Redsfest

[dougdirt]

I wound up paying way to much for parking because I can't read.....or the sign is confusing. Rates after five apparently don't apply if you get there before five. What I thought would be $7 wound up being $14. And of course it's automated. So you can't talk to an actual person....

[paulrichjr]

Hot stove with Cast, Jocketty, Dusty, Joe Morgan, and Jeff Brantley had some interesting comments:

1. Something was brewing last week. 2 things I believe Jocketty stated. He thought they were very close to be done but the other teams wanted too much from the farm.

2. Something is happening next week (probably) according to Cast and Jocketty. I took this to mean something besides Ludwick.

3. They pretty much said Ludwick was a done deal. That brought some cheers

4. No one expects Rolen back. They have spoken to him...Dusty and Walt

5. Todd Frazier has "earned the right to start Opening Day" at 3B according to Dusty.

6. The more criticism Dusty gets the more Cast believes in him because Sparky got a lot also and was a good manager....this is very close to what Cast stated when discussing Dusty and lineup construction.

7. Billy Hamilton is "close". That was a word that Jocketty used.

8. Dusty has no butt anymore according to his wife. Yep that was stated from the stage.

[HeatherC1212]

Best decision the Redfest folks made this year: Moving all the kids stuff to it's own area upstairs. It opened up the main floor SO MUCH and I finally didn't feel like I was stepping on everyone else just trying to get around that middle area. Hallelujah!!

Anyway, I went downtown tonight with my mom and another friend and after a VERY long time trying to find a place to park (there was a bad accident on Plum Street and they had a ton of roads blocked off for a while), we finally got into Duke Energy Center. I'll spare you my long winded update of my evening (I'm way too tired to do that tonight but I'll definitely type up a report and post some pics tomorrow night) but here's a few tidbits about my evening. I got pictures with Sean Marshall & Logan Ondrusek, Devin Mesoraco, JJ Hoover & Pedro Villareal (who is adorable), Wayne Granger & Jack Billingham, coaches Mark Berry, Bryan Price (SUPER nice guy), Juan Lopez, Mike Stefanski, & Chris Spier, and I did the $10 photo booth with Bronson Arroyo. No autographs tonight but I'm gonna try to hit some of those tomorrow. The Kids Press Conference with Todd Frazier, Sam LeCure, and Joey Votto was HILARIOUS. They were totally ragging on each other the entire time and it was so much fun seeing Joey be more relaxed and outgoing during one of these sessions. They also did a brief feature before that session about Todd's efforts to help his area after Hurricane Sandy which definitely brought a few tears to my eyes (he got teary when he was trying to talk about it) and my mom & I went to the Cincy Shirts area and made a purchase to help out (they're donating proceeds from their Toddfather shirt sales to Todd's area for Hurricane relief so if you go back there tomorrow, please go buy at least one shirt from them). I bought four t-shirts total tonight (the Todd one and 3 from the team shop that were on sale) and the three from the team shop were only $34 total (you may be shocked to learn only one of these shirts was a Votto shirt, LOL ). Love finding sales! I did go say Hi to Jamie Ramsey and the other folks in there but we never got to get back there before we left so I need to go back there tomorrow.

I can't think of anything else right now so I'll end this post now. Sorry I ended up rambling a bit more than I though I would but be prepared for a much longer ramble tomorrow!

[lollipopcurve]

Nice post, Heather -- thanks. Love the enthusiasm.

Really rooting for Frazier to be successful as a Red.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Does this mean Joey's got some competition as a future Mr. HeatherC1212 in Pedro Villareal? :O) Thanks for the update Heather (and others), we out-of-towners are eagerly awaiting some pics.

[reds1869]

The place was hopping this morning. I'm glad to see so much Reds related enthusiasm in December.

[Always Red]

I was there this afternoon, the place was absolutely packed.

I was standing right next to a dad with 2 small sons, and when Walt happened to be walking by, the dad asked if he could sign balls for his sons. Walt smiled and agreed, squatted down and talked with the boys while doing so. Very cool.

Doug Flynn did a nice job of emceeing on the main stage. Tracy Jones talked too much, but what else is new?

The memorabilia area was a mob scene. And they were dealing a bit, as end of the year is coming and the show was getting ready to close. Got good buys on signed, framed prints on Sparky and one I have never seen of Johnny Bench from the dugout of Wrigley in 69-71 era (you can tell from the uniform). Johnny is my wife's favorite, and she thought it was too much, but I talked her into it.

[dougdirt]

So, I saw the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life today at Redsfest. I was over in the memorabilia section and looking at some baseball cards. In the case was a Randy Myers autograph on a 1994 Donruss card. It was PSA/DNA certified as authentic (for those unaware, they are a major company in the sports industry who grades the condition of items as well as determines the authenticity of autographs). The asking price? $175.

