2025 Cardinals Caravan

In conjunction with Cardinals WWU, they also have the Cardinals Caravan.  This four-day event consists of 6 different groups of players and alumni that visit different cities within a few hour's drive of St. Louis.  We have attended these for over 15 years at various different sites.  The Caravan started last Friday and finished up Monday.  My son, wife, and I were able to attend one of the last stops Monday evening in Centralia, IL.

The Caravan consists of two alumni and three or four younger players talking about the upcoming season, answering a few questions, and then signing some autographs.  Autographs are advertised for the first 400 kids 15 and younger, and then, as time permits, others can go through the line.

Some Caravans charge admission, others are free.  Centralia charged $10, which included a ballpark meal of a hot dog, a bag of chips, and a soda.  The money went to a local baseball league for disabled children, so it was well spent.  We arrived a few minutes before the gates opened, not knowing if there would be a crowd.  I think the cold temperatures kept the crowd to a minimum.  I would guess 150-200 people in total.  I was surprised that the workers gave my 16-year-old son an autographed ticket without asking his age.  Less than 100 kids were in attendance, so adults had some time to get autographs as well.  We ended up getting two autographs from each player.

My son and I got Simontacchi and Cooper on Saturday at the WWU.  This is the first time we have gotten Rom's auto.  

I did not have another card for those three, so I used a postcard handed out at WWU.  Glad I grabbed a few extras of these.  

Tink Hence is the Cardinals' #2 prospect and #68 on Baseball America's Top 100.  If he can stay healthy, he should be in St. Louis by the end of the year.  My guess is as a reliever.  I love the way the Bowman Top 100 card turned out.

Victor Scott was the main reason we made the hour and half drive.  I was very impressed with him on Saturday when he gave us a fantastic autograph.  I hope he gets a fair shot at earning the starting centerfield job in spring training.  Nothing against Michael Siani, but I believe Scott has more potential.

The best part of the evening happened toward the end.  One of the workers asked my son to help play a prank on Victor Scott.  At other caravan stops, they had him sign some strange things, such as a pair of Daisy Duke shorts, a plant, and a spatula.  They gave my son some rap lyrics and a CD for Scott to sign.  Wish I could upload the video, but it is too large.  If you have Facebook or X, visit the Cardinals page, and you will see it.

  

It was a great way to end an awesome Cardinals weekend.  

  

                    

2025 Cardinals Winter Warm Up Day 2

Day 1 of WWU was great.  I met my favorite player, and our time management worked out great.  We did not have to stand in autograph lines very long, allowing us time to browse the vendor area and sit in on a couple of presentations.  The day could not have gone any better.

Day 2 did not start out the greatest.  Around midnight, a couple a few doors down from us at the hotel started arguing.  Two hours later,  the front desk finally called the police to break things up.  I made it very clear at checkout that I would not be staying there again.  If you are ever in O'Fallon, IL, do not stay at the Sleep Inn.  We bypassed the bleak breakfast, ate at a nearby IHOP, and returned to the WWU.

We arrived a few minutes after the gates opened Sunday morning.  The feel-like temperature was -5 degrees.  It was a very brisk walk from the parking lot.  Once inside, things started looking up.  We had two paid autographs right away.

Michael McGreevy's autograph was $15.  I wish he signed his name in the white area, but the ticket still looks good.  

Lefthanded pitching prospect Quinn Mathews is the Cardinals #3 prospect and #41 overall on the just released Baseball America top 100.  Remember what I said about a lefty smudging his autograph on a ball yesterday?  This one did some, but I will gladly take it for the $10 I paid for the autograph.

I took this picture at a Peoria Chiefs game on Father's Day last year.  Mathews went 7 innings with 3 earned runs and 11 strikeouts.  His auto and inscription turned out great.  

  

The rest of our autographs were from free signers.  Harris and Scruggs have not been at the WWU since their minor league days, while Horton is there every year.  

We did sit through two different interview sessions.  The first was with three members of the 1985 NL Championship team.  I enjoyed hearing the stories about one of my favorite teams growing up.  The second was with the Cardinals minor league position player and pitcher of the year, Jimmy Crooks and Mathews.  

Overall, we had a great time.  Attendance was down somewhat, but better than what I expected.  The level of excitement was down.  In previous years, people were eager to meet the players.  This year, quite a few people were just going through the motions.  I will say players were all upbeat and optimistic about the upcoming season.  

Two major things I noticed about the weekend.

1) The Cardinals knew attendance could decline. To combat this, they offered a free autograph to early admission ticket holders. They also allowed anyone to watch the presentations/interviews on the main stage without an admission ticket.  Neither had been done before.  I am not sure either made a big difference.

