Get Ready for the 2012 Baseball EXPO

Let me be clear. I would love to see Southern California become the sports collector mecca it once was. You see, there was a time when you could pick any weekend of the month and find a card show filled with top notch autograph guest, hundreds of dealers, and thousands of collectors in one room. You could trade with ease while being able to find just about anything you needed to fill out your collection. Unfortunately, those days have long since past.

On the other hand, Richard McClemmy, a former executive with the Angels, hopes to change that. Along with key sponsors like Memory Lane Inc. auction house and PSA, he hopes to bring back the large card show to the Southland in a big way. Heck, he's throwing in a nice little twist that I think will bring out more fans than ever before.The first weekend of the upcoming season will be the First Annual 2012 Baseball EXPO and Sports Memorabilia Road Show. It will be held at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel on Friday, April 6th to Saturday, April 7th. More than 20 current and former ballplayers are expected to be available for autographs; including Steve Garvey and Rex Hudler. More guest will be announced as we get closer to Opening Day. On top of that, various Baseball clinics are being planned for the kids.

That's right. Richard's ambitious plan is to host an annual Baseball fanfest style event in Southern California. Here is their website with some details. This is from the press release:

The McClemmy Companies (TMC) of Costa Mesa CA, on Wednesday February 1^st 2012, announced The 2012 Baseball EXPO and Sports Memorabilia Road Show will be held at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel on the opening weekend of the Major League Baseball Championship season in Anaheim. Fans of all ages in Southern California can celebrate the opening of the 2012 Baseball Season and enjoy the many baseball activities planned during the two day event.

The EXPO will feature over 100 exhibit booths where baseball and sports vendors of all types will be selling and displaying merchandise and sports related goods. Attendees will find more than 20 current and former professional baseball players signing autographs throughout the show and professionals from PSA, Newport Beach CA., will be on site to authenticate the signatures with their “In-the-Presence” service. PSA will also be accepting submissions for all of their services such as trading card grading and autograph authentication.

In addition to their Babe Ruth game used bat,Memory Lane Inc., Tustin, CA, will also display other Babe Ruth items as well as additional extremely rare and unique memorabilia in the “EXPO’s Museum”. Fans can see the world’s highest graded and most valuable collection of Mickey Mantle baseball cards (featuring a 1951 Bowman rookie card in perfect #10 condition), and a Honus Wagner card valued at more than $600,000 and much, much more.

Baseball SKILLS CLINICS will be offered by experts in the areas of hitting, fielding, base-running and pitching at scheduled times during the EXPO.

Fans may bring sports memorabilia to the EXPO and have it valued by industry professionals. Some will be selected to participate in a live taping of an episode of the Sports Memorabilia Road Show. Fans may also submit their items in advance for consideration in the show by going to www.sportsmemoribiliashow.com and submitting a description and a photo of their item(s).

Ticket and exhibitor information is available at www.2012baseballexpo.com. Children under 12 will be admitted free. Individual admission tickets can be purchased for as little as $10 per day. A limited number of 2-day passes which include a player autograph are available. Also listed on the site will be players scheduled to appear, auction items and times, hotel and EXPO floor plans, a media schedule and more. Exhibitor information and detailed sponsorship packages are also outlined on the site.