Autograph prices at the St. Louis Cardinals fan event, Winter Warm-Up, demonstrate an appreciation of the down economy.
As every year at this time, I received my package with the autograph details for the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up to be held next weekend. That provides me the opportunity to look at those rising and falling in the eyes of whoever in the Cardinals hierarchy sets what they believe to be the market prices for autographs.
While the prices demanded for signatures of course do not reflect true player value, they do indicate fan value in a way. Of course, all proceeds go to charity, Cardinals Care, so the needy are the true winners.
What is different this year is that there are fewer individuals signing for a donation and lower prices for the ones that are signing. In addition, more free autographs will be provided than before. This is a wise move by the Cardinals, better reflecting the current economic environment.
Autograph tickets are on sale online from January 9 through January 13, with any remaining tickets available at the event. Albert Pujols, the highest-priced autograph at $175, was handled via a special lottery.
The pre-imposed limit of autograph tickets per player per person is three, same as in the past except that for a few players, the previous limit was two. Last year, they were Rick Ankiel, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. That restriction went away this year, as did Ankiel.
Joining Pujols at the top of the pecking order is newly-signed Matt Holliday at $100. In a sign of the economy, there is only one price increase from last year and it is understandable, new Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog.
| Top dogs | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | Commentary |
| Albert Pujols | $175 | $175 | $175 | Held prices flat despite winning every award in sight. |
| Matt Holliday | $100 | Debuts high as expected. | ||
| Second tier | ||||
| Yadier Molina | $75 | $100 | $90 | Drops back down under the $100 barrier. |
| Chris Carpenter | $50 | $60 | $75 | Second year in a row for a price decrease. Bargain! |
| Adam Wainwright | $50 | $60 | $80 | Another surprise drop in price. Just needed a few more votes. |
| Middle of the pack | ||||
| Ryan Ludwick | $30 | $40 | $10 | Should have an interesting case in arbitration, too. |
| Tony La Russa | $30 | $30 | $30 | Biggest signature was on a new contract for 2010. |
| Colby Rasmus | $25 | $30 | $30 | Looks like one of the real bargains of the day. |
| Skip Schumaker | $25 | $30 | $5 | Hopefully, he will get thanks for his position change. |
| Bargains | ||||
| Kyle Lohse | $15 | $25 | He still has his $41 million coming at least. | |
| Brendan Ryan | $15 | $15 | $10 | Last year, he was just a reserve. Now a starter and still $15. |
| Ryan Franklin | $10 | $10 | $10 | Career season didn’t raise his asking price. |
| Kyle McClellan | $5 | $10 | Relievers don’t get enough respect. | |
| Jason Motte | $5 | $10 | I wonder how fast he signs? Has he developed a 2nd signature yet? | |
| Trever Miller | $5 | $5 | Steadiest member of the 2009 pen back for another year. | |
| Josh Kinney | Free | $5 | $5 | Still working on his comeback. |
Autograph prices are lower this year than last for 11 current players and two ex-Cardinals. In addition, the number of current and former players signing for free has been expanded from 47 to 54, while the total number of fee signers is down from 34 in 2009 to 24 this year.
| # of signers | 2010 | 2009 |
| Current fee | 15 | 26 |
| Hall of Famers | 2 | 4 |
| Retired fee | 5 | 4 |
| Free | 54 | 47 |
There are several notable Cardinals missing from the WWU autograph rolls, all for unknown reasons except one, the hitting coach.
| Missing in action | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | Commentary |
| Jason LaRue | $5 | Reserve catcher and his ‘stache missing from 2010 rolls. | ||
| Brad Penny | Newest Cardinal needs to meet fans. Only has one-year contract. | |||
| Dennys Reyes | Would he sign in Spanish? | |||
| Julio Lugo | Would the Boston Red Sox pay for his autograph signings, too? | |||
| Mark McGwire | He’d be extremely popular, but I hear he has some open issues. |
The ranks of the Hall of Famers signing have dropped noticeably with regulars Bob Gibson and Lou Brock being the most obvious absences.
