This is somewhat of an historic post as it is the first one I am writing on an airplane (I was going to wait until I arrived home - like always- but, unfortunately, the guy sitting next to me just woke me up so I figured this is as good a time as any to write this). Anyway, this leg of my ongoing long, strange trip began Friday afternoon. I was slated to fly to St. Louis where we had Tony LaRussa and Yadier Molina scheduled for public appearances on Saturday. This trip's cast was myself and CC from my office (as always the names will be abbreviated to protect the innocent and no it is not Cedric Ceballos) We received a phone call from American Airlines mid-afternoon which contained some bad news. All the flights out of LaGuardia and JFK were cancelled due to both bad weather and an air-traffic control problem. Thankfully (at least we thought so at the time) we were able to secure a flight out of Westchester County Airport to Washington, D.C. and then a connecting flight to Missouri. This was only the second time I have flown out of Westchester (hard to believe but true) and was shocked at the absolute mess I witnessed upon entering the small airport. There were long lines everywhere. People were yelling. Flights were getting canceled and delayed. A local newstation was interviewing irate customers. It was crazy. Luckily we did board the flight to D.C.. It was a really small airplane and , about midway through the ride, we experienced some of the worst turbulence ever. The plane was bobbing up and down for close to ten minutes as we flew through a lightning storm. Obviously we did land in D.C. and finally boarded the flight to St. Louis. When all was said and done we landed in Missouri at around midnight and arrived at the hotel about a half hour later. Now onto Saturday-
I awoke to the sound of an alarm clock at 6:00 AM. Double C and I headed straight over to the location of the appearance and began setting up. Tony LaRussa arrived at 8:30. This gave him an hour and a half to sign in private before the public portion began. I talked to Tony for over an hour about National League baseball. It amazed me that he knew everything that was going on in the league (really both leagues). When I called him out on it he simply stated that he was a fan just like me. I thought that was awesome. We revisited the painful game 7 from last year's NLCS (It felt good to talk about it as I haven't in quite some time). We also spoke about current Mets pitcher Jorge Sosa (6-1..strong!) and how the Cardinals actually let him go before the season began (They could sure use him right now!). We also talked about the upcoming All-Star Game where LaRussa is managing the NL team. He is a big National League guy and I could tell he really wants this one. Once Tony finished the private items he went out to the public. LaRussa was so great with the fans. Everyone on line thanked him for last year. I could tell within two minutes that these were different fans than we are used to. They are way too positive about everything (at least for my taste as a New Yorker) but truly seem to love their Cards.
Yadi arrived at about 10:15. He was scheduled to sign for the public from 11-12:30. Molina had a cast on his hand as he is still rehabbing. He is a few weeks away from returning to action. Yadi knocked out the private items in about 45 minutes and headed straight out to the public. I could not believe how long the line was. He really may be the most popular Cardinal aside from Albert Pujols. Just like LaRussa he was incredibly nice to everyone. He went out of his way to take photos with a few sick children that weren't able to get around to the other side of the table. I talked to him a little about his kind nature (most athletes get bored of taking photos with fans after the first few). He said that was the way he was brought up and that his brothers are the same way. Eventually Yadi and I spoke about his Game 7 homerun. Molina should be returning to the lineup for the series at Shea at the end of this month. I told him that I can't be seen at Shea talking to him. He will be booed like no other player has this season (with the exception of maybe Scott Schoeneweis?) I won't boo him though. As much as it pains me to say it I do really like Yadi. He plays the game the right way and is a stand up guy. Anyway, once the line was finished Molina stuck around for about twenty minutes just in case any customers were running late.
Once the show was over it took about an hour to box up the product to ship back to New York. We were hoping to catch an earlier flight back as ours was not taking off until 7:20. Unfortunately there were no flights so we got to spend five hours in beautiful Lambert Airport (not the first time I have spent five hours in an airport and certainly not the last). Finally, after a brutal afternoon in St. Louis, we took off on time. I immediately fell asleep on the plane and was awoken minutes later. That leads me to this very moment as I am completing this entry.
While it was far from a pleasurable trip it was quite productive and I really enjoyed hanging out with Tony and Yadi. We were also able to get some amazing product signed along the way including black-leather baseballs and 2006 World Series balls.
We have another exciting week coming up which includes private signings with Vincent LeCavalier, Joe Torre, Tiki Barber, Bryan Trottier, Tony Hawk, Robinson Cano and Gary Carter. There are sure to be a few more added as the days go on. Enjoy "The Sopranos" tomorrow and have a great weekend!
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