I took a trip down to Anaheim with my buddy Tom for the 2010 All-Star Fanfest at the Anaheim Convention Center. This is a five-day event that gives fans a chance to take part in interactive exhibits, get autographs, and spend crazy amounts of money on MLB merchandise.
All the exhibits were great. There is so much to see and do, it's impossible to get it all done in one day. But, we did manage to get a couple of autographs, Tim Salmon and Ferguson Jenkins. We had to stand in each line for almost two hours. The system they had in place was smart. You had to give your name at the front of the line, and you were then checked off once you got to the signer. This prevented people from cutting in line. We saw one girl running off crying because she wasn't on the list for Tim Salmon. I felt bad, but that's what she gets for not following rules.
Tim Salmon's line was very long. We got there early though. I was actually the 200th person in line. The King Fish was on time. The Anaheim crowd went nuts when he appeared. Of course, I had my Tim Salmon bobblehead to get signed. The Fanfest employees were very nice, and got everyone through the line quickly. They even offered to take our picture, although, the lady who took my pic did a crappy job.
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Ferguson Jenkins |
After Tim Salmon, we headed over to the Ferguson Jenkins line. We saw Wally Joyner and Jeff Nelson on our way there. The line for Fergy wasn't as long as the Salmon line. We got there early enough. I saw one guy with a Ferguson Jenkins bobblehead, I wish I would have had that. I ended up buying an 8x10 glossy to get signed. Fergy got there on time, and it was the same situation as Salmon, the line moved quickly. Mr. Jenkins was nice. He actually chatted with us. I told him he had a nice signature, and he said his math teacher in school wouldn't give him credit unless he signed his name properly. We took some pictures and moved on.
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Rollie Fingers |
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Jeff Nelson |
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Wally World |
Here are some pics from the event:
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MLB monster truck |
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New Era booth |
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Taco Bell was giving away free tacos, if you wanted to stand in line for an hour |
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A League of Their Own bobbleheads |
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More bobbleheads |
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And even more bobbleheads |
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The Negro League exhibit was very interesting |
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This is a sculpture of the Anaheim Stadium sand castle in Fox's All-Star Game commercial |
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The AAGPBL exhibit was great. A few of the players there too. |
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A's mascot |
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The 2002 Angels World Series Trophy |
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Torii Hunter's Gold Glove Award |
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2002 World Series tickets
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Babe Ruth signed baseball |
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A signed Roy Campanella jersey |
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Sandy Koufax's pants |
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Don Drysdale's helmet |
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Steve Garvey's ugly Padres jersey |
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A signed Koufax picture |
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A signed 500 homerun club picture. |
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Another Babe Ruth ball |
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And another Babe Ruth ball |
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Daaaarrrryl |
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Signed Mickey Mantle hat |
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Signed Mantle jersey |
We had a great time at the FanFest. We got a lot of free swag and met a lot of cool people from around the country. I wish I could have gone for more than one day. I have more pictures too. I will save those for another post.
Awesome dude, I'm pissed I can't go.
ReplyDeleteI hope we get the ASG soon. Very, very soon.
I want an ASG here in LA so bad. Maybe oneday.
ReplyDeleteThere are two days left of FanFest, try to get down there.
I'm hoping, but it's looking bleak.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow looks like the best day for player appearnaces.
ReplyDeleteMonday, July 12th
Luis Aparicio
Gary Carter
Bob Feller
Rollie Fingers
Goose Gossage
Tony Gwynn
Shigetoshi Hasegawa
Rickey Henderson
Tommy John
Harmon Killebrew
Evan Longoria
Fred Lynn
Juan Marichal
Joe Mauer
Gaylord Perry
Earl Weaver
Dick Williams
Dave Winfield
Wow!! Man, what a great experience!! And you are right about Monday's list of folks!
ReplyDeleteDavid - Yeah it was fun. I wish I could get down there tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow was my first choice, but if I go it'll probably be Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteBetter Tuesday than never.
David- Here's a list of remaining guests, of course subject to change. Tomorrow will be sick.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/components/events/all_star/y2010/2010_Legends_Appearances.pdf
Greg - Yeah, Tuesday is better than nothing. I hope you make it.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too haha.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pictures! I got to go to the FanFest when it was in Philadelphia in 1996. It was a great time.
ReplyDeleteHow much was the Jenkins glossy picture?
ReplyDeleteRyan - Nice. Did you get any autographs then? I'm already talking about making the All-Star trip to Phoenix next year. I had so much fun. I want to do the whole All-Star experience next year.I regeret not going to the homerun derby and game this year.
ReplyDeleteGreg- The glossy was only $5, plus $1 for the plastic sleeve. Not bad. I wish I had a bobblehead.
ReplyDelete6 bucks is pretty good, I expected it to be a lot more.
ReplyDeleteIt's in Arizona next year? Nice, I had forgotten. I might make it then. I hope to at least.
This is a great post with nice pics. I'm sorry you didn't get to see Rickey Henderson. That would've been dawesome.
ReplyDeleteNext time I'm in town we'll go for some Taco Bell. No line :)
PS I heart Rollie Fingers.
Greg - Yeah, I needed something to get signed quickly. At the time Fergy and Wally Joyner were signing, one of the vendors had a stack of glossies for each player on the table. The baseballs were a bit expensive at $25.
ReplyDeleteI am gonna go to Phoenix next year. It's driving distance.
hotkohls - Rickey's autograph would have been totally dawesome. Cal Ripken...Nolan Ryan...RICKEY HENDERSON!
ReplyDeleteNext time you're in town we're getting Taco Bell.
Rollie's mustachio rocked!
Wow, You got some great pics. It looks like you had a ton of fun and it was an awesome show. I love that Fox 2010 All-Star commercial with the sand castle. Cool blog B.T.W.
ReplyDeletewow looks like a goodtime.........
ReplyDeleteCharles - Yeah, great commercial. I thought that was a cool sculpture.
ReplyDeletemrtrentd - Great time. I really want to do it again.
Looks like you had an awesome time. I know I did at the fan fest in NYC back in 08. The lines were terrible here, but it was a fun time.
ReplyDeleteLove those bobbles and Yankee autos.
Mike