Cardinals Winter Warm Up Day 3

Monday brought the third and final day of WWU 2020.  Unlike the first 2 days that run from 9-5, Monday is a little shorter with hours 9-3.  Right away we had 3 autographs to get from 9-10.  First up was Matt Carpenter.

Much like the DeJong ball, this one turned out great.  I always try to bring my own pens and sharpies instead of using the ones supplied.  By Monday they could get dried out.  The Bic Cystyal really stands out for baseballs.

Next up was a player that I have never received an auto from.

Mike Tyson played for Cardinals during the 1972-1979.  He was not much of a hitter, but did play a decent second base.  I was lucky to have doubles of both his 1976 and 1979 Topps.  The 1976 is now my oldest autographed card. 

Our third autograph in the first hour was former outfielder Bernard Gilkey.

He signed a few years ago at WWU, but I failed to prep the card.  These look so much better.  After getting the 3 autographs, my son and I meet up with a collector from a Facebook group to trade one of the Rogers Hornsby bobbleheads I received on Saturday.

 

The Cardinals have made a ton of Molina bobbleheads.  This one was a stadium giveaway in 2015.  After the exchange, we went down to the vendor area.  While we were waiting in the Carpenter autograph line, a very generous couple gave us a free autograph ticket for someone signing after at 1:00. I had a ticket for this player already, so I needed to find another item to get signed.  I will show that in a bit.  I did find a vendor with a 11x14 picture I had never seen before.

This photo shows the Cardinals outfielders from the 1993 and 1994 seasons.  Ray Lankford, Bernard Gilkey, Brian Jordan, and Mark Whiten all shared time during those years.  Wish I had found this the day before.  I would have had Gilkey sign it.  It will be a project for the future.

We also stopped by the Peoria Chiefs booth.  I have known the Chiefs GM for a few years dating back to when he was a ticket rep for the Memphis Redbirds.  We had a nice chat about the upcoming 2020 season.  I did buy a bobblehead while there.

This Gorman bobblehead was given out to the first 1,000 fans in Peoria on May 17, 2019.  I heard the lines that night were pretty crazy to get one.  The Chiefs always have some extras made to sell or give away as ticket incentives.  I have seen these sell for $30 and over on EBAY.  I gave $15 for this one.  

After a quick lunch, we went  back to the autograph area for the last time to get our final 3 players.  First up was Ken Dayley.

Dayley signs at almost every WWU.  I have gotten him before, but William from Foul Bunt needed a 1987 Topps for his set.  This one turned out pretty nice.

The next signer was also someone I had gotten from a previous WWU.

Mathews pitched for the Cardinals from 1995-1997.  He was traded to Oakland in the Mark McGwire deal.  Just like the Andy Benes card from Day 1, the Finest card looks great.  

Our last signer was Kolten Wong.

He won his first Gold Glove award in 2019.  I had brought this ball with me, but did not have anything to use for the free ticket we received earlier in the day.  I was hoping one of the vendors had a mini gold glove, but no luck.  My son picked out a nice 8x10 from the same vendor I bought the 11x14 from.

I bought a holder for this so my son can display it in his room.  And that wraps up WWU 2020.  We had a great time getting 28 autographs and 7 free bobbleheads.  The crowd was about the same as previous years, maybe a bit larger.  I will note that the players were very friendly this year.  Even the current players were very nice.  Not that they were not in previous years, but this year a lot of them thanked us for coming, shook hands, or just said hi, how are you doing.  Some years it is just a rush to get through the line that they do not even have time to say anything.