 1. I got ticket number #340 at 2:00. He is a left handed reliever who should make his MLB debut sometime this year. I had him sign a Springfield Cardinals minor league card.
We checked out the vendor area in between our wait times throughout the afternoon. The card selection was very poor. There were 2 or 3 dealers selling wax packs/boxes. There were another 4 or 5 selling singles, but most were grossly overpriced. I know you pay a premium for local teams, but $1 for a base Topps card of Pete Kozma is beyond insane. I usually just check the singles for the rare Ray Lankford I might need. No luck there, or in finding any Lankford items for sale anywhere. Many dealers a had pictures, memorabilia, and stadium give aways for sale. I bought $5 photos of Greg Garcia, Michael Wacha, and Jacob Wilson. I also bought a $12 Carlos Martinez oyo figure for my son. He did very well waiting in line and being patient. We also played Cardinals trivia before we left. My son won a Fredbird bobble belly figure. We left about 3:30.
WWU Day 2
Sunday morning offered a challenge. Luke Weaver was signing for free at 10:00, meaning his tickets would be handed out as soon as the doors opened at 9. It was 8 degrees outside and a light snow was falling. My son and I arrived at the Drury at 8:15 to find a line had already formed outside the hotel. I knew that our chances would be slimmed, but we waited outside anyway. We made our way inside at 9 only to find the Weaver tickets were gone within 5 minutes. Free tickets were strictly 1 per person. I am guessing most people with priority passes snagged them. I did see a few unhappy people complaining to the volunteer workers about the free ticket distribution. Some people had multiple tickets, but they either had more than 1 person in line or bought them. I hate the sense of entitlement some people think they have.
Jason Simontacchi was signing free autos at 9. He is a frequent signer so he had little demand for a ticket. We grabbed one and had him sign a 2013 Peoria Chiefs card. By now it was 9:15. Jacob Wilson was signing free autos from 12-1, so tickets were handed out at 10:00. We waited in line for 45 minutes, but did get tickets #47 and 48. Before Wilson signed, we had ticket #34 for Adam Wainwright. He signed from 10-12. We got through his line very quick. It cost me $100 for him to sign a 2006 World Series ball. Wainwright is great guy. He asked my son his name and who his favorite player was. My son likes players who share his name, so he said Alex Reyes. Reyes is the Cardinals #1 prospect who should make his debut in September. Wainwright got a laugh and noted he must be getting old because none of the young kids like him.
We headed back to the game room for an hour and half while we waited for Wilson to sign. This time my son won a Cardinals super heroes tshirt, a Wainwright replica jersey, another drawstring bag, and a Cardinals Build a Bear teddy bear. From there we went back to the Wilson auto line. He signed a 2014 Springfield Cardinals card and a Springfield Cardinals 8x10 that I bought the day before.
Beside Wilson, there were 2 other minor leagurers who were signing free autographs. Patrick Wisdom was signing from 3-4, and Carson Kelly was signing from 4-5. Both only had 200 tickets that would be handed out 2 hours prior to their time. We finished with Wilson at 12:15, so we went to get in the Wisdom line. I would bet there were over 250 people in line. Seeing this I did not bother and also decided to skip the Kelly signing. I already had their signatures from attending minor league games the past 2 seasons. Wisdom is a signing machine that we may see again this summer.
I now had a lot of time to kill because we had one more paid signing starting at 3, but we had ticket #368 so it would be awhile before we could get in line. My son was also getting a little stir crazy at this point, so I decided to attend a presentation by the Cardinals minor league director. I have attended this the past 3 years and enjoyed the information about how the club evaluates players. Since we attend quite a few minor league games it was very easy to relate to a lot of the topics. My son was able to get a quick cat nap during the hour presentation. After the talk, we spent a little more time in the game room and watch a demonstration by the St. Louis Science Museum.
Sam Tuivailala was our last auto. He took a picture with my two children a last year in Memphis before a Triple A game. I had him personalize it to both of them. He was also very talkative and polite. I think my son was more thrilled that seeing Sam meant we were done for the weekend. It was a long day at the WWU, 8:15-4:30.
