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.