Reds Caravan 2014

Finally made a Reds Caravan. Each year something comes up. I wasn't going to go this year, but my wife practically forced me to go. I'm really glad she did. It was a lot of fun and a much needed break from everything.

The Reds Caravan has different "Tours" that go to different cities/states. Indiana is part of the Western Tour and each year they stop in Bloomington, Muncie, and Indianapolis. There are different signers and mascots on each Tour. The Western Tour was Reds announcer and HOFer Marty Brennaman, Reds Assistant GM and Vice President Bob Miller, Doug Flynn, Eric Davis, Brayan Pena, and Tucker Barnhart. The mascot was Gapper.

Marty Brennaman announced that there would strictly be 1 autograph per person. No big deal. Some people were complaining because they were signing multiples at other stops, but it's free. Marty then announced everyone and they did about a 10 minute Q&A with the fans. After that, it was autograph time. They all sat at a table and you walked down the line and got their autographs.

A lot of you have seen the Reds helmet that we take to RedsFest each year. I had that with me and got a couple of more autographs on it.

Marty Brennaman






Bob Miller







Brayan Pena





Then I got Doug Flynn on a 1976 SSPC card and he inscribed it "Big Red Machine"






Tucker Barnhart on a ROMLB inscribed with his Twitter handle @tucker_barnhart






Last but not least, Eric Davis. This one is hilarious to me. Crystal and I both got a huge laugh out of it.






It was supposed to be Eric "The Red" Davis, but it turned out Eric "The" Davis. :lol: :lol: I bet there aren't many "The" Davis autos out there.

Looks like you had a great time, Joe! Glad to see you posting and tell Crystal "Hey" from Bobbie and me!

Solid work there, Joe !!

Those Barnhart and Davis baseballs are awesome!

That Eric Davis ball is pretty cool. How long have you been working on your Helmet, got any biggies on there. I missed Reds Fest this year, just didnt have the time, maybe next year.

Thanks guys!

[MENTION=2685]69MetsFan[/MENTION] - Thanks, brother. Already did.

[MENTION=3743]55_marlins_sp[/MENTION] - Thanks, my Amish brother!

[MENTION=10072]Juan Gris[/MENTION] - Thanks! After getting Todd Frazier to sign his Twitter handle at RedsFest, I think I might try to get a few more signed like that. Both of those turned out awesome.

[MENTION=10415]caster513[/MENTION] - Thanks! Been using the helmet since RedsFest 2010. Normally use it for guys I don't have anything else of or that I have already gotten to sign other items. My wife normally uses the helmet so that she doesn't have to try and figure out who's who. :lol: We're up to 37 autographs on it. No real big names on it. It's just a hodgepodge.

Here's a list of who's signed the helmet:
Jack Billingham
Chuck Harmon
Ron Oester
Nick Travieso
Tom Browning
Jim O’Toole
Wayne Granger
Dusty Baker
Ted Power
Marty Brennaman
Mike Leake
Yonder Alonso
Paul Janish
Jim Maloney
Bob Miller
Devin Mesoraco
Jim Kelch
Brayan Pena
Clay Carroll
Sam LeCure
Robert Stephenson
Logan Ondrusek
Neftali Soto
Michael Lorenzen
Ryan LaMarre
Chris Sabo
Tucker Barnhart
Drew Stubbs
Chris Heisey
Matt Maloney
Nick Christiani
Zack Cozart
Sean Marshall
Curtis Partch
Sean Marshall
Todd Benzinger
Jeff Brantley

wonder where joey votto, jay bruce, Brandon Phillips, aroldis chapman, mat latos, johnny cueto, homer bailey, and anyone else worth a dam were on this tour? the lineup this year was about their "G" squad. couldn't even produce any decent #1 picks (Robert Stephenson, phil Ervin). they put about as much effort into the caravan as they did their off season acquisitions.

koal said:

wonder where joey votto, jay bruce, Brandon Phillips, aroldis chapman, mat latos, johnny cueto, homer bailey, and anyone else worth a dam were on this tour? the lineup this year was about their "G" squad. couldn't even produce any decent #1 picks (Robert Stephenson, phil Ervin). they put about as much effort into the caravan as they did their off season acquisitions.

Click to expand...

Didnt Latos and Bailey do part of the southern tour?

I agree, why didnt some of the bigger names come out? Phillips has done so the last few years but I think he's still upset with the ownership about shopping him around for trades. Votto isnt going to ride a bus into hicktown USA to have to mingle with the common folk. Bruce had made arrangements to meet at part of the tour but weather hampered his travel. Cueto-Chapman are in Puerto Rico.

Fordman