RedsFest

[OnBaseMachine]

Blimpie: Was Cueto easy to understand when you were talking to him? I've read that he knows some English but he's still not as fluid as Volquez is yet.

btw Edwin seems like a really good guy. He was constantly talking with fans and shaking their hands during his autograph sessions. He drew a pretty big ovation from the crowd during introductions.

[KittyDuran]

Me and Heather (w/friend) must have just missed each other - I got there yesterday at around 11:30 as well. This time I brought my camera to take a few pics - mostly of the exhibits, etc. Tried to upload into RZ but something about secruity is stopping it!? Oh well, I'll try again later. The hot spots of course were the autograph lines and gatherings around the info desk. There was a problem a little after 12pm concerning the schedule - which are announced an hour ahead - so you have dozens of people just staring up waiting for the change - then the chaos (OBM was probably in the group) of getting to the lines quick enough. (*My feelings on that later) Lucked out with Jay Bruce because he was signing autographs in the Redheads area (he's this year's spokesperson), so I snapped a few pics of him there. Picked up a few Grapper ornaments handed out along with the baseball cards (and coupons).

They talked about the Caravan on the main stage but I didn't see any schedule (but they did have the HUGE tour bus they will be using on display).

Once again, I tried to avoid the food - and it smelled great - but did break down to buy 4 cups of ice cream (which were a gooey mess by the time I got home)...

* For those of us (me and including the Teamsters) who remember past RedsFests know that the hour scheduling is just a recent (2? years) addition to the event. It used to be that the schedule was already set for the 2 days and you could plan ahead. The problem (both with the photos but mostly with the autographs) were that people would camp out, sometimes more than an hour ahead causing major logjams. Also, there was no limit (IIRC) on how many items you could have autographed. They tried a voucher system for the autographs for one year but that was a MAJOR headache because you had to stand in two lines. So, since I'm a "photo" person I like to blame the autograph seekers for this pain in the butt... That's really the reason for me not getting too many photos of the players - I luv my Reds but I don't have the patience to hang around waiting for the opportunity. BTW, saw many people with suitcases full of stuff to be autographed... Hello, ebay!

[OnBaseMachine]

Kitty: Yep. That was frustrating. After I got my George Foster autograph (around 12:05), I headed straight to the info desk to see who was signing at 1:00. Like you said, the signing info is supposed to be posted an hour before but it wasn't until 12:30 that the 1:00 info was posted. After that mishap they got back on schedule and started posting an hour ahead of time.

That ice cream was the best ice cream I've ever tasted. I had the cherry cordial - It was delicious.

[dougdirt]

Was it just me, or was anyone else slightly surprised that the Carolina Mudcats didn't have a booth set up at Redsfest? I figured it would be a perfect chance to kind of introduce themselves to the fan base, but I guess not.

[KittyDuran]

Was it just me, or was anyone else slightly surprised that the Carolina Mudcats didn't have a booth set up at Redsfest? I figured it would be a perfect chance to kind of introduce themselves to the fan base, but I guess not.

It would've been nice, but do you honestly think that "average joe fan" would care? I know you and I would since we're into the minor leagues... but in the past I don't remember any of the minor league teams having a presence at Redsfest except for the players themselves. Heck, some years Sarasota's CoC wouldn't be there (and they could've promoted ST big time).

Yesterday, tho' the Reds on Radio Affiliate was WONE in Dayton - but who was there on Friday night?

[dougdirt]

It would've been nice, but do you honestly think that "average joe fan" would care? I know you and I would since we're into the minor leagues... but in the past I don't remember any of the minor league teams having a presence at Redsfest except for the players themselves. Heck, some years Sarasota's CoC wouldn't be there (and they could've promoted ST big time).

Yesterday, tho' the Reds on Radio Affiliate was WONE in Dayton - but who was there on Friday night?

I know Louisville was there last year, but they were promoting the AAA All Star game.

I can't remember who the ROR affiliate was on Friday night. I know I stopped by and checked it out for a while, but I just can't remember (shame on me).

[Blimpie]

Blimpie: Was Cueto easy to understand when you were talking to him? I've read that he knows some English but he's still not as fluid as Volquez is yet.

btw Edwin seems like a really good guy. He was constantly talking with fans and shaking their hands during his autograph sessions. He drew a pretty big ovation from the crowd during introductions.

It was really my son who did all of the talking to them; and he specifically approached EdE. As a result, Cueto and Volquez did alot of smiling and nodding while EdE was talking to him.

After we got our picture with EdE, my son even said, "now I know why Encarnacion meets the pitching coach on the mound when either of those guys are pitching."

[Blimpie]

They talked about the Caravan on the main stage but I didn't see any schedule (but they did have the HUGE tour bus they will be using on display).

