2026 Cardinals Winter Warm Up Recap

As I touched on in yesterday's post, this past weekend was the Cardinals annual Winter Warm Up (WWU) fan festival.  Since 2016, this is an annual trip for my son and I.  Of course 2021 did not happen because of Covid, and 2022 did not take place because of the strike.  The set up was slightly different this year, as the event was only two days instead of three.  That did not affect us, as we have very rarely attended WWU on Monday.  WWU is all about meeting players, getting some autographs, and getting ready for the baseball season to start.  

We attended both Saturday and Sunday despite the cold temperatures.  WWU is held at Busch Stadium and across the street at Ballpark Village.  Most of the time we were indoors, but the walk in between venues and the security checks left us outside.  With wind chills in the single digits both days and some snow on Saturday, those few minutes seemed a lot longer.  Instead of doing a post for each day, I will show everything we picked up today.

Our first stop is always the Cardinals Care store.  This 3'x1' sign was from last year's photo session.  My son spotted it before I could.  It is already hanging up in my card room next to three other Lankford WWU signs.  2 years ago I paid $75, this year $50.

The Cardinals hold a 5K run each year, with a former player greeting runners at the finish line.  Lankford was the greeter in 2025.  Glad I did not pay the $50 fee to run.  I bought this medal for $5 on Saturday.  On Sunday, they were $2.50.  

The vendor area was almost non existent this year.  Most years there are 20-25 different booths.  This year I counted less than 10.  Talking with one of the dealers, he mentioned they were charged the same price despite WWU being cut back to 2 days.  I am guessing that had something to do with the low turnout.  The only thing I bought was a couple of 2025 Peoria Chiefs teams sets, which I already have filed away.  Everything else will be autographs.

I only have cards signed from players that are free.  Gilkey is at almost every WWU, while Worrell has been twice during the years I have attended.

Worrell also signed this program from the 1985 reunion weekend this past season.  Ricky Horton is also at WWU every year as a free signer.  He signed underneath Worrell.  The top signature is Andy Van Slyke, who signed this last September.

Radio announcer John Rooney was also a free signer.  I was thrilled to have him and Horton sign this bobblehead.

Ivan Herrera signed a ticket from his debut game.  Most players will add inscriptions during WWU.

I took this picture of Joshua Baez and Leonardo Bernal at a Peoria Chiefs game in 2024 after Bernal hit a home run.  Baez is the Cardinals #13 prospect, while Bernal is #4.  Both players loved the picture.

I took this picture of Bernal and # 5 prospect Quinn Mathews at the same game.  Mathews took a picture of it with his phone.  I did not think of sending it to him online.  

I took this picture of my son and Victor Scott at one of last year's Cardinals Caravans.  You can read about it here .  Scott remembered him and said he still has the CD.

This is a game used baseball from an game I attended in April where Matthew Liberatore pitched against the Phillies.  As you can tell from the inscriptions, he had a great day.

This is the first year #1 prospect JJ Wetherholt was at the WWU.  Many people are picking him to be NL ROY in 2026.  

Masyn Winn was happy to inscribe this Gold Glove ball.  2025 was hopefully the first of many for him.

As always we had a great time visiting with other Cardinals fans and just being around the stadium.  Attendance was down for the second consecutive year.  It was easy to see a lot of fans were not happy with the direction of the team despite an increase in ticket prices both years.  I will give the owners some credit for having a question and answer session with the crowd on Sunday.  They gave some general answers and talk around the increase, but for the most part expressed optimism for the upcoming season.

  

   

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #133

It has been a busy few days for me.  Saturday and Sunday my son and I attended the Cardinals WWU.  Hope to have my annual recap up tomorrow or Thursday.  Yesterday was my daughter's 21st birthday, so we spent most of the day with her since she did not have college classes due to MLK day.  Needless to say, I did not have much time to catch up on Saturday's mail, but I did manage to open a couple of small TCDB packages.  The first one had a couple of stickers from fellow Cardinals fan Cardsrule.

These two are from the 1985 Topps Sticker set.  Seems strange to see Joe Morgan in an A's uniform.  

The second package came from member cjswinko.  