Overall the weekend was about what I expected it to be. The attendance on Saturday seemed down, Sunday about average. It was announced that 18,000 people attended during the 3 days which also included Monday. This was down some from previous years. I think the lack of a playoff run and the lack of different signers hurt. I cannot complain about the free signers. If someone is willing to wait in line for over an hour for a player who may not get to the majors, more power to them. I will be content with who I get for free and know I am fortunate to get the paid signers I want before they sell out.
I am very behind in posting my review this year. Seems every night this week there has been a basketball game or practice to take the kids to. Tuesday was also my daughter’s birthday. At any rate, here goes.
Friday my wife and I took our 2 children to the Cardinals Caravan in Champaign. Admission was free, and autographs were advertised as only being for the first 400 children 15 and under. I have been to the caravan in Champaign 3 other years and know they will sign for the children first, then for anyone else as time allows. For some reason this caravan almost always is on a Friday at noon, so the number of kids is not too large because of school being in session. This year 164 kids received auto tickets. The schedule was the same as year’s past: introduction of the players, a short question and answer session, then the autograph session. This year’s players included alumni Andy Benes and Tom Lawless, minor leaguers Michael Ohlman and Luke Weaver, and current players Mitch Harris and Carlos Martinez. There were 6 different Caravans this year, some having more star power than others. The Memphis stop had Michael Wacha and Stephen Piscotty. I was content with the Champaign stop because Weaver is a 2014 #1 draft pick, and Martinez was an All Star last year. My 2 kids went through the auto line first. My daughter had the players sign our family bat. 5 years ago I had a Louisville Slugger made that we take to all free signings. I believe there are 44 signatures on it. My son had all the players sign cards except for Ohlman. I did not have a card of him so he signed a Fleer sticker card. He joked that we needed to get a card of him. After all children went through the line, there were 30 minutes left for anyone else to get autos. I had Martinez sign a 2015 All Star ball that he inscribed 1st All Star game. He also signed a Cardinals mini helmet for my son. His English is getting better, but he still used an interpreter. I was pleasantly surprised he inscribed the All Star ball perfect. If I had waited to get these autos at Winter Warm Up, Martinez would have been $35 each and Harris $5 each. My son also had his picture taken with Weaver. I knew he was signing at the WWU for free on Sunday, so my plan was to print the picture and have it signed. More on that later. Not a bad savings of $150, plus the kids enjoyed not going to school. They only had a half day on Friday anyway. Not sure if this makes me a good dad or bad dad for taking them out of class.
Winter Warm Up (WWU)Day 1
This year was the first time in 4 years the entire family did not go to WWU. My daughter had a dance competition on Saturday afternoon, so it was just my 7 year old son and I. I was unsure we would even go to WWU, but Jaime Garcia was a late signing addition so I decided to go. I did not buy passes before hand because I had hoped to find them cheaper than the going rate $40 for adults and $10 for kids 5-15. No such luck, so I arrived at will call about 8:30 to buy passes and pick up the autograph tickets I purchased online. Auto tickets were sold online on January 5th. Most of the big names like Molina, Wainwright, and Holiday sold out in 1 day. Paid signers sign for 2 hours with 400 tickets being sold. Tickets for free guests were handed out 1 hour before their signing time if the signed before 12:00, and 2 hours before their signing time if they signed from 12-5:00.
Jaime Garcia signed from 9-11. I bought 2 tickets for $20 each. I had him sign a 2011 World Series bat that I am trying to get the entire roster to sign. He was the 13th signature on it. He also signed a Jason Motte Foundation poster that features Cardinal players wearing the backwards K cancer shirts. He was the 9th different player to sign it.
After we finished with Jaime Garica, we noticed there were still tickets available for Greg Garcia. My son has a thing for him. A couple of years ago we attended 2 minor league games in Nashville. Garcia stopped before each game and talked to my son and signed an autograph. During the first game he caught the last out of an inning and gave the ball to my son. His auto was $5 and I bought an 8x10 for $5 more. My son was thrilled Garcia inscribed the picture to him.