I don't think there is anyone on the planet who would pay you the price that it would cost you to even send that card in to PSA for authentication (maybe $20, I haven't checked their prices in a long time). I couldn't believe it. I still don't believe it.

[KittyDuran]

Some rambling observations:

Didn't go Friday night... by the time I got out of work and ate it was almost 7pm. Pouring rain, plus I was more than tired.

But I did go today and arrived about a quarter to noon. As Always Red said, it was packed (even though some of the kids stuff was put on the third floor). There seemed to be lines everywhere and not just for the photos and autographs.

Really liked the Reds Connect Zone w/Better Off Red and the Reds on Radio (affiliates not WLW). Since they usually draw a crowd with interviews of Reds personnel, it was nice to have a place for an audience to sit. Took a few photos and 2 small videos of Bronson. Took a pic of Billy Hamilton when he was at BOR.

Took 2 pics (long range) of Mike Leake at one of the photo booths.

Watched the Kids Only Press Conference and Reds Family Feud (fielders vs pitchers) on the Main Stage. Heather is right, Pedro Villareal is a cutie and he was taking some good-natured ribbing from Jim Day for his last name who was the host of the Feud.

Only went by the outskirts of the memorabilia area because it was very crowded (and maybe its just me but it seems to get smaller and more jammed packed every year). Paid for my 2013 Reds Passport and had it signed by the guy who created it.

Ate some cherry cordial ice cream ($1). IIRC it was free the years before, but smaller cups and they always ran out too...

Renewed my season ticket - dropped the club seats (very nice but too expensive), and changed the Bakers Dozen plan to a full weekend plan of 39 games. Changed the seat too.

In the some things never change department: Lighting for pics is still awful. Wireless reception is spotty. Fans still try to get autographs (not during the sessions) and still run (and there were sign everywhere telling them not to). Strollers everywhere (if they had the space there should be a stroller aisle).

Finally, (well until I think of some other things) one thing that I didn't see. Thursday I text Chip and asked if he would be a Redsfest (in the HOF area as a vintage bb player) He said no - which was OK since he wasn't there last year - BUT, I didn't see any vintage bb players. The HOF area was mostly an autograph/main stage, displays of trophies and history, and something new in the Legacy Brick campaign. So unless the players were somewhere else they were not invited.

That's it! I'll try to post pics tomorrow and throw the videos (only a few seconds) of Bronson on youtube.

[dougdirt]

Kitty, there was at least one Vintage player roaming around on Friday night. I didn't see one today, but I wasn't as mobile today as I was yesterday and wasn't there as long either (the guy I was with wasn't feeling well, so we had to leave early).

Saturday was incredibly more packed than Friday.

As for the ice cream, it has been $1 for years. It has always been my "snack" while at Redsfest.

[KittyDuran]

Last year it was like $10-15 to park there. I will just park down at fountain square like usual and save a few bucks to buy myself a stocking stuff. Writing on the internet doesn't pay as well as you would think. Or well, it probably pays exactly what you think lol

It was $12 this year at Tower Place.
Oh, and you're right about the ice cream... I don't get it every year and last year they ran out so it stuck in my mind that it was handed out free before.

[cincrazy]

This ownership does one hell of a job connecting with its fanbase. Say what you will about the Cardinals (I'd said enough myself), but I don't think it's any coincidence that Bob Castellini is a great majority owner after his time as a minority owner in St. Louis. Schott and Lindner did everything wrong for many years (cheapskates, alienated the fanbase, destroyed the farm system, etc.). But Castellini, IMO, has been almost perfect for this market. I love Votto, and Phillips, and Cueto, and all the rest. But this organization truly changed the day the people in charge changed.

[HeatherC1212]

If last night was crazy at Redsfest, today was shear INSANITY as I think everyone in the tri-state area was crammed into Duke Energy Center (OK, not really but it felt like it at times). My poor mom and I got there around 11:30 AM and it was all ready nuts. I heard later in the day that they might have broken their attendance record this year and I totally believe that!

Anyway, we didn't really have anyone at noon that we were dying to get in line for so we just took in the atmosphere and walked around for a bit to start off today's activities. We ended up heading over to Tony Cingrani's photo line and got pics with him. We were at the game where he made his major league debut so that was fun to share with him. We also got pics with Steve Selsky and Robert Stephenson who were really great guys. Steve thought my earrings were really cool and fun (they're baseballs and I got them for Christmas last year) and Robert is quite the cutie. Why are all our prospects adorable?!

