STL Cardinals Winter Warm Up

[DonTheLegend]

Man, some of those guys are cheap too...Brendan Ryan is only $10. Not bad.

Then again, Yadier Molina is $90 and Chris Carpenter is still $75

Also, note that Pujols will only sign balls and 8x10's. He is really doing the hobby a favor by limiting the amount of stuff he signs. I can't say I blame him. He is also signing from 12-2pm Monday, so prepare to take the day off work or take the kids out of school if you want to see him.+

One more note: Colby Rasmus is only charging $30, and after the end of this season, that may be a HUGE bargain.

Dave

i was kind of in a hurry during my last post, but Dave i agree about Pujols. balls and photos are fine. i guess you'll have to shell out a couple of bucks if you want a jersey or bat from the Pujols foundation.

as crazy as it sounds (at least to my wife) i would pay $175 for Pujols before i paid for most anyone else. i have a couple of days to think about it.

i would really like to have Molina, but not for that. sorry.

i actually said to a guy the other day that Rasmus would not be free. he said no way. should have put some cash on it.

i know with all of the crazy hype (especially since Edmonds was traded) the organization would try to cash in on that.

...sure enough , he's $30.

ive spent a ton of money on guys who i thought for sure would be huge, or at least good players. i have a couple of boxes full of signed balls (of players) that are worth very little (financially and otherwise)

where the hell is Ray?? i was thinking the other day that it would be incredible (to me at least) if Ray, Jordan, Gant and somebody like Eric Davis would come to this event.

wishful thinking.

[stlbats]

I have to say I am very disappointed in the pricing this year. After a bad season and so far grim offseason, the prices are record high. As posted earlier, $90 for Molina is rediculous, and most bench players. Charity is great, but this is getting out of hand. Almost all other teams that have fanfests charge very little to get in and autographs are free. Oh well, I am done ranting and I am sure I will be spending with everyone else.

Jason
ripken8@bellsouth.net

[stlbats]

and so far........NO Rolen on the list.

Jason

[Billyu40]

The problem is that Cardinals fans are nuts. We love our team and they can do nothing wrong. Im as guilty as the rest but honestly this is out of hand. Brendan Ryan $50.00, is ridiculous. This guy is Mike Gallego 10 years later, a utility infielder. I guess its all for a good cause but I wont be getting autographs. I do look forward to seeing everyone there though.

Billy

[stlbats]

The problem is that Cardinals fans are nuts. We love our team and they can do nothing wrong. Im as guilty as the rest but honestly this is out of hand. Brendan Ryan $50.00, is ridiculous. This guy is Mike Gallego 10 years later, a utility infielder. I guess its all for a good cause but I wont be getting autographs. I do look forward to seeing everyone there though.

Billy

Hey Billy,
Brendan Ryan is only $10 but most are out of hand, like you said.

Anyone going to the early bird sale?
Jason

[bigtruck260]

That's funny Donnie. I think Ray still has a home here...but something tells me his absence is related to Larussa - as is Gant and probably Jordan...and ROLEN.

I give Tony all the credit for not backing down an inch to players who make 5 times what he does. He is one of only a handful of managers that could have put that tattered lineup on the field against a GREAT Detroit team to win in '06.

I always look for Ray at signings - I have some bats for him...but none - ever. His appearances are as rare as his All Star clothing/bats.

I really don't go to the WW for the stuff anyway. I go because I am a baseball junkie and the warmup is like a spike full of black tar heroin that will get me going until pitchers and catchers report.

To anyone who is going, email me bigtruck260@centurytel.net
I want to meet as many of you as possible. Looks like I am making the trip by myself this year...sad, but most of my friends are actually more broke than I am.

Dave

[Kid4hof03]

Hey guys, I wish I could make the trip to the warm up, maybe one of these years.

If any of the dealers have any Gant stuff please let me know. I was able to get a great bat thanks to Jeff and Dave a couple months ago, would love to add some more!

Abe

[Billyu40]

Sorry about that guys I guess i read it wrong.

