Anyone going to Huntington on Saturday?

[alexad]

I plan on attending the caravan in Huntington on Saturday from 4-6. Anyone else planning on attending this event?

[Degenerate39]

I wish I could but I'm busy tomorrow

[MartyFan]

Ashand on Sunday is when I am going.

[redsfan1966]

Yes...I am....I can not pass up the opportunity to see the wunderkind Homer Bailey up close and personal...and when you throw in Marty, Spuds, Brandon and the main man Wayne K...I woke up this morning and said he-l yes---so I will be coming down (from Columbus OH) with the wife and setting up shop in the Huntington Mall...I will be in the REDS FSN OHIO hat (with Thom B's signature from Thursday) and black Reds jersey, if anyone wants to hang...

GO REDS!

[Newman4]

I'm going to the South Point one from 2 to 3 myself.

[alexad]

Yes...I am....I can not pass up the opportunity to see the wunderkind Homer Bailey up close and personal...and when you throw in Marty, Spuds, Brandon and the main man Wayne K...I woke up this morning and said he-l yes---so I will be coming down (from Columbus OH) with the wife and setting up shop in the Huntington Mall...I will be in the REDS FSN OHIO hat (with Thom B's signature from Thursday) and black Reds jersey, if anyone wants to hang...

GO REDS!

I will have on my old 30 Griffey Jersey. The kids will be decked in their Reds stuff also.

I found a picture on the web of Homer, that I am going to have him sign. I am also bringing baseballs to have those there sign. They are actual balls we got from batting practice a few years ago when the Pirates were in town on Easter Sunday.

It should be a blast. I figure they will be in the middle of the mall.

[buffett0326]

I will be there since its less than a mile away. A bunch of friends who are also fans are going. Should be a blast.

[RicFlair]

I'd like to go to the one in Ashland. What time is the caravan Sunday?

[Bob Winters]

South Point, OH, caravan was a marked disappointment. They had at least 300 people waiting in line, some came as early as noon, and then one of the Reds' reps made an announcement before the panel came out - this announcement was made at about 1:57 p.m., three minutes before the caravan was to start:

"We didn't intend for this stop to be an autograph signing. This stop was mostly reserved for the local media and fans to ask questions. We will do an autograph session in Huntington."

That was uhhh... not fun. Lots of kids disappointed. About half the crowd left, mumbling and grumbling about how no one said this in advance. Nice blunder there, team. No apologies from the Reds about the mix-up either.

I should add that Sabo signed some autographs for fans when he came through the door. He signed for about 10 minutes. It was -- if anything -- a nice touch to see someone understood why so many people came out to see these guys.

Phillips and Bailey were ready to sign some cards at the end of the session when some little kids rushed up to the table. Brennaman said something like, "don't get involved in that, fellas." I took that to mean that they'd miss their stop in Huntington, if they started signing for those who were still at the South Point stop. The players were then escorted out of the front of the furniture store without signing anything. What gives?

[jmac]

Has anyone posted any pics from the caravan in any thread ?

[Reds Fanatic]

Has anyone posted any pics from the caravan in any thread ?

Here are some pics from the Reds Website:

http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/photogallery/...cf1787217.html

http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/photogallery/...cf1787180.html

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/p...cf1787747.html

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/p...cf1787643.html

[jmac]

Here are some pics from the Reds Website:

http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/photogallery/...cf1787217.html

http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/photogallery/...cf1787180.html

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/p...cf1787747.html

http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/p...cf1787643.html

thanks for the links..

[Petitt33]

I'd like to go to the one in Ashland. What time is the caravan Sunday?

Ashland's is from 12 to 2 at the Ashland Town Center

I'm going to try and get there right at 12 so I can get back and watch UK...

[Newman4]

I didn't make it to the South Point stop. I guess I didn't miss much.

[alexad]

I made the trip to Huntington today. I was very impressed for the most part. Of course there is always ways to improve but it was a great time and even my wife really was impressed and had a great time.

My family and I got there around 3:30 p.m. and there was already a pretty decent crowd. They had everything set up in front of the Macy's store near the center of the mall. Wayne K was standing behind the stage and looked tired. He did smile and when small children walked by dressed in Reds gear he would say go Reds and thanks for coming. The line was a complete disaster. They should have only had one line, but somehow there managed to be two lines and I was in the right line, but yet the last line to get through. I did get through and we got everyone to sign including Gapper.
While standing in line waiting for everything to get started, Homer and Brandon walked right in front off us. I actually would not have noticed them, but I looked at some of the pictures from the previous night and noticed Brandon had a bluetooth on his ear. Anyway they walked in front of us with some shopping bags and I said there went Bailey and Phillips. Everyone thought it was neat to see them just walking around like normal folks.