When I first saw the coach, it was full of fans who were checking out the interior. It looked as though a line was forming at the door, so we entered the line figuring it was something like "two get off--two more can get on" kinda thing.

All of the sudden, I see people start pouring out of the thing (along with a staffer). I then learned that the interior of the coach was supposed to be off limits COMPLETELY. Apparently, some little kid figured out how to open the doors and began hosting some improptu tours...

[Caseyfan21]

It was really my son who did all of the talking to them; and he specifically approached EdE. As a result, Cueto and Volquez did alot of smiling and nodding while EdE was talking to him.

After we got our picture with EdE, my son even said, "now I know why Encarnacion meets the pitching coach on the mound when either of those guys are pitching."

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.

[Caseyfan21]

btw Edwin seems like a really good guy. He was constantly talking with fans and shaking their hands during his autograph sessions. He drew a pretty big ovation from the crowd during introductions.

I noticed this as well. I always sort of thought he was a little distant and a bit aloof (for lack of better word), but he definitely was a very nice guy who smiled and made an effort to interact with fans. I was very impressed with his demeanor with fans. He totally changed my perception of him since I had never met him previously.

[Caseyfan21]

Here's a couple other funny stories from my Redsfest experience that will bring a few laughs:

First a little bit of background.....my girlfriend went with me. She is by no means a hard core Reds fan...she was never a Reds or baseball fan until she started dating me. But she has come a long way and while she will never care about statistics (I taught her a .300 BA is good and an ERA below 4.00 is good), she still enjoys going to a lot of games and meeting players especially (I can't ask for much more and she brings a unique perspective). One other important piece of info about her is her favorite players. She frequently gets frustrated with the Reds for "trading all the people I know" but she is a huge supporter of under dogs. If there is a player she's met that she thinks is "a nice guy" than she will stick with him to the bitter end even if I curse his name. Example A is Juan Castro, one of her favorite players of all time cause he was really nice to her when she met him after a game a few years back. Her other current favorite is Norris Hopper because her and her friend went to a game when he was first called up a couple years ago and thought he was short and had a cute name. Other favorite players of hers have included Joe Valentine (he was cute), Dan Haren (met him at a hotel bar and he's cute), Sean Casey (nice guy), Pokey Reese (fun name), and Kearns. So you see what I'm dealing with here.

So her biggest goal at Reds fest was not a Jay Bruce autograph or Johnny Cueto graph, it was of course a Norris Hopper autograph. When we first arrived we were lucky enough to catch his photo booth time with Paul Janish and get a picture with us and both of them. Since it was a preprinted one for the donation, I suggested it might be a good idea to get both of them to autograph it. Janish signed the next hour with no line which was easy but we needed to get Hopper. I suggested waiting outside the season ticket holders line after he came out so we camped out there. He went past us quickly so I set off in pursuit with some others. Lucky enough for me he was walking past the Hooter's girl tent and had to get a quick flirt in with one girl who talked to him so I caught up and as he left I got him to sign the picture. This made the girl's day right there.

Later, we were over in the Reds community fund looking at the old game used stuff (actually some reasonable prices compared to what they charge in season) and lo and behold we found a Juan Castro game used bat for the bargain basement price of $25. I got it for her as an early Christmas gift so I now probably have a free pass for the rest of the month. She immediately wanted to stop by a store and get some brackets to hang it up on the way home. So that was entertaining to see just how easy it was to make her day and it taught me the lesson that Redsfest would be much easier if my favorite players were the underdogs no one else cared about.

One other story was our quest to find some baseballs for autographs. I was totally unprepared having just gotten home from school late Friday night so I decided I'd just buy some autograph stuff there. I went over to the Reds shop and official balls were $24. I went over to the memorabilia area and the best price I found was $11 for an official ball so I bought two for Cueto and Volquez to sign. I needed another ball for "lesser" players to all sign so I found a deal better than the $11....I bought a single sweet spot signed Dusty Baker ball for $10. Yes, that's correct folks, Dusty's autograph actually reduced the value of the ball by $1 from the next cheapest ball! I told this story to a couple players who all got a good laugh out of it as well (no names listed in case Dusty reads the site ).

I was in the Cueto/Encarnacion picture line while Massett, Thompson, and Bray were all taking pictures next to us. They had no line so while we were waiting I talked with them a bit and got their autographs. I walked up and asked if they would mind signing even though it was probably "a little bit illegal in the picture line." Security had gotten on people about it earlier in the day. Massett started cracking up and said "Hey aren't we all here to just have a good time anyways, I don't care if we're breaking the rules as long as we have fun!" He seemed like a really nice guy along with Bray. Thompson was also nice, just a bit more quiet.

I also got the chance to meet Buddy LaRosa when we were eating a late lunch and we saw him set up at a table. He was a hoot. He was eating it up giving out LaRosa's balls and bats autographed by him and taking pictures. I enjoyed meeting him, and it's a great story to tell people.