| Hall of Famers | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | Commentary |
| Red Schoendienst | $75 | $75 | $60 | Get it while you still can. A true great. |
| Whitey Herzog | $60 | $40 | $50 | Hall election reverses declining trend in autograph price. |
| Where did they go? | ||||
| Bob Gibson | $125 | Auctioned off baseball memorabilia in 2009. | ||
| Bruce Sutter | $100 | Retired number was questionable decision by Cards. | ||
| Lou Brock | $100 | Always very popular. Also sold memorabilia in 2009. |
Among the past Cardinals heroes signing for a small fee include fan favorite Mike Matheny. John Tudor dropped off the list.
| I remember you! | 2010 | 2009 | Commentary | |
| Ray Lankford | $10 | Didn’t receive any Hall of Fame votes. | ||
| Vince Coleman | $10 | Will he steal your money like so many bases? | ||
| Mike Matheny | $10 | Should be a very popular autograph. | ||
| Bernard Gilkey | $5 | $15 | Can’t beat the price. | |
| Jack Clark | $5 | $10 | Fox Sports Midwest broadcaster drops fee. | |
| Not appearing in 2010 | ||||
| John Tudor | $10 | Probably still cranky. |
The article would not be complete without noting these ten former Cardinals who signed in past years. Best of luck, guys.
| The departed | 2009 | 2008 | Commentary |
| Rick Ankiel | $60 | $55 | Leaves St.Louis after 13 years |
| Troy Glaus | $40 | Did signing aggravate that supposedly-OK shoulder? | |
| Chris Duncan | $20 | $40 | Autograph price was already in decline. |
| Khalil Greene | $20 | Just signed contract with Texas. | |
| Todd Wellemeyer | $15 | Still looking for work. | |
| Joel Pineiro | $10 | $20 | Trying to find multi-year security. |
| Chris Perez | $10 | Dealt to Cleveland for Mark DeRosa. | |
| Brian Barton | $5 | Gone and forgotten. | |
| Adam Kennedy | $5 | Was a WWU no-show and on his way out the door. | |
| Brad Thompson | $5 | $10 | Released and signed with Royals. |
Not to be forgotten are a major batch of current and former Cardinals who will be signing for free. There are some nice names in here, so don’t think you have to drop big money to snare good autographs. For example, Jaime Garcia won’t be free next year, I bet.
| Mitchell Boggs | Daniel Descalso | Jaime Garcia | Mark Hamilton | Daryl Jones |
| Josh Kinney | Lance Lynn | Tyler Norrick | Matt Pagnozzi | Matt Scherer |
| Nick Stavinoha | George Altman | Andy Benes | Scott Cooper | Danny Cox |
| Mike Crudale | Ken Dayley | Jim Donohue | Curt Ford | Rich Hacker |
| Rick Horton | Charlie James | Tom Lawless | Joe Magrane | T.J. Matthews |
| Ed Mickelson | Pat Perry | Jerry Reuss | Ted Savage | Todd Worrell |
| Allen Craig | David Freese | Tyler Greene | Blake Hawksworth | |
| Pete Kozma | Joe Mather | Adam Ottavino | Shane Robinson | |
| P.J. Walters | Alan Benes | Glenn Brummer | John Costello | |
| Boots Day | Chuck Diering | Neil Fiala | David Green | |
| Ron Hunt | Mike Jorgensen | Mark Little | Greg Mathews | |
| Jose Oquendo | Jay Randolph | Kerry Robinson | Scott Terry |
The 14th Annual Winter Warm-Up, a three-day event, will take place on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend; Saturday, Sunday and Monday, January 16-18, 2010.
For full WWU information, including signing schedules and ticket prices, follow this link.
Wonder why Shannon and Hrabosky don’t do autographs?
Would love to see McGee.
