All-Star Game FanFest was fun

The All-Star Game FanFest was fun yesterday. Jon, Kev, their families and I all went around 9 a.m. It was empty when we arrived and I should have made better use of that time when all the activity lines were non-existent. Instead we just moseyed around never considering that crowds would be coming.

The best piece of Padres memorabilia we saw was this Padres prototype jersey from 1985. Click in there and look at that patch. So cool. It looks like it would have fit me too. The brown pinstripes they ended up choosing in 85 are good too, but I favor these.

One of the booths also had free memorabilia appraisals and since Jon brought his Chris Gwynn 1996 jersey, covered in 1998 signatures I suggested he get it appraised. The free appraisal wasn’t like you see on Antiques Roadshow. The guy didn’t have a wooden pointer and didn’t wear white gloves. He just looked it over and said $300-$500. That’s a pretty big range. The appraisers took notice of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Jersey that Jon was wearing and got a kick out of its story. They appraised it as “priceless” but when we pressed them for a number, they said “$25” and we said “sold!”

For me the activities were the most fun. We did the batting cages with blogger Padres Jagoff. The cage measures bat speed and a bunch of other stats on your swing that I didn’t understand. I did terrible trying to hit their soft orange balls. Jagoff lost what little respect he had for me after my performance. Jon told me he tore it up and tweeted this.

Then we went over and measured our pitching speed. I dominated Kev’s kids who couldn’t crack 35 mph. I think they were impressed when I threw 62 mph and my arm out.

Next we went to the Steal a Base activity. They let you choose a major leaguer to race on a video screen. I haven’t slid into a base in about a decade so I was a bit nervous to see if I still had what it takes. Mine wasn’t bad, Jon put on a clinic for the kids around him.

After the fellas and their kids left I tried to do some of the defensive activities but the lines were really long at that point so I did one more walk through before leaving. On my way out the door I saw Gema and Brie from Fox Sports San Diego. I approached them and Gema said she thought that I was some “rando” trying to pick up on them, which was true but hurtful. I only talked to them briefly since their work associates showed up and shooed me away. It was fun.

I left and ate at Lolita’s by the park before heading home. I was just there but I already kind of want to go back. I’m going to try and convince Jon and Kev to go to the Futures Game and the Celebrity Softball Game, to soak in more of the All-Star experience.