Pictured on these 2023 A&G silver portrait cards may very well be the Cardinals Opening Day battery.  This will not be the last time you see either of these players this week.  I promise the next scans of them will be a little more exciting.

This is my first 2023 Bob Ross card.  The set is a little quirky, but I do remember watching Bob paint on PBS after getting home from grade school.  Look at all those happy trees in the background.

My 2025 A&G team set is coming along slowly but surely.  It should get a big boost later this week if the post office cooperates.  

  

  

First Ron B Package of 2026

Readers of the blog know Trading Bases member and TCDB member Ron B is one of my most frequent trading partners.  We have an ongoing open ended trade that started over 10 years ago.  He is one of a few traders I try to find something for at shows, or pick up a card or two in a trade if I need to even things out.  Even though I usually know what is coming my way, I look forward to receiving his packages.  The first one of 2026 arrived earlier this week.  

Ron's packages always contain some colorful cards and shiny cards.

Some are the Panini variety.  The Walker pink fireworks parallel is a great looking card in hand.

A nice variety of Topps inserts and my first 2023 Topps Black & White card.

Molina cards are usually in the dollar boxes or higher at the card shows I attend.  They are a dime or quarter at the shows Ron attends in Massachusetts.  

Ron makes sure he adds a few cards for my son's Altuve collection.  If you look closely, you can see the Dodger's new 60 million dollar man Kyle Tucker.  

  

Stickers for 29,000

As I was entering new cards into my TCDB collection last night, I noticed I passed a milestone in my Cardinals collection.  Last week I passed 29,000 cards in my collection.  I am certain that number is not 100% accurate, but it is nice to a good estimate.  I do have some Topps buybacks and a few other oddball cards not listed in the database, while there may be a few duplicates in that total.  That ranks me third among Cardinals collectors on the site.  A couple of years ago I was first.  Guess I need to pick things back up.  

A trade package from member frohny pushed me past that milestone.

The database lists this 1995 Panini sticker as a Cardinals card, so that is what I am going with.  I tend to agree, as I always go with the logo on the card versus the picture.  I guess Panini was too lazy to do a photoshop image.

Moving on to the Topps Stickers, here is a three pack from 2012.

Moving up a year to a lone 2013 sticker.

Finishing up with 4 from 2014.  Gotta love the mascot sticker.

I would love to get to 30,000 by the end of 2026, but doubt that will happen.  My daughter's wedding in June will take a big chunk of my card budget for a few months.  

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #132

Big news out of St. Louis today is the Cardinals finally traded Nolan Arenado.  They basically had to pay Arizona to take him, but he is now a Diamondback.  Thanks for 5 mostly good years.  You can never say he did not give it his all.  Getting on to today's trades, first up is a 4 pack of Cardinals from member OwenJes7.

With Arenado gone now, Walker is the only Cardinals left from these 2024 Cosmic Chrome cards.  Check back in a year if that is still the case.

The second 4 pack of Cardinals came from member alburke111.

If I ever get bored, I will go through all my Musial cards and see how many times Topps used the photo on this 2025 Allen & Ginter card.  I am pretty sure the Ozzie Smith photo is on several cards also.

I guarantee Topps has not used this photo before.  At least they try to keep Stadium Club cards fresh and unique.

My 2025 Bowman team set is now complete.  The Cardinals sent Lin to the Arizona Fall League this year with mixed results.  He has big strikeout numbers, but big walk numbers to go with them.  He will most likely start in Double A Springfield this year.  If the control comes, maybe you will see him in St. Louis next year.

  

I70 Trade

2025 marked the 40th anniversary of the I70 World Series between the Cardinals and Royals.  1985 was one of the first years I remember listening to a lot of games.  The "Running Redbirds" played a fast style of baseball that most likely will never be seen again.  You will likely never see another team make it to the World Series by hitting 87 home runs in the regular season.   Most fans know of the Game 6 blown call, so I will not get into that.  Despite that, the 1985 team is still one of my favorites.

I always think of 1985 when I see a Royals card.  I try to get rid of them ASAP.  Good thing there are a few team collectors on TCDB.  Just before Christmas I sent a few Royals to member royals ( not hard to tell what he collects) in exchange for a few Cardinals.