We had some time to kill before our next autograph time, so we went to the kid’s game room. The games included football toss, baseball toss, basketball shooting, and baseball on the Wi. There was also inflatables set up. Games were free to play, and they gave away past promotional items. My son came away with 2 draw string bags, a Fredbird bobblehead, and a Cardinals American Girl shirt. He was most excited about the shirt because he could give it to his sister for her birthday. I think we spent about an hour in the game room before we went back for our next auto.
Yadier Molina signed from 11-1. His auto was a bit pricey at $125, but he never does public signings and his private signings are close to that price. One of the workers told me his auto sold out in less than 5 minutes. Most players will also sign anything like a jersey or helmet for the asking price. If you go to shows, there is usually a premium price for such items. I bought a 2006 World Series ball for $20 that I had Molina sign under the logo. I was a little surprised he was somewhat talkative. He thanked us for coming and wished my son well. This is the 3rd year in a row Molina has been to WWU. I guess in past years he has cancelled his appearance with little or no notice. I was offered $175 for my ticket, but passed on the offer.
After the Molina signing, we checked out the Cardinals Care store. I was not expecting to find much here because you need to be one of the first 10 people in to get something good. The Drury hotel where WWU is held sells room packages that includes a priority line pass. These usually sell out before Thanksgiving. I saw a few people walking out with carts full of jerseys, bats, and helmets. Game used jerseys were $100-150, not sure on the bats or helmets. There were plenty of Jason Heyward items for sale including autograph photos for $15 and jerseys for $75. Most of those sold out in the first hour. The was also a section for clothing from past years at a good discount. I bought a $12 cap for myself and a $8 cap for my son.
Kerry Robinson was signing free autos from 1-2. His free autograph ticket was not in demand because he signs for free almost every year and also signs on one of the caravans. I got a ticket at 1:15 and was #98 out of 200. I had Robinson sign a 2001 Fleer Tradition card. Dean Kiekhefer was scheduled to sign free autos from 3-5, so tickets were passed out starting at 1. I got ticket number #340 at 2:00. He is a left handed reliever who should make his MLB debut sometime this year. I had him sign a Springfield Cardinals minor league card.
We checked out the vendor area in between our wait times throughout the afternoon. The card selection was very poor. There were 2 or 3 dealers selling wax packs/boxes. There were another 4 or 5 selling singles, but most were grossly overpriced. I know you pay a premium for local teams, but $1 for a base Topps card of Pete Kozma is beyond insane. I usually just check the singles for the rare Ray Lankford I might need. No luck there, or in finding any Lankford items for sale anywhere. Many dealers a had pictures, memorabilia, and stadium give aways for sale. I bought $5 photos of Greg Garcia, Michael Wacha, and Jacob Wilson. I also bought a $12 Carlos Martinez oyo figure for my son. He did very well waiting in line and being patient. We also played Cardinals trivia before we left. My son won a Fredbird bobble belly figure. We left about 3:30.
WWU Day 2
Sunday morning offered a challenge. Luke Weaver was signing for free at 10:00, meaning his tickets would be handed out as soon as the doors opened at 9. It was 8 degrees outside and a light snow was falling. My son and I arrived at the Drury at 8:15 to find a line had already formed outside the hotel. I knew that our chances would be slimmed, but we waited outside anyway. We made our way inside at 9 only to find the Weaver tickets were gone within 5 minutes. Free tickets were strictly 1 per person. I am guessing most people with priority passes snagged them. I did see a few unhappy people complaining to the volunteer workers about the free ticket distribution. Some people had multiple tickets, but they either had more than 1 person in line or bought them. I hate the sense of entitlement some people think they have.
