RedsFest

[HeatherC1212]

Was he sort of short, with a dark beard, glasses and wearing a baseball cap? I've seen this guy at various Reds events (including the now defunct Photo Day) who was a professional photographer with a real nice camera.

Hmmm, I don't remember if he had a beard or not (he may have had a gotee) but he did have dark hair and was wearing a baseball cap. He was carrying around a large black photo portfolio case too. It could have been the same guy!

Heather I might have seen you Saturday at the entrance... if I remember some of your photos from years past.... Do you have short blonde hair and around 5'4"? I was wearing a light blue ski sweater, blue jeans, mirrored shades toting around my Reds bag...

I do have blonde hair but its actually pretty long right now and I'm only about 5' tall too, so you probably didn't see me on Saturday! I don't know if I saw you or not because I think there were a LOT more people there on Saturday than Friday. I was wearing a Reds jersey with a long sleeved black top underneath it and initially had on my grey fleece jacket when we first came in. That would have been cool to meet you!

[OnBaseMachine]

My girlfriend and I got a picture with Cueto and Volquez as well on Saturday. With 2 of us and two of them during the down time while the photographer got ready we sort of each greeted the player next to us. I had a brief exchange with Encarnacion who spoke pretty good English. After we were done I asked my gf about Cueto and she wondered why he didn't say anything to her. She apparently said hi, how's it going to him and he just sort of nodded to her. Later, while that line was finishing up we were watching the two of them interact with a security guard and the guard was definitely addressing Cueto about where he needed to go and Encarnacion was translating in between. The guard would talk to Encarnacion who would relay. I also noticed on Saturday that Cueto always appeared to be paired with a fellow Dominican, either Encarnacion or Volquez, which I think was for comfort reasons. Volquez seemed to have less interaction with fans when we got his autograph but he still seemed to talk a little.

I was watching Cueto and Volquez during their photo shoot on Friday night. At one point a guy dressed up in a Santa suit with a Reds helmet on walked up to get his picture taken with Cueto/Volquez. I guess something was wrong with the camera so there was about five minutes of downtime. This guy was talking nonstop to Cueto/Volquez and Volquez was laughing/joking with him the whole time. Cueto just nodded his head and smiled the whole time... you could tell he had no idea what the guy was saying.

From what I've read, Johnny speaks a little English but not a whole lot yet. Edwin speaks much better English than I thought.

[HeatherC1212]

I was watching Cueto and Volquez during their photo shoot on Friday night. At one point a guy dressed up in a Santa suit with a Reds helmet on walked up to get his picture taken with Cueto/Volquez. I guess something was wrong with the camera so there was about five minutes of downtime. This guy was talking nonstop to Cueto/Volquez and Volquez was laughing/joking with him the whole time. Cueto just nodded his head and smiled the whole time... you could tell he had no idea what the guy was saying.

From what I've read, Johnny speaks a little English but not a whole lot yet. Edwin speaks much better English than I thought.

That reminds me of something the Dayton guy (the photographer) told me about when we were waiting in Micah's line. He said that back when Cueto was in Dayton, they had to teach him how to write his name in English. Apparently when he first started signing autographs, all he wrote was J-O-H-N-N-Y and it was all printed out, no cursive. I guess he now signs either Johnny or J.Cueto when he does autographs but I thought that was kind of cute that they had to teach him how to write his name out in English for autographs. It will definitely be good to have Ramon catching for Cueto to help with the language barrier! Hopefully he's learning though so he can talk to everyone else, LOL

[Chip R]

That would have been cool to meet you!

You would think so, wouldn't you?

[Caseyfan21]

I was watching Cueto and Volquez during their photo shoot on Friday night. At one point a guy dressed up in a Santa suit with a Reds helmet on walked up to get his picture taken with Cueto/Volquez. I guess something was wrong with the camera so there was about five minutes of downtime. This guy was talking nonstop to Cueto/Volquez and Volquez was laughing/joking with him the whole time. Cueto just nodded his head and smiled the whole time... you could tell he had no idea what the guy was saying.

From what I've read, Johnny speaks a little English but not a whole lot yet. Edwin speaks much better English than I thought.

Ooprs, just reread that. We got our picture with Cueto and Encarnacion, not Cueto and Volquez as the original sentenance said.

Yeah, I noticed that about Edwin as well. I didn't think he spoke a ton but his accent wasn't really very thick at all. From what I noticed, he's clearly helping as Johnny's big brother in a lot of situations.