We walked around after that (skipping the Hot Stove Report on the main stage for the second time....we get enough of that during the offseason ) and got some info on Spring Training (we're hoping to go in March), talked to the Rosie Reds folks (joining them for the first time this year), picked up some other free stuff, and got the Louisville and Dayton schedules for next year. We also went to the Better Off Red area again and watched Tony Cingrani and Tucker Barnhart play some sort of game that reminded me a little bit of Cornhole. It was hilarious to watch these guys work so hard at this game and come up empty so many times, LOL I got my picture with Tucker after they were done (great guy) and said hi to Jamie and the other folks there. Mom and I did the free photo booth thing in there and the pics turned out hilarious. That was a really fun activity that I'm glad they added this year! I watched part of Bronson's interview with the radio affiliates (Kathy-I think we must have missed each other there this afternoon!) and then saw part of the interview with Todd Benziger in the same area. We walked around the memorabilia area for a bit after that and I bought one of the Larkin giveaway hats for myself and another for a friend of mine for Christmas. We were at that game this year but got there too late to get the hat and he was really bummed out to miss it so I know this will thrill him!

After more walking around that area, we sat down for a bit and watched the Family Feud game with Cozart, Stubbs, LeCure, and Villareal (with two fans also on each team) and that was hilarious. Sam and Zack were ragging on each other a little bit the entire game. Zack and Drew's team ended up winning overall. The Reds alumni Bull Session was pretty fun too (can't remember who all was out there but Tom Browning had a fun Christmas hat on) but I had to leave in the middle of that to go get my Aroldis Chapman autograph. My mom stayed though and she had a great time hearing the guys talk about baseball and share their stories. The Name That Tune game was also while I was gone and mom said it was hilarious. Apparently Mat Latos sang a Justin Bieber song (saw a tweet that Dallas wanted to DFA her husband after this, LMAO ) among other funny things that happened during it.

My autograph experience: I thought I was being smart by going up to my autograph session about twenty minutes early but the line I ended up getting in was all ready from the escalator area all the way back to the doors that took you to the parking garage by that point. Thankfully it felt a lot smaller once we all got into the turnstile things in the autograph room. It took me about 40 minutes to get through the line but it was worth it to get Aroldis' autograph (his was a hard line to get into on the main floor). We were allowed to get a picture of him autographing whatever we brought too so I have a pic of him signing my picture as I'm standing near him which is cool. He was really nice to everyone and at one point, a girl with Down's Syndrome was allowed into the line and Aroldis was SO sweet with this girl. It was such a touching moment. After he signed my picture I said "gracias" to him and I was amused that he said, "You're welcome" back to me...thought I was being all clever saying thank you in Spanish, LOL

On the way back down to the main area, I noticed that Tucker Barnhart and Ryan LaMarre were signing not far from the main stage (where my mom still was) so I went over there and got their autographs. They were both great but mad props to Ryan who, when he saw that I was taking a picture of him (I was trying to catch him in between autograph requests), stopped and gave me a huge smile. That is now one of my favorite pictures because he didn't have to do that at all. He was just being a good guy. Between Tucker, Ryan, Pedro Villareal, Steve Selsky, and Robert Stephenson, the Reds are definitely stocked up very well in the 'really nice and adorable looking baseball player' department, LOL

After all that I went over to say hi to Mo Egger (always fun to catch up with him) and then finally joined my mom again for Bronson's concert. I know Bronson isn't the strongest singer or performer in the world but he always puts on such a fun show and this year was no exception. I love watching him perform and that saxophone guy he always performs with is still AMAZING. The concert was a fun way to end the weekend and once again, I am totally exhausted but really happy and now very anxious for spring training to get here. Redsfest is always a fun time but it definitely gets me antsy very early for baseball to start up again!

I haven't gone through all my pics yet but I will post some here at some point tomorrow afternoon. I didn't take quite as many as I normally do but I think I got some fun pics of the whole weekend. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, I did post a lot of random pics last night and during the day today so you can see those while you wait for my camera ones. My Instagram username is HeatherC1275 and my Twitter handle is kwanfan1212 if you guys want to check those pics out.

[alexad]

It was crazy today. It was my first time going. Way to crowded for me. We got there at noon and they were already out of bags. People were carrying around 4 or 5 of them.

[HeatherC1212]

Ugh, totally forgot to mention that we also got pics with Mat Latos and Mike Leake in the Reds Community Photo booth area today and that both guys were really great to everyone. Mat joked that he was smiling so much that he felt like his mouth was quivering, LOL I saw Dallas in Mat's area at one point but wasn't able to talk to her. If we had made it to that area when Cueto was there this afternoon, and if Homer was in town for the event, we could very well have gotten pics with our entire starting rotation just from that one area, LMAO

Another thing they changed this year....the LaRosa's pizza booth that's near the main stage (across from the sports bar area) finally got a turnstile thing put in next to it so the line to buy pizza was no longer blocking that main walkway like it's done in the past. Really glad they added that this year!