Other than that, not too much more to report. We had a good time wondering around finding free stuff and the Reds winter hat they gave out was really nice. I was out with my girlfriends family at a tree farm near Dayton this afternoon and saw another kid also wearing the hat. I'd expect to pay $10 in the store for one of those so it was nice to get it free (especially cause I needed another winter hat). I had not been to Redsfest since the convention center was redone so I was blown away with how well this event was run. I loved the idea of giving out autograph locations an hour early but I can see how older folks who don't get around as fast might not like it. It sure beat the craziness of pushing shoving and hoping you would get a ticket voucher or the craziness of guessing which player would be where and having no central location to check. I have to say, the current ownership has really improved the way the Reds run things off the field, hopefully we can start to see some improvement on the field as well.

[KittyDuran]

Later, we were over in the Reds community fund looking at the old game used stuff (actually some reasonable prices compared to what they charge in season) and lo and behold we found a Juan Castro game used bat for the bargain basement price of $25. I got it for her as an early Christmas gift so I now probably have a free pass for the rest of the month. She immediately wanted to stop by a store and get some brackets to hang it up on the way home. So that was entertaining to see just how easy it was to make her day and it taught me the lesson that Redsfest would be much easier if my favorite players were the underdogs no one else cared about.

Well, I saw someone buy a Castro jersey Saturday - that wasn't you???

[HeatherC1212]

Me and Heather (w/friend) must have just missed each other - I got there yesterday at around 11:30 as well. This time I brought my camera to take a few pics - mostly of the exhibits, etc. Tried to upload into RZ but something about secruity is stopping it!? Oh well, I'll try again later. The hot spots of course were the autograph lines and gatherings around the info desk. There was a problem a little after 12pm concerning the schedule - which are announced an hour ahead - so you have dozens of people just staring up waiting for the change - then the chaos (OBM was probably in the group) of getting to the lines quick enough. (*My feelings on that later) Lucked out with Jay Bruce because he was signing autographs in the Redheads area (he's this year's spokesperson), so I snapped a few pics of him there. Picked up a few Grapper ornaments handed out along with the baseball cards (and coupons).

They talked about the Caravan on the main stage but I didn't see any schedule (but they did have the HUGE tour bus they will be using on display).

Once again, I tried to avoid the food - and it smelled great - but did break down to buy 4 cups of ice cream (which were a gooey mess by the time I got home)...

* For those of us (me and including the Teamsters) who remember past RedsFests know that the hour scheduling is just a recent (2? years) addition to the event. It used to be that the schedule was already set for the 2 days and you could plan ahead. The problem (both with the photos but mostly with the autographs) were that people would camp out, sometimes more than an hour ahead causing major logjams. Also, there was no limit (IIRC) on how many items you could have autographed. They tried a voucher system for the autographs for one year but that was a MAJOR headache because you had to stand in two lines. So, since I'm a "photo" person I like to blame the autograph seekers for this pain in the butt... That's really the reason for me not getting too many photos of the players - I luv my Reds but I don't have the patience to hang around waiting for the opportunity. BTW, saw many people with suitcases full of stuff to be autographed... Hello, ebay!

Aww, I bet we did just miss each other! That's funny that we got there around the same time. I also got some of the ice cream but we ate it there because I never would have lasted until I got home. We only had two cups though this year so I did reign myself in a little better than last year when I had like 3-4 cups at the event (cookies and cream is my flavor...YUM), LOL I saw a lot of the autograph people too and I can't imagine dragging a suitcase or big backpack around for all that time. My back was hurting just watching some of these guys carrying all this stuff around all day! I did meet a guy when I was in the line for Micah Owings who is a photographer and likes to get his pictures printed out and signed by the players. I think he must live near Dayton because he said he's gone to a lot of Dragons games and has a ton of autographs from some of the guys when they were there (like Jay and Johnny Cueto). He also gives a print out to the player which I thought was really cool. He has some really nice shots, he has one of Jay getting his first MLB hit, and he was a really good guy too. We had a nice chat while waiting for Micah.

And I have to agree about that Reds winter hat. It's really nice and I actually wore it when we were walking around downtown. It's really warm and I think it will get a lot of use from me this winter!

[KittyDuran]

I did meet a guy when I was in the line for Micah Owings who is a photographer and likes to get his pictures printed out and signed by the players. I think he must live near Dayton because he said he's gone to a lot of Dragons games and has a ton of autographs from some of the guys when they were there (like Jay and Johnny Cueto). He also gives a print out to the player which I thought was really cool. He has some really nice shots, he has one of Jay getting his first MLB hit, and he was a really good guy too. We had a nice chat while waiting for Micah.

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.

[KittyDuran]

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...