Jason Simontacchi was signing free autos at 9. He is a frequent signer so he had little demand for a ticket. We grabbed one and had him sign a 2013 Peoria Chiefs card. By now it was 9:15. Jacob Wilson was signing free autos from 12-1, so tickets were handed out at 10:00. We waited in line for 45 minutes, but did get tickets #47 and 48. Before Wilson signed, we had ticket #34 for Adam Wainwright. He signed from 10-12. We got through his line very quick. It cost me $100 for him to sign a 2006 World Series ball. Wainwright is great guy. He asked my son his name and who his favorite player was. My son likes players who share his name, so he said Alex Reyes. Reyes is the Cardinals #1 prospect who should make his debut in September. Wainwright got a laugh and noted he must be getting old because none of the young kids like him.
We headed back to the game room for an hour and half while we waited for Wilson to sign. This time my son won a Cardinals super heroes tshirt, a Wainwright replica jersey, another drawstring bag, and a Cardinals Build a Bear teddy bear. From there we went back to the Wilson auto line. He signed a 2014 Springfield Cardinals card and a Springfield Cardinals 8x10 that I bought the day before.
Beside Wilson, there were 2 other minor leagurers who were signing free autographs. Patrick Wisdom was signing from 3-4, and Carson Kelly was signing from 4-5. Both only had 200 tickets that would be handed out 2 hours prior to their time. We finished with Wilson at 12:15, so we went to get in the Wisdom line. I would bet there were over 250 people in line. Seeing this I did not bother and also decided to skip the Kelly signing. I already had their signatures from attending minor league games the past 2 seasons. Wisdom is a signing machine that we may see again this summer.
I now had a lot of time to kill because we had one more paid signing starting at 3, but we had ticket #368 so it would be awhile before we could get in line. My son was also getting a little stir crazy at this point, so I decided to attend a presentation by the Cardinals minor league director. I have attended this the past 3 years and enjoyed the information about how the club evaluates players. Since we attend quite a few minor league games it was very easy to relate to a lot of the topics. My son was able to get a quick cat nap during the hour presentation. After the talk, we spent a little more time in the game room and watch a demonstration by the St. Louis Science Museum.
Sam Tuivailala was our last auto. He took a picture with my two children a last year in Memphis before a Triple A game. I had him personalize it to both of them. He was also very talkative and polite. I think my son was more thrilled that seeing Sam meant we were done for the weekend. It was a long day at the WWU, 8:15-4:30.
Overall the weekend was about what I expected it to be. The attendance on Saturday seemed down, Sunday about average. It was announced that 18,000 people attended during the 3 days which also included Monday. This was down some from previous years. I think the lack of a playoff run and the lack of different signers hurt. I cannot complain about the free signers. If someone is willing to wait in line for over an hour for a player who may not get to the majors, more power to them. I will be content with who I get for free and know I am fortunate to get the paid signers I want before they sell out.
thanks for the recap, it was a fun read!
mark
mark
TigerFest Jan. 23 2016 - the long winding road to nowhere
So my game plan was clear early on: don’t fix what isn’t broken AKA let’s do what I did last year. That apparently, was my big mistake…
The Early Entry lines, and all lines for that matter, were set up the same as last year thus you had really 3 lines to wait in – B in the D Shop, C/D in the Tigers Club, and E/F in the basement (E/F not open to the early grouping). C/D ended up being Verlander + Victor Martinez, so I just stuck with a ROMLB for each of them as I’ve gotten each of them before, last year actually.
Victor Martinez ROMLB – THIS IS AVAILABLE
Justin Verlander ROMLB (help)
The only downfall is due to Victor’s elaborate signature, I did not make it out of line before the regular admission folks got in – which you need to do to get a good spot for the next signing group and make the EE passes into the best value possible. I hopped back in my C/D line that treated me so well last year and waited an okay amount of time (little over an hour) while my help had managed to get out well before me and headed to the basement to wait for players to show up. The group signing was Brad Ausmus on one side and Montreal Robertson on the other side (YES, both by themselves)… but I had missed that grouping by 20 or so people, so I went for the other one. 4 people come out at the same time, one side had Matt Boyd and Jeff Ferrell and I can’t say the other side was a whole lot better. The basement had Shane Greene on one side and an okay guy on the other side.