[OnBaseMachine]

That reminds me of something the Dayton guy (the photographer) told me about when we were waiting in Micah's line. He said that back when Cueto was in Dayton, they had to teach him how to write his name in English. Apparently when he first started signing autographs, all he wrote was J-O-H-N-N-Y and it was all printed out, no cursive. I guess he now signs either Johnny or J.Cueto when he does autographs but I thought that was kind of cute that they had to teach him how to write his name out in English for autographs. It will definitely be good to have Ramon catching for Cueto to help with the language barrier! Hopefully he's learning though so he can talk to everyone else, LOL

I have a couple cards of Cueto that are signed JOHNNY.

Here's a picture of the card I have:



And here's a baseball I just found on Ebay of his new signature:

[OnBaseMachine]

I think I spent somewhere around $80 just on Reds photos and posters at Redsfest. Among the items I bought:

-Big Red Machine Great Eight poster
-Johnny Cueto lithograph
-Barry Larkin lithograph
-Frank Robinson lithograph
-Johnny Bench lithograph
-Joe Morgan lithograph
-Mario Soto 8x10 photo (signed by Soto)
-Paul O'Neill 8x10 photo
-Jose Rijo 8x10 photo
-George Foster 8x10 photo (signed by Foster)
-Jay Bruce 8x10 photo

Plus I bought dad a $25 magazine with Johnny Bench and his signature on the cover for Christmas.

Redsfest is awesome. I can't wait to go again next year. I'm hoping the Reds Caravan comes to Charleston in January... I'm sure they will since they did last year.

[Blimpie]

I am still pretty pumped after RedsFest, as well. Any word on when the Caravan dates/locations will be announced?

[OnBaseMachine]

I am still pretty pumped after RedsFest, as well. Any word on when the Caravan dates/locations will be announced?

I'm pretty sure the Caravan is from Janaury 12-16 but I'm not sure of the locations yet. IIRC it's expanding to three legs this year instead of two.

[Blimpie]

Thanks for the dates, OBM....

[Mario-Rijo]

I'm pretty sure the Caravan is from Janaury 12-16 but I'm not sure of the locations yet. IIRC it's expanding to three legs this year instead of two.

How does the caravan compare to Redsfest? I assume just a smaller, less attended (by that I mean players) version. Do they sell olds Reds cards and memorabilia at these events? And do they sell Jerseys?

[Caseyfan21]

How does the caravan compare to Redsfest? I assume just a smaller, less attended (by that I mean players) version. Do they sell olds Reds cards and memorabilia at these events? And do they sell Jerseys?

I don't recall them selling much of anything the last few years. It's mostly just the players....there's usually a half hour or so Q & A followed by a large autograph line. They usually have a couple small booths for the Hall of Fame and Reds Community Fund. I think a couple other co-sponsors might also have tables but I don't remember them ever selling any memorabilia or jerseys or anything. It's all about meeting and interacting with the players.

[Blimpie]

I'm pretty sure the Caravan is from Janaury 12-16 but I'm not sure of the locations yet. IIRC it's expanding to three legs this year instead of two.

Upon further review, these may not be the actual caravan dates...

RedsFan1966 informed me that he saw some banners on display during RedsFest which indicated that the Caravan dates would be January 22-25. I guess we will just have to wait for the press release.

Also, in response to the question from Mario-Rijo, I have never seen any caravan incorporate either exhibits or memorabilia sales into the program. It has typically been comprised of Q&A and autograph signing.

Normally, all of the players are made available during the same time block (about two hours). I have been to about 3-4 caravans--all in Lexington. In those, the location was anywhere from a bank lobby to the largest mall in KY.

In any event, the crowds are MUCH smaller than what you would see at RedsFest and there are far better opportunities for dialogue/photos with the players.

[Chip R]

I have to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I have in years past. I'm not that big into the autograph and picture thing. In the past they used to have some pretty good bargains on clothes. Not really the case anymore. It's very, very crowded and difficult to move around without bumping in to people. It's not a criticism of the event but it's just my personal tastes.

I worked our vintage base ball booth and got to eat for free at a special buffet for the volunteers and players. Some of us were sitting down to eat right after the players were introduced. After they were introduced they all came back into the food area. Brandon Phillips was talking to everyone - by that I mean all the volunteers helping out back stage. He couldn't have been nicer to those people. One of my friends talked to Rosales and he said Rosales was so nice to him and his kids and he even gave some hitting tips to his kids.