2)  I got the sense some areas were cut back on.  The number of free autograph signers was down.  The number of vendors was also down.  In previous years, the team offered a discount for certain ticket packs.  This year, all they did was waive the fees.  This was not the answer for a team trying to get fans to the ballpark.  

We will attend WWU in 2026 regardless of the team's performance.  It is a father-son tradition that I hope my son will continue with his children.              
  
      

      

2025 Cardinals Winter Warm Up Day 1

Since 2016, my son and I have attended the Cardinals annual fan fest, Winter Warm Up (WWU).  My wife and daughter came with us in previous years, but it is now a guy's weekend.  He missed one year due to illness, and of course, it was not held for a couple of years due to COVID and the strike.  It is held MLK weekend in St. Louis.  Starting in 2023, it moved from a hotel to Busch Stadium and nearby Ballpark Village.  We always look forward to this weekend, around Thanksgiving, when the tickets go on sale.  I am grateful the Cardinals still hold the event, as I have read other teams have stopped holding fan fests.

As in years past, we drive over on Saturday morning and stay for two days. WWU does extend to Monday, but two days is enough time to see and do everything.  I believe we have attended all three days only once.  That was because one of the autograph guests had a flight delayed from Sunday to Monday.

We arrived Saturday morning about 20 minutes before the gates opened.  It felt like 25 degrees outside, which was better than last year.  One of the downfalls of having WWU at the stadium is the walking outside.  I will take that tradeoff instead of the overcrowded hotel.  I like my space.  Once gates opened, we headed to the team store and found a nice $20 cap for my son.  After that, most of the day was focused on autographs.  That is the main reason we attend WWU.  Some are free, while others cost.  In previous years, I have spent north of $300 on autographs.  This year, it was $110.  It makes a big difference when superstars like Wainwright, Molina, Arenado, and Goldschmidt are not around.  This year's most expensive autograph cost $75.  $20 is the most I spent.  New this year was a photo opportunity with members of the Cardinals Hall of Fame for $35.  I purchased one ticket for someone you will see in a bit. 

Cardinals rookie infielder Thomas Saggese signed his debut ticket.  One great thing about WWU is the players will usually sign anything you ask, including inscriptions like this one.  His autograph was $20, while I bought the ticket on EBAY for about $10.

Scott Cooper and Al Hrabosky were both free autographs.  The free autographs are limited to one person, so we each got one.

Victor Scott was my favorite autograph of the day.  Cardinal Authentics had a booth set up with game used baseball for $25.  I used a gift card from Christmas for this ball that Scott hit for a foul.  He had a great game that day going 3 for 4, stealing a base, and scoring the game winning run in a Cardinals 3-0 victory.  He was more than happy to inscribe his stats, and even mentioned he would take his time to make sure the ball looked good.  It can be hard for left handers to sign a ball with out smearing it.  A great looking autograph that cost me $20.

Robinson, Thompson, and Simontacchi were all free autographs.  They sign almost every year.  

New this year, the Cardinals offered a free mystery autograph for each admission ticket purchased for the first so many ticket sold.  The exact number was not advertised.  I believe the Cardinals offered the free autographs in anticipation of attendance being down.  The mystery autographs were revealed two weeks ago.  One of my tickets was for Jon Jay.

His autograph was $25, so this was a nice freebie.  I was able to find his debut ticket on EBAY for less than $10.  

My other mystery autograph was Ivan Herrera.  I purchased his debut ticket on EBAY for about $8.  Early last week it was announced he could not attend, so I received Daniel Descalso as a replacement.

Wish I had something cooler than a card for him to sign, but the short notice prevented that.  His autograph was also $25.  Admission tickets were $50, so with the free autographs that knocked each one down to $25.  Pretty good deal.

The information booth was handing out free postcards of a few alumni, Busch Stadium, and Fredbird.  I was more than excited to grab a couple of sets and find Ray Lankford was included.  Maybe this will be autographed next time you see it.  Which leads me to the photo opportunity.

For $35, fans could have their picture taken with Ozzie Smith, Vince Coleman, or Ray Lankford wearing their Cardinals red Hall of Fame jacket.  That was a no brainer for me to get Lankford.

I have a goofy grin on my face, but the picture turned out pretty good. We received a free 5x7 also.  You cannot see from the picture, but I am wearing a Lankford replica jersey.  I asked him if it was the first one he had seen that day.  It was, and he was thrilled someone still had one.  Upon seeing it, he offered to sign it.  The workers immediately stated no autographs.  I knew this going in and did not intend to get one.  Ray spoke up and told them, "This is my cousin, I am gonna sign it."

I am pretty sure this was the only autograph he signed that day.  Not sure if I will continue to wear it, or if I will frame it.  May wear it next time I meet him and see if he remembers the story.  