What is the early bird thing? Do they sell gameused items.

Are all game used item auctioned off or are some of them actually for sale? If so what kind of items are they?

Ive never been to the winter warm up and im fairly new to the game used world so sorry if my questions seem dumb.

[stlbats]

Sorry about that guys I guess i read it wrong.

What is the early bird thing? Do they sell gameused items.

Are all game used item auctioned off or are some of them actually for sale? If so what kind of items are they?

Ive never been to the winter warm up and im fairly new to the game used world so sorry if my questions seem dumb.

Hey Billy,
the early bird sale is Saturday morning and only for admission/autograph tickets for next weekend. At the WWU there is usually some GU stuff for sale (usually common/former players, bats, hats, few jerseys) and some usually more popular players stuff for silent and live auctions. In the years past there has been a HUGE HUGE crowd, you can hardly walk in most areas. stlcardinals.com has details

Jason

[Birdbats]

Just a few random observations about the auto guests and prices...

• Cardinals Care lost three of their "money tickets" this year. Eckstein ($125 last year), Edmonds and Rolen (both $90 last year) will not be at this year's event. Considering those guys all sold out last year, that's a ton of money CC won't be getting this year.
• Last year, they sold scratch-off raffle tickets (2 for $1) for an Edmonds, Carpenter or Rolen autograph chance. Not selling any such thing this year, so that's a loss of income. Still selling $1 scratch-offs to win a Pujols.
• Molina was not at last year's WWU. Seems they're trying to compensate for the loss of Edmonds by charging his price for Yadi. For the record, I've seen Yadi at one show since the '06WS, and his price was pretty much the same. It's high, but people will pay it.
• Ankiel and Isringhausen weren't at the show last year, so their $55/40 fees will make up for Rolen's absence. Given Ankiel's popularity, I'm shocked they're not charging $90 for him.
• Guys who went up in price: Duncan (30 to 40), LaRussa (25 to 30), Looper (10 to 25), Pujols (150 to 175), Rasmus (free to 30), Ryan (0 to 10) Schoendienst (55 to 60), Schumaker (free to 5), Wainwright (50 to 80).
• Guys who went down in price: Tyler Johnson (10 to 5), Kinney (10 to 5), Reyes (30 to 10), Carpenter (90 to 75).
• Guys who are the same: Flores (10), Herzog (50), Miles (15), Spiezio (50), Thompson (10). Miles and Spiezio didn't show last year because of the weather.
• There are 26 "for fee" autographs and 45 freebies this year. Last year, there were 25 "for fee" autographs and 39 freebies.
• If you bought one ticket for each guest this year, you'd spend $955. Last year, you'd have spent $1,115.

I agree some of the individual prices are just stupid. But, overall, you could make the argument that costs are actually lower and there are more free guests. Granted, there are fewer "stars" at this year's show, but the $300+ people spent on Edmonds, Rolen and Eckstein autographs last year can be used for other things this year.

If I could make one change, I'd eliminate the free autographs and charge less for the stars. Here's my thinking. If you've ever tried to get a free signature, you know the lines are LONG and often get cut off before you can even get in line. Very frustrating. If CC charged just $5 for these guys instead of nothing, the lines would be more manageable and everyone who bought a ticket would be guaranteed an autograph. With the income raised by the nominal $5 fees, you could afford to lower the cost of other autograph fees. For example, if this year's 45 freebies were $5 each and CC sold just 100 tickets for each guy on average, that would generate $22,500.

With $22,500 to work with, assuming your stars can sell 300 tickets each, CC could reduce six players' fees $10 each and one player $15 and come out even. These lower ticket costs could lead to even more income for CC because many people who, for example, won't pay $90 for Molina might pay $75. That's $75 more than CC would have received had they not lowered the price.

I know CC likes to have free autographs because it looks like good PR. What they don't seem to consider is the poor PR they get from overcharging on other guys, as well as the poor PR created by angry fans who can't get the free autographs or are forced to stand in line two hours to get Tom Lawless.

If you ran the WWU, what would you do differently?