Any trade that includes Molina cards is a good trade.

I saw a few 2025 Cosmic Chrome cards at the cards show on Saturday.  I know it is a new release, but it was crazy to see some of the prices for base cards.  I will stick to trading for them, like this 2024 Goldschmidt.

Only 2 Panini cards in the trade, including one of 1985 Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman.  

The Perez was the last card included in the original trade, but the trader was nice enough to throw in a couple of other cards from my wantlist.  Maybe he was feeling guilty about 1985.  

  

TCDB 2 for Tuesday #131

It is only January 6 and this is already my third post of 2026.  I will not be able to keep up this rate, but it is fun to have some cards to show off.  Today's first batch of cards came from member ILLRIMESAYA'

It is shocking how hard it is to trade for MLB Showdown cards.  I guess collectors who played the game held onto the cards.  These are from the 2000 1st Edition set.  

You know this is an early Molina card due to the absence of his neck tattoo.  This one is a 2006 Bowman Heritage silver foil parallel.

The second trade package came from member PIANELLI.

It is nice to get 1/3 of the 2025 Prizm team set in one trade.  Only another 1/3 to go.

The trade brought me 2 Saggese and Hence cards.  Despite the lack of logos, I like the Panini Crusade set.  Reminds me of the great 1998 Donruss set.  

  

2026 Card Show #1

I knew after work Friday that I was going to a card show this past weekend.  I just did not know which one.  One was about an hour and a half away in Newburgh, IN on Saturday with 50-60 tables.  The other was about two and a half hours away close to St. Louis on Sunday with 140 tables.  Knowing I was going alone to either show, I picked the closer one on Saturday.  

This is the second time I attended a show at this venue.  The first was a week before COVID hit in 2020.  I remember the show well, as I was hunting for cards to take along to be autographed.  This time I was hunting for dime or quarter boxes, along with some hits to my 1960s Cardinals team sets.  

Only one dealer had dime boxes.  I pulled 20 cards, most of them for trade bait.  I did find 5 Cardinals I needed along with an upgrade to my 1997 Pinnacle Certified Ray Lankford.  My other copy has the peel removed.  I had never seen the 2004 Retired Signature Keith Hernandez card.

A nice older gentleman had a binder full of 1960s commons for $1 each.  I did not need any of these, but 2 will be upgrades, while the other 3 will be trade bait.

My last purchase was from a dealer with 3 showcases of vintage cards.  I was little hesitant to stop because none of the cards had prices, and some of the cards were in old screw down holders.  After spending 1.5 hours at the show and only spending $7, I decided to ask.  The dealer allowed me to take the cards out of the top loaders and one screw down.  I was surprised he had a small screw driver.  It was a relief to see prices on the back.  I settled on 4 cards that were marked for $105 total.  He offered them to me for $70, which I gladly paid.

1962 Tim McCarver rookie card, 1963 Ken Boyer, and 1965 Curt Flood.  The Flood is very close to mint, while the other 2 have a couple of soft corners.  My scanner makes the top cards look more off centered than what they are.  

This 1964 Topps Gibson is from the 6th series, make it one of the more difficult card to find.  It is off centered left to right and top to bottom, but otherwise is in great shape.  Glad to knock this tough one off my list.

  

    

Happy 1/1 Day!

My family and I rang in the new year with a few friends and family.  We watched some football and played cards until 1:00 this morning.  Not sure this old man can take too many night staying up that late.  Instead of showing off a few new cards, I thought I would show a few 1/1 from my Lankford collection.

My first 1/1 was this 1998 Score Showcase Series Artist Proof.  

1998 Pinnacle Press Plates

1998 Stadium Club Press Plate

1998 Topps Gold Label Class 3 Red

1999 Stadium Club Printing Plates

1999 Topps Gold Label Class 3

2000 Fleer Mystique Masterpiece

2000 Stadium Club Printing Plate

2023 Panini Flawless Signature Platinum

It would be awesome to add another one to the collection this year, but I am not banking on it.  Hope you all have a great collecting year in 2026.