2007 Cardinals Winter Warm Up Discussion

[STLFan2003]

I'd be curious what everyone thought of this year's warmup and what they bought or got signed.

I got a Dave Duncan 2006 Spring Training St. Patrick's Day Green game used autographed jersey from the silent auction and a Woody Williams game used hat

[RedBirdRuss]

It's my first post!
I was able to acquire the Pujols Game Used Sam Bat at the live auction on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Sunday or Monday.
This was my 3rd year at the Warm-up and this one was incredibly crowded. I wonder how the Vendors did?

[mlrtme17]

How much did the Pujols bat go for? (if you don't mind me asking)

[stlbats]

The Pujols game used Sam bat went for $2800, it was broken in 2 pieces taped together. I think it was a clean break though.


Jason

[wahboom22]

i picked up a hammered Marquis game used Sam bat for $110 from the silent auction. and i picked up a nice cracked Taguchi for $25!!!


luck enough to get my Scott Rolen gamer (from Birdbats) signed and Rolen was great and added "game used 06" to the auto!

Eckstein was too nice and ended up signing til after 6 (4 hours longer then scheduled), and to be honest i blame the staff for letting a family of 7 all pile into the line and take 5 pictures with one autograph ticket. i had ticket #19 and it took me almost 2 hours to get my auto, they let #1-100 into the line together and it was a total nightmare! great auto with "ws mvp" on an authentic world series jersey.

Pujols quit signing to catch his flight to the D.R.:confused: (not like he was flying on Southwest, and when you have a charter flight you can leave whenever you want? great excuse when you dont want to sign, last year he had to leave for an event that he didnt even attend) he left a few hunderd people without autos. big suprise to anyone who collects and know his track record on signings, but he did sign some really nice autos for the lucky ones who got him!

Juan Encarnacion ruined my game used m9 with a terrible auto that ran into the nameplate on the bat, thanks Juan:( !

the free auto lines were all huge, but i did get a nice Mike Shannon with 64-67 WS, a nice Ray Washburn with his no-hitter insc., Ken Reitz with the "Zamboni" insc.

picked up a nice Wainwright auto with "ws champs and last out" on an authentic world series jersey.

i love the WarmUp, i think its a great event and the money goes to a wonderful cause, but in my mind it has outgrown the venue. mixing that many people for autos with the live stage and everything else going on just doesnt work. i think that with the weather and crowds the event was good overall, but i would like to see the event moved to a venue that can handle the large number of guest for autos so the lines and signings can run smoother for all the collectors.

[mlrtme17]

The crowds were a nightmare. It is damn near impossible to run anything like that with the amount of people in such a small venue. They need to maybe move it to the Americas Center.

I was lucky enough to get a Pujols auto. It looks great. I left after I got it and I didn't know that he left during the middle of his signing. No surprise to me though.

The silent auction isn't what it used to be. The first couple of years at the Warm Up they had a tone of game used bats from everyone. Now they only have a few. Overall I had a good time despite the huge crowds around everything.

[theruthcollection]

I got Pujols to signed a Brad Lidge Ball. Really sneaky, but it worked. I can guarantee there is none of those around. Email me at mlbtickets@yahoo.com if you want to see the pic.

[RedBirdRuss]

The Pujols game used Sam bat went for $2800, it was broken in 2 pieces taped together. I think it was a clean break though.


Jason

The bat was broken in two and taped together. I am a newbie to the forum and I am wondering if I should have a carpenter friend of mine do some repair work on it. Is there a thread or guide somewhere that discusses repairing broken bats?
I also have a JD Drew Game Used Autographed bat (not broken) and a Scott Rolen Autographed bat (broken with a chip missing from handle).

[DonTheLegend]

although i was pretty excited to go (even though the ice and weather ruined my morning with a tree falling and ripping the electric from my home), i was quickly disappointed by the huge crowds running around like looters and being rude (early on). dealers (sneaking people in early with their dealer pass) hoarded GU bats and jerseys at the team store. a buddy who "got in early" scored a nice Larry Walker bat for next to nothing, but overall i didnt see much more than minor, minor players.

i was able to pick up a nice Lankford bat, but not much else.

as usual, several dealers were j@#koffs (when someone would ask questions) and tried to take advantage of uneducated collectors. one of my least favorite dealers (who is located in DELETED) happened to have a bat with a finish that i didnt have, but claimed it was "game used" and wanted far more than it was worth. FYI DELETED, i dont consider rack marks (and only rack marks) to be game use. i tried to explain to him (a guy that was working with his booth) that its not, but it went in one ear and out the other.

not enough quality items at the silent auction as in years past (as was mentioned), too many people for the venue, gouging in the name of charity. all things that kept me from attending Sunday.

i hope there are changes made next year .

on a positive note, Cardinals Care is a great charity and for the most part and generaly hold a great event. ive been able to pick up some great items in years past, but i think the world series win caused them to inflate prices to an exagerated level.

overall, this was the worst WW so far, and ive been to 9.

sorry to be so negative, but im pretty bummed out about this years event.

[stlbats]

I though this years warmup was decent. The crowd to me seemed no larget than last year, but still very crowded. It does get old waiting in line just to get in line. Pujols was a small bit more friendly than last year, Eckstein was very nice.

I definately agree that the auction items as far as GU stuff were very poor. Not many bats at all, mostly players that have moved on. Also not sure why the Cardinals are so hung up on spring training gamer jerseys. Where are all the 2006 Inaugural Season's???

All in all, the whole thing was about as expected. Was also good to have a star player confirm that his bats were turning up with fake use. Even if the news is not so good, I love to hear players commenting on their used equiptment.

jason howell