Marty started things off by saying thanks and how great it was to be in Huntington. He then went into his "I am the KING" type talk. He said there would be a 15 minute Q&A and then they would sign autographs with the hopes of getting everyone through the line. From where I was standing, I could only hear Marty, I could not hear any questions nor any responses from John Allen or Wayne Krivsky. I had my wife hold our place in line and walked up to get a better view and to listen. Marty seemed to make fun of most of the questions and even referred one question as being pretty stupid and far fetched to even being asked in front of them. When it was time to get started with the Autograph part, Homer must of been doing a radio interview because he yelled over that time was up and they were not there to do radio interviews. He said they were there for only a limited amount of time. (Typical Marty)

I stood in line behind a father and son, the father being 95 years old and the son well older than my own father. They had some great stories about old Crosley field and their first time seeing the Reds play and players they had met through their lifetimes. It was really neat. Being 95, he was in a wheelchair and was getting tired. It was great that the people from the Mall came back and talked to him and had the Reds representative come back and get him in the front of the line. Chris Sabo came off the stage to get a picture with him.

They all sat up on a stage behind a table and it made it difficult for children to see them. My two boys reached as high as they could and still could not get the ball to the table.

Chris Sabo is a tremendous person. He was the first person signing at the table. He leaned over asked the boys if they knew who he was. My oldest (9) said yep my dad said you wore goggles and was a Reds Star. Sabo smiled and signed their balls.

Homer Bailey was next and let me say he was also GREAT! I found a picture on the internet that shows him in four different pitching poses. My wife had only one responsibility and that was to get his signature on the picture. When she handed it to him, he just looked at it and was saying that it was so cool. HE showed Brandon and he also was amazed at the picture. They had never seen it before. He asked my wife what her name was and she said Kelly. He wanted to know if she took the pictures and she said he(meaning her husband, but caught in the daze of Homer's good looks, at least that is what she said) and then he signed the picture To Kelly, Homer Bailey. Okay so at least he liked the picture and signed it. Brandon was great. He leaned over and shook the kids hand and said thanks for being a Reds fan. Marty was very (Well Marty like). He kept saying lets move it along folks. My youngest son (7) held his ball up not being able to see Marty and Marty responded by saying come on give me the ball if you want it signed. I looked at him with why are you a jerk. He had on his Hall of Fame ring and it was pretty neat to see. Wayne and John were last to sign and they were very polite. I told Wayne I thought he was doing a great job and he said thanks we are trying. John told the boys it was great for them to be there and said it has been a long 4 days, but when you spend 4 straight days with Marty B, you can see why and then he laughed. (I have to actually think he was being honest.) Then Gapper signed also.

Since we were near the end of the line, I told my wife we need to stick around and see if they would take a picture with us. Chris Sabo was awesome once again. He asked for the boys names and took several pictures with the fans. He really showed he wanted to be there. Brandon Phillips also gave us a picture. Marty was not easy, but when we asked he said if you want it, you'd better hurry up and take it. He then yelled at somebody about who is taking me back to the hotel, I am tired and hungry. Homer came of the stage and said he would be right back, because he had been sitting for 2 hours and had to go like a race horse. Homer did come back and took pictures. He had to have a picture with just my wife also. I asked him if wanted a copy of the picture we had signed and he said he would really like and to send it to the Reds in care of him and they would make sure he would get it. He was really down to earth. He did not act cocky or like he was better than us. I was very impressed with both Homer and Brandon. Brandon smiled the whole time he was up on stage signing. He like to be a part of what was going on.

After it was all over, we walked down the mall and coming back, Homer and Brandon were still walking around. Homer bought a ton of stuff by the amount of bags he had in hands. When they saw people wearing Reds stuff, they waived and said Hi. Again unless you knew who they were, you would not have known who they were walking around.

We had a great time. Marty continues to sour my stomach, but the folks at Huntington did a great job. I would say there were around 400 people that went through the line.

I am going to add some pictures in the next post.

I am READY for the season to get started and to see Homer pitch. If he is in AAA, I will get to Columbus and watch him pitch that is for sure.