That was an awesome first day for us.  Day 2 recap to follow in the next post.

  

  

  
                    

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #105

I almost forgot it was Tuesday. Yesterday, I had a vacation day to recover from a great weekend in St. Louis, where I attended the Cardinals Winter Warmup and a player caravan. I will have three posts highlighting how things went, but I will stick to my usual Tuesday post for today. First up is a nice four-card package of Cardinals greats from member k_knesh.  

I have never seen these 2019 A&G inserts before this trade.  Nothing too fancy, but I love the baby blue pullover jersey Ozzie is wearing.

TCMA cards do not seem to get much love, but I like them.  These 2 are from 1985.  The orange border on the Gibson card is a strange choice.

The second trade came from member madding, also known as Kerry from Cards on Cards.  Kerry is a great source for Cardinals cards that I can use to get autographed at the Winter Warm Up.  He also sent some other Cardinals I did not have.

These are my first 2024 Topps Heritage mini cards.  Did collectors need another mini set?  Not in my opinion, but as I say this I have added the rest of the team set to my want list.

This will not be the last time you see Victor Scott this week.  I interacted with him twice.  Herrera was scheduled to be at the WWU, but had visa issues and could not make it.  I did watch a kid question and answer session with Burleson.  I did not know he was such a funny guy.  Great to add cards of each one to my collection.

Both Benes and Horton appeared at the WWU.  I got an autograph from one of them.  You will need to read another post to find out which one.  The Horton is a Tiffany version.  

  

 

Just a Regular Trade

It has been almost a month since I highlighted a TCDB trade that was not part of a 2 for Tuesday post.  I have been saving a few cards for that day, but I have also not had a lot of trades coming in.  The holidays will do that to my trading activity.  This trade package from member myrke arrived late Saturday evening along with my newest Ray Lankford card.  

Before this trade, I only had a Pujols card from the massive 2007 Topps Moments & Milestones set.  I now have 469 different Jim Edmonds cards in my Cardinals collection.  I thought I would have been over 500 by now.

Poor Luken Baker.  Due to his body type he is limited to first base or DH.  He had done nothing but hit at Triple A, but does not really have an opportunity for playing time unless someone gets injured.  

You would think a Cardinals fan like myself would not like blue parallels, but I do.  The sapphire cards are especially nice.

Bader is currently a free agent.  He will surely catch on as a fourth outfielder somewhere.  He plays great defense and still hits enough to deserve a roster spot.

After getting a rush of Topps gold parallels in December, this is my first of the month.  Weaver only played half a season in St. Louis, but he made it count by pitching in some big games during the 2006 playoffs.  His younger brother had a better career, but Jeff has a World Series ring.

   

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #104

The snow is finally starting to melt around here. Today's temperatures are close to 30 degrees, with plenty of sunshine. On Friday, it will be over 40 degrees, so anything left will be gone by the end of the day. Two weeks of driving on the snow and icy roads is enough for me. Thankfully, my mail lady is still delivering trade envelopes.   Today's first package came from member sporch10.

Only 3 cards in this one.  One Hall of Famer and another soon to be Hall of Famer.  Hard to pass up any Molina cards.

The second trade came from member jc645.

My 2024 A&G set just lacks the Lou Brock short print from being complete.  

I did complete my 2024 Topps Holiday team set with this Gray card.  The Helsley is a rainbow foil parallel.  I doubt Helsley will finish the 2025 season in St. Louis.  He should be a good deadline trade piece if he stays healthy.

It is looking more and more like Arenado may start the season in St. Louis.  I would not be opposed to him staying, although it would mean trading away others to cut payroll.

Ozzie completed my 2023 Panini Prizm team set.  Now to start the 2024 set.  

Only 2 more cards to finish the 24 card team set from 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary.  It is nice to see players like Rolen and Edmonds back in a few seats.  They were a big part of the 2006 World Series team.    

 

2nd New Lankford of 2025

Mother Nature hit my area hard last week. Sunday brought 8 inches of snow and a thin layer of ice. Schools were out all week due to the poor roads. Friday brought another 5 inches of snow.  Saturday and yesterday saw some improvement with temps in the low 30s, but roads are still not great.  It will be Thursday or Friday before things get better.  

What does this have to do with baseball cards?  I have to give a major shout-out to my mail lady.  She did not miss a beat Monday-Wednesday.  Thursday was a federal holiday for President Carter, so there was no mail service.  She missed delivery on Friday but ran late on Saturday to catch up.  My mail usually gets delivered in between 11-12.  Saturday, she arrived at 7:30 in the evening.  I was thrilled because she left this in my mailbox:

This is my third version of the 2024 Panini Impeccable autograph.  The only one I need is the 1/1.  Maybe someday it will show up.