Well Big Mac has taken the plunge, admitting steroid use. Lets get the circus over. Glad he didn’t wimp out.
I thought now days a lot of guys signed exclusive deals for autographs — do most of these deals have a charity exception?
Ruben Gotay and Brad Penny are late additions. Prices not quoted.
You mean they aren’t telling you how much they will pay you to stand in line’s to get Gotay’s autograph?
My visual is of the Maytag repairman.
Report on WWU. Crowded but very well behaved and lots of volunteers around to answer questions etc so no problems. Beer was $5, food limited and possibly edible. Long lines for most auographs.
Shannon answered questions and told stories for about an hour. Asked about Jack Clarks comments he said ‘in one ear, out the other’. Asked about McGwire he just was interested in what kind of a coach he was going to make. Was interested in the idea of Big Mac working with non-power hitters like Brendan. Said there was a lot of drugs in baseball and on Cards in Herzog’s time. Said he was glad he never got into that stuff. Said he had a hard time hitting Drysdale.
Mo did a somewhat intimate Q & A with a tightly packed group of about 100. Abamondi was there also. Said ‘no chance’ McGwire would pinch hit. Said his ‘top prospect’ was Miller due to high end potential. Said draft would be best availible rather than signability driven. Said Freese would get chance. Asked about what plan B was, sounded like it was not well defined. Didn’t sound hot on Smoltz. Said the Arb guys needed to be dealt with, then go from there. A good looking and intelligent gentleman in the back tried to get him to talk about Colby’s role by asking if it would be good if he hit somewhere besides second so Albert wouldn’t lead the team in SB’s again. Mo declined to talk about the lineup, and said nothing else at all about Colby, moving on to another question. The good looking gentleman tried RC.
Bling, that is good stuff
The good looking gentleman huh? and smart too? Wow!! I have often wondered what it would be like to be good looking and smart.
I’m going to take you to a game this year BB. Promise.
Looks like the cards may stand pat……………huh……….Ryan Ludwick will settle, he isn’t an idiot. We have to be concerned about a sudden escalation in the costs of Arbitration……………right.
Thanks RC. Forgot to mention a good point by Shannon. Asked about Albert and Matt maybe competing at the plate, he stressed not to forget about Luddy. Said Luddy would get in on the action and might have ‘a banner year’. Struck me as a good point. After facing Albert and Matt pitchers may be frazzled or have a let down a give Luddy some chances. A repeat of 2008, or maybe a bit better would be sweet.
Couple more things from Mo. Asked about if Freese didn’t work out, mentioned T Green, said Craig had been working in OF and ‘wouldn’t want to be a yo-yo.’ ( Craig’s not a 3rd baseman in other words, IMO) Asked about the bench, said it would be young. Sounded like Craig’s bat impressed. Asked about the Mateo kid with the eye, didn’t sound like much interest.
Talking about Holliday, said the Austin meeting was requested by Boras. Said toward the end he thought Matt ‘took ownership’ of the negotiation, or words to that effect, but pressed further I thought he backed away a little from suggesting Matt took controll or anything, but he said Matt wanted to play here, yada yada. Bottom line is I think he was saying Matt told Boras something like “nice work, lets wrap it up”.
Asked about minor leaguers with real potential, he said if you want to see the prospects with potential look at the Springfield roster this year.
I was surprised to see Mo has a sense of humor. Very enjoyable .
Jay Randolph thinks Dodger Dogs are over-rated.
At the live auction, a Yadi autographed game jersey and an Albert autographed game hat sold for about the same, around $1100.00 IIRC.
Look forward to it Westy. Don’t have any tickets this year.
Big Mac got big cheeres at the WWU. He’s on stage now.
Clark got bood when he took the stage earlier.
Doesn’t surprise me about both Clark and McGwire Bling. Like I stated earlier, I just can’t believe most fans want their hero’s to resort to name calling like Clark did. Clark will ultimately regret making those comments is my bet but here again you learn from failure not success.