Rod Allen TigerFest program
Cameron Maybin 2015 Topps card
Daniel Norris 2015 Topps U&H rookie card (help)
Come to find out, the basement was where the party was at (apparently people like Cabrera, Trammell ended up down there mid-afternoon). By this time lines were ridiculous, like twice as long as they were my last trip through… and beyond any point they were allowed to get to last year. I took a break to warm up and listed to the front office crew talk before venturing out one last time to C/D. I had also seen Craig Monroe walking around, which was not announced even those he works for the Tigers TV station during the year so it wasn’t a total shock. Also made a small stop at the foundation fire sale and picked up nothing significant as I’m sure it was pretty picked over by then. However I was not going to buy a replica Greenberg HOF plaque or Anibal Sanchez figurine for $10 when I got the Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander figurines last year for $5 each… and there was no David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, or
So anyways back to the last venture... I had heard that Montreal Robertson signed in that same room (at the other table) a couple hours after the grouping mentioned before and some more low level players (Alex Wilson, Dixon Machado, Andrew Romine, and a brief cameo by Jarrod Saltalamacchia if I remember people’s stories right). I was just hoping for some B level players at this point: James McCann, Nick Castellanos, or even Mike Pelfrey would’ve been fine by me. Got before the cut off of the grouping that I guess was Kyle Ryan on one side and Alex Wilson on the other… hoping for better than that, but fell short.
Andrew Romine 2014 Topps U&H (help)
Daniel Norris ROMLB w/ bible verse
By this time we were looking at 3:30 and knew to give up as there is no way that you were getting through a line if they were not already closed off. So two guys (Romine and Robertson) signed at the two different tables within the same room today - at least one of their sessions were by themselves to boot! The fact that somebody left the line after seeing Norris come in rather than waiting another 5-10 mins is a shock to me: I can think of much worse people to get multiple times in a day. I guess I was able to upgrade my Norris Blue Jays stuff, added two guys to the collection (Maybin and Romine), and got another Verlander item (can’t have too many of those) and another Victor than maybe I can turn into something I need down the road. Last year was the moon obviously, but this is a step or two away from rock bottom.
So my game plan was clear early on: don’t fix what isn’t broken AKA let’s do what I did last year. That apparently, was my big mistake…
The Early Entry lines, and all lines for that matter, were set up the same as last year thus you had really 3 lines to wait in – B in the D Shop, C/D in the Tigers Club, and E/F in the basement (E/F not open to the early grouping). C/D ended up being Verlander + Victor Martinez, so I just stuck with a ROMLB for each of them as I’ve gotten each of them before, last year actually.
Victor Martinez ROMLB – THIS IS AVAILABLE
Justin Verlander ROMLB (help)
The only downfall is due to Victor’s elaborate signature, I did not make it out of line before the regular admission folks got in – which you need to do to get a good spot for the next signing group and make the EE passes into the best value possible. I hopped back in my C/D line that treated me so well last year and waited an okay amount of time (little over an hour) while my help had managed to get out well before me and headed to the basement to wait for players to show up. The group signing was Brad Ausmus on one side and Montreal Robertson on the other side (YES, both by themselves)… but I had missed that grouping by 20 or so people, so I went for the other one. 4 people come out at the same time, one side had Matt Boyd and Jeff Ferrell and I can’t say the other side was a whole lot better. The basement had Shane Greene on one side and an okay guy on the other side.
