2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

[jscott0688]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Ok, here's my first post. Was at the WWU today and funny/bad story about the last silent auction of the day.....it was not very silent. Almost a fist fight. They had a package for a tour of the stadium and tix. At the last minute I am watching as it went past me and a guy walks up with his kid about 20 seconds left. Puts in a bid and is not quite finished and another guy literaly jumps in on him and scribbles something down after the auction is ended. Next to him another guy is bidding and same thing. Guy reaches up under his arm and is bidding on 2 auctions at the same time. He gets his name and just a scribble on the amount line. All of this in front of a worker.

The first instance they added another set of "tours/tickets" and let them both win even though the second guy should not have. But the last instance was a road trip to Coors field....no extra tickets to give so they offered a "bid off". The guy that had the good bid was pissed and told them to shove it in many ways. And kept coming back to tell them some more. Apparently, he had won an earlier auction and when he went to pay for the item they told him they lost it. This topped off his cake!

Next year they need to separate these "packages" to avoid the clamoring and pushing and last bidding on multiple auctions. And if they want to raise more money offer more of the "packages" and less of the "autographed crap of no name players that were let go 2 years ago" and the starting bid is $35 so no one bids on it! Thoughts?

The silent auctions definitely leave a lot to be desired. What Cardinals care needs to do is hire someone that actually has some knowledge about collecting. A framed Trever Miller autographed promotional card for $40? Seriously?

[Birdbats]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

I made just one purchase, but it was a steal. As the Cardinals Authentics store sold bats from their rack, they would replace them with others they held in reserve. Today, they put out a pro stock bat (team name on the barrel) with the #91 on both ends. I checked the MLB hologram online -- said it was an authentic bat and the session was dated back in April. I have no doubt this bat was used by the Cards' #1 prospect, Shelby Miller, during his first spring training. Too bad Shelby signed yesterday (though I did get him to sign and notate his 2010 spring training game-used road jersey).

Overall, the comments in this thread are on the mark. From a collector's standpoint, the WWU has lost all steam. Live auctions featured mostly experiences (broadcaster for a day, play catch on the field, etc.). The silent auctions were weak, weak, weak. And the Cardinals Care store had almost nothing. That used to be the reason for going -- to rummage through racks of jerseys and barrels of bats. Now, it's signed balls from departed players and other marginal stuff -- only a handful of bats (that went quickly) and jerseys (which were way overpriced for the players/coaches who wore them).

I've attended all the WWUs and will keep coming back -- but the things I'll be doing (attending presentations, socializing, etc.) won't raise any money for Cardinals Care. I want to support the charity the way I used to, but I need some incentive. It's just not there anymore.

[hdavid_27]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

I was told today by my son that a friend of ours won a Yadier Molina autograph on a scratch off ticket. He sent me a text message about 30 minute later saying that Yadi had cancelled, and when my friend went to talk to the people from Cardinals Care about what to do with his winning scratch off he was to they would refund only the purchase price of the winning ticket, $1.

To me, it seems that with all of the losing tickets sold, they could have done better. He did not want money but wanted to trade for a different autograph, one of Whitey Herzog, whose Autographs at the WWU sell for $60, $30 less than Molina sells for. He was told "Absolutley Not". There were probably thousands of the scratch offs sold for Molina, and in the end there was no winning prize for the winners, How fair is that?

If this is how people continue to be treated the WWU will only get worse.

[Birdbats]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

I was told today by my son that a friend of ours won a Yadier Molina autograph on a scratch off ticket. He sent me a text message about 30 minute later saying that Yadi had cancelled, and when my friend went to talk to the people from Cardinals Care about what to do with his winning scratch off he was to they would refund only the purchase price of the winning ticket, $1.

To me, it seems that with all of the losing tickets sold, they could have done better. He did not want money but wanted to trade for a different autograph, one of Whitey Herzog, whose Autographs at the WWU sell for $60, $30 less than Molina sells for. He was told "Absolutley Not". There were probably thousands of the scratch offs sold for Molina, and in the end there was no winning prize for the winners, How fair is that?

If this is how people continue to be treated the WWU will only get worse.

