Cardinals Winter Warm Up Day 2

After a successful Day 1 at WWU, Day 2 did not start out the greatest.  At 3:00 Sunday morning, my son and I were woken up to the sound of a couple having a yelling match two doors down from our hotel room.  This went on four 30 or 40 minutes before police showed up and escorted the female/wife away in handcuffs.  That took another 30 minutes.  Already after 4:00 now, the guy next door decided to crank his TV up to drown out the nose.  The idiot did not turn it down the rest of the morning.  When we went to breakfast about 7, he even had his door cracked.  Before we left for church, I made sure to slam his door shut for him.  Not sure if it woke him up or not. 

By the time we left church and made it to WWU, it was about 9:30.  Our first stop was the autograph area.

This is the first time we have gotten Bo Hart.  I do not recall him being at any of the other WWU that I have attended.  Always nice to add a new Cardinals signature to the collection.

Dylan Carlson was signing at the same time as Hart.  He is the Cardinals #1 prospect, and is ranked in the top 50 overall.  Very quiet and polite for a 21 year old.  I am guessing he starts the year in Triple A, but will be up after the All-Star break or before if an outfielder gets hurt.  The ball on the left is a Rawlings Official MLB, the one on the right is a 2019 Futures Game ball.

Carlson also signed a 8x10 that I completed after we took a short lunch break.

Nolan Gorman is the Cardinals #2 prospect.  He should spend most of the year in Double A.  I doubt if he reaches the Majors this year as a 19 year old, but he is considered the 3rd baseman of the future.
The gold paint pen did not turn out that great, but it is still a cool photo of the 2 prospects from the Futures Game.

I already had Gorman on an official ball, so I went with a Futures Game ball for him also.  After Gorman we went straight to another signer I had never gotten before.

Pagnozzi seems to be making more appearances in the St. Louis area.  At one time he was working as a scout/instuctor for the Diamondbacks.  I am not sure if he is anymore.  He was not much of a hitter, but did win 3 Gold Gloves in the early 1990s.     

We finished up with Pagnozzi about 1:00.  There was a 2:00 Museum presentation highlighting the 2019 events held there. People were already forming a line to get one of the 50 free bobbleheads, so we jumped in it.  We were 46 and 47.

Willie McGee was the mystery bobblehead this time.  Once again I had him.  The Museum held 6 presentations during the WWU that they gave away bobbleheads.  My son and I attended 4 of them.  I later found out that the one bobblehead I need, Branch Rickey, was not available.  At least I have a few to sell or trade for others I need. 

I have not mentioned it yet, but all weekend the Cardinals Authentics store was holding trivia for a chance to win a prize.  They would announce the time on their Twitter account.  We made it a few times on Day 1, but never knew the answer.  After we finished the Museum presentation, we had 5 minutes to get to the Authentics booth to hear the next question.  Good thing we made it.

The question was who was the last left handed Cardinals hitter to lead the league in home runs.  First guess was Musial, second was Lankford.  Both wrong.  I guessed Johnny Mize and won this sweet 12x16 Red Schoendienst autographed canvas.  It is authenticated to a signing in 2015.  I was thrilled with this prize, as some of the other prizes given away were game used baseballs or a bottle opener. 

We had 1 other autograph to get on Day 2.  Paul DeJong was scheduled to sign on Day 1, but his flight from Minnesota was cancelled due to bad weather.  In previous years some players would not show up due to weather, but DeJong made the extra effort.

This 2019 All Star ball turned out beautiful.  DeJong thanked us for showing up and waiting a day on him.  I have always liked him, but have an even greater appreciation for him now.  I love the way he signs his name, not just a scribble. 

It was a little after 3:00 by now.  I wanted to be back in the hotel room by 5:30 to watch my favorite team the 49ers play.  We did a quick walk through the vendor area before we left and stopped at the Springfield Cardinals booth. 

It has become a tradition for me to buy a $5 team set at the WWU from the previous year.  This 2019 is a big one with 43 cards.  I like how they included MLB rehabbing players like Martinez and Carpenter.

We left after buying the team set.  After grabbing some dinner at Steak N Shake, we made it back to the hotel for opening kickoff.  I was shocked how easy the 49ers won.  Kansas City will be tough to beat in the Super Bowl.  So after a rough start to the day, things turned out pretty well.  Some great autographs, winning an awesome trivia prize, and a 49ers win.  Day 3 highlights to come in the next post.