Rod Allen TigerFest program
Cameron Maybin 2015 Topps card
Daniel Norris 2015 Topps U&H rookie card (help)
Come to find out, the basement was where the party was at (apparently people like Cabrera, Trammell ended up down there mid-afternoon). By this time lines were ridiculous, like twice as long as they were my last trip through… and beyond any point they were allowed to get to last year. I took a break to warm up and listed to the front office crew talk before venturing out one last time to C/D. I had also seen Craig Monroe walking around, which was not announced even those he works for the Tigers TV station during the year so it wasn’t a total shock. Also made a small stop at the foundation fire sale and picked up nothing significant as I’m sure it was pretty picked over by then. However I was not going to buy a replica Greenberg HOF plaque or Anibal Sanchez figurine for $10 when I got the Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander figurines last year for $5 each… and there was no David Price, Yoenis Cespedes, or
So anyways back to the last venture... I had heard that Montreal Robertson signed in that same room (at the other table) a couple hours after the grouping mentioned before and some more low level players (Alex Wilson, Dixon Machado, Andrew Romine, and a brief cameo by Jarrod Saltalamacchia if I remember people’s stories right). I was just hoping for some B level players at this point: James McCann, Nick Castellanos, or even Mike Pelfrey would’ve been fine by me. Got before the cut off of the grouping that I guess was Kyle Ryan on one side and Alex Wilson on the other… hoping for better than that, but fell short.
Andrew Romine 2014 Topps U&H (help)
Daniel Norris ROMLB w/ bible verse
By this time we were looking at 3:30 and knew to give up as there is no way that you were getting through a line if they were not already closed off. So two guys (Romine and Robertson) signed at the two different tables within the same room today - at least one of their sessions were by themselves to boot! The fact that somebody left the line after seeing Norris come in rather than waiting another 5-10 mins is a shock to me: I can think of much worse people to get multiple times in a day. I guess I was able to upgrade my Norris Blue Jays stuff, added two guys to the collection (Maybin and Romine), and got another Verlander item (can’t have too many of those) and another Victor than maybe I can turn into something I need down the road. Last year was the moon obviously, but this is a step or two away from rock bottom.
Went to the Oakland A's fanfest today. As expected not a large gathering, $10 to get in, parking & autographs are free but you don't know in advance who will be at the stations signing. Also during the event random players would stop at booths unannounced and sign for 20 minutes or so. As I walked in Ron Washington, John Axford and Yonder Alsonso greeted everyone and took pictures if you wanted(no autographs). This year seemed to run a lot smoother than other years, probably because players started signing at 10:15 not 11am like they normally do. I got the following on cards-
Josh Phegley x5
Max Muncy x2
Rich Hill x6
Liam Hedricks x7
Marc Rzepczynski x2
Fernando Rodriguez x5
Andrew Lambo x1
Billy Burns x2
Marcus Jensen x5
Chris Bassitt x2
Aaron Brooks x3
Yonder Alonso x2
Marcus Semien x2
Bob Melvin x2
Eric Sogard x1
Mark Kotsay x1
Jesse Hahn x4
also got several giveaways from doing free spins(13 rally towels, 2 Billy Butler Country Breakfast Bowls, 2 pink scarfs)
Guys who I could've got but had nothing for were Daniel Coulumbe, Sean Nolin and Ray Fosse(forgot my card!). Only guy who didn't look that thrilled to be there was Yonder Alonso. Strange they had it on a sunday this year when the football games were going on, I'm sure that hurt attendance a little. I actually wanted Bob Melvin the most for my SF Giants collection so that worked out nicely.
Josh Phegley x5
Max Muncy x2
Rich Hill x6
Liam Hedricks x7
Marc Rzepczynski x2
Fernando Rodriguez x5
Andrew Lambo x1
Billy Burns x2
Marcus Jensen x5
Chris Bassitt x2
Aaron Brooks x3
Yonder Alonso x2
Marcus Semien x2
Bob Melvin x2
Eric Sogard x1
Mark Kotsay x1
Jesse Hahn x4
also got several giveaways from doing free spins(13 rally towels, 2 Billy Butler Country Breakfast Bowls, 2 pink scarfs)
Guys who I could've got but had nothing for were Daniel Coulumbe, Sean Nolin and Ray Fosse(forgot my card!). Only guy who didn't look that thrilled to be there was Yonder Alonso. Strange they had it on a sunday this year when the football games were going on, I'm sure that hurt attendance a little. I actually wanted Bob Melvin the most for my SF Giants collection so that worked out nicely.