I wondered how they would handle those scratch offs. Not ideal, but in their defense, they really were caught off guard by the cancellation. Might have reacted differently if they hadn't learned of Yadi's absence so late in the game. I have a buddy who stayed in the hotel last night only because he was getting Yadi to sign two bats today -- otherwise, he would have left yesterday (and those rooms aren't cheap). The Molina cancellation is a black eye for Cardinals Care, but an even bigger black eye for Yadi. When they auctioned his jersey in the afternoon live auction, several people yelled derisive comments at the mere mention of his name. Not good.

[stlbats]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

I remember a few years back, I had a Yadi ticket and his signing time had came and went, and still no Yadi. They kept saying he was on his way, then they said his wife was sick, he finally showed up, but after the fact I heard from a reputable source that Tony LaRussa had to call him and basically tell him to get his butt down there. Not sure what his problem is with the WWU. He just did a public signing not long ago in STL. The WWU is pretty much mandatory for the players. LaRussa has publicly said in the past that he expects all the players to show up and support the fans at the event.

Jason
stlbats@bellsouth.net

[slambam]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Yadi, oh Yadi. From the sounds of it, he needs to grow up. Steiner sued him last offseason for $175,000 for blowing them off - so this time he blows off a charity. Being big buds with Albert, you'd think Albert would kind of see to it that Yadi is there or at least encourage him to show up, but apparently not. He needs to show a little respect, at the VERY least let them know that you're not going to be there a little earlier.

[rangersfan1214]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Can someone who got Pujols' signature please post a photo of the autograph on here. I noticed his signature on topps cards have gotten real sloppy. I'd like to see if his signature has changed much. Thanks!

[R.Mansfield]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

We also attended the show all three days, for a couple of hours each day.

This is our second show and it was not as good as the one last year. I agree, very light for GU collectors. The vendors just had the same ol, same ol. I noticed several signed Pujols bats, and one GU Sam bat of his…

I honestly did not purchase anything, by Monday I was looking around just to buy anything, ($ burning a hole in my pocket syndrome), but didn’t.

Other than that the crowd was a little lighter, and the show was a little more organized I felt. We bought some autograph tickets of Jack Clark and Oquendo, and picked up some other 87’ team guys. The autos all went smooth, and Clark was great again, adding inscriptions and chatting about a GU jersey and bat I had him sign.

Overall the show went well, just a little disappointing, but no big problems that I experienced.

Russell Mansfield
batdna@sbcglobal.net

[hdavid_27]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Can someone who got Pujols' signature please post a photo of the autograph on here. I noticed his signature on topps cards have gotten real sloppy. I'd like to see if his signature has changed much. Thanks!

Here you go!

[rangersfan1214]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Thank you! It looks like his autograph is the same. I wonder whats up with the topps 2009-10 cards. Any ideas?

[xpress34]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Thank you! It looks like his autograph is the same. I wonder whats up with the topps 2009-10 cards. Any ideas?

If that's your card, it's an earlier Pujols Auto as evidenced by the 'pointy' A.

Just because it's a 2009 or 2010 card, sticker autos have been around for years and the companies don't use the entire sheet in one year. They may hold them back and use them on other year issues as well... quite common actually...

Here's some of my Pujols Autos for comparison sake:

2001 GU Hat - w/ ROY inscription:



AU Ball (obtained from Albert at Niketown Denver in 2002) - w/ ROY:



AU / GU Ball (obtained from Albert at the hotel in 2005):



2002 Absolute Playoff Signing Bonus:



2004 Fleer Sweet Sigs:



So as you can see, Albert has had a few variations over the years...

- Smitty

[hdavid_27]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

I dont think that one looks good at all, but with the way Topps uses the stickers they could have had thousands signed years ago and are just now getting around to using them. Parts of that one kind of resemble his 02-03 autographs.

[stlbats]

Re: 2011 Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Here are pics of 3 of my Pujols baseballs. They were all signed over the last 5 or so years. The 2009 All Star Baseball was signed at this years Warm Up. Its a good signature (sorry the pic looks a little blurry).

Jason