PlushTypeThing
Bench Warmer
That's too bad about Fosse.
Some of these fests are different from the Cubs Convention for sure.
Some of these fests are different from the Cubs Convention for sure.
Tribe Fest was today and was a success as usual. Different location than normal, usually its at Progressive Field but this year it was at the Alofts Hotel in downtown Cleveland. A little small on space which makes things very crowded for how many people attended. Autograph sessions were $25 a pop, you could risk not buying a ticket and trying to get in the overflow line if the players sign for everyone with tickets in their 1 hour time slot. Usually we buy 1 set (my fiance and I) and try to get in other lines throughout the day. Not as much luck with that this year.
First session we were able to get Colin Cowgill, Abraham Almonte, Giovanny Urshela and Michael Brantley. They all signed quickly so we got in the overflow line for the group with Francisco Lindor, we got lucky and got it. Along with Lindor we got Brian Shaw, TJ House and Carlos Santana so that was huge for us since we had to pay $25 per autograph session for each of us. We had tickets to the 2nd session just to make sure we got a decent haul for our trip up to Cleveland. In our second session we were able to get Corey Kluber, Lonnie Chisenhall, Cody Anderson and Trevor Bauer. We attempted to get in the overflow line to get the last group we needed but it was around the corner and basically out of the building. There were alumni players signing at the bar in the hotel but it was so packed we weren't able to really get anywhere. Instead of waiting over an hour for the 3rd and final session we decided just to head home happy with our loot.
Final tally:
Fiance's team ball: Colin Cowgill, Abraham Almonte, Giovanny Urshela, Michael Brantley, Francisco Lindor, Brian Shaw, TJ House, Carlos Santana, Corey Kluber, Lonnie Chisenhall, Cody Anderson and Trevor Bauer
My team ball: Colin Cowgill, Abraham Almonte, Brian Shaw, Carlos Santana, Lonnie Chisenhall and Trevor Bauer
Cards: Giovanny Urshela, TJ House and Cody Anderson
8x10's: Francisco Lindor & Michael Brantley
OMLB: Corey Kluber - Sweet Spot
For $125ish total for the 2 sets of autograph sessions and admission I can't complain. We got some of our bigger players and all the players were super friendly. TJ House was probably our favorite as he chatted with us as he was signing for us.
Eric
First session we were able to get Colin Cowgill, Abraham Almonte, Giovanny Urshela and Michael Brantley. They all signed quickly so we got in the overflow line for the group with Francisco Lindor, we got lucky and got it. Along with Lindor we got Brian Shaw, TJ House and Carlos Santana so that was huge for us since we had to pay $25 per autograph session for each of us. We had tickets to the 2nd session just to make sure we got a decent haul for our trip up to Cleveland. In our second session we were able to get Corey Kluber, Lonnie Chisenhall, Cody Anderson and Trevor Bauer. We attempted to get in the overflow line to get the last group we needed but it was around the corner and basically out of the building. There were alumni players signing at the bar in the hotel but it was so packed we weren't able to really get anywhere. Instead of waiting over an hour for the 3rd and final session we decided just to head home happy with our loot.
Final tally:
Fiance's team ball: Colin Cowgill, Abraham Almonte, Giovanny Urshela, Michael Brantley, Francisco Lindor, Brian Shaw, TJ House, Carlos Santana, Corey Kluber, Lonnie Chisenhall, Cody Anderson and Trevor Bauer
My team ball: Colin Cowgill, Abraham Almonte, Brian Shaw, Carlos Santana, Lonnie Chisenhall and Trevor Bauer
Cards: Giovanny Urshela, TJ House and Cody Anderson
8x10's: Francisco Lindor & Michael Brantley
OMLB: Corey Kluber - Sweet Spot
For $125ish total for the 2 sets of autograph sessions and admission I can't complain. We got some of our bigger players and all the players were super friendly. TJ House was probably our favorite as he chatted with us as he was signing for us.
Eric
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