This was my first Fan Fest so it was all pretty new to me. I met some great people waiting in line, including a few guys who have amazing collections. One fella left his house at 3am and drove all the way from Orange, Texas to come get a Roger Clemens autograph. Another guy brought his wife, on Valentine's Day, to wait in line with him at 6am and boy it was miserably cold, windy, and rainy so obviously this was quite the big deal around these parts to get a chance to see Roger and get his autograph. We snapped off a few pictures of the line. It was looooong but here's what it looked like *after* we had gotten our wristbands. It went all the way around the block.  

Then we have a photo of the line inside this room they had us wait in for Roger. They had him signing in a totally different area from everyone else. I think it was on the mezzanine level in like a huge conference room. We were lucky to get in there quickly so we didn't have to wait nearly as long as some people to finally get his autograph. They gave away 400 session tickets for Clemens and I think by the time we were able to buy one we were #75. Once we got in the room we were probably number 40 or 50 or so. The people first in line showed up the night before at 10pm to get wristbands, no joke. The other picture is Roger coming into the room and getting ready to sign. They warned everyone not to take photos once he came in but that was pretty much ignored and as soon as he came in people started taking pictures. We weren't quite ready for it because they didn't say anything, he just walked in behind everyone, so we didn't get a good shot. We were actually not planning to take one but as soon as we saw everyone else we hurried and tried to get our own. 

We also got the ball authenticated by Tri-Star. I think it cost us $7. It seemed kind of a waste to have been waiting in line all day for an autograph and not spend the $7 to get it authenticated. Tri-Star has quite a little operation going. They were all over the Fan Fest, including having a silent auction for the autographed jerseys that each player wore during Fan Fest. When we left, the Clemens autographed jersey was already at $350. 

Thanks to my brother for going with me. I probably wouldn't have gone if he wouldn't have gone with me. It was a rough day of waiting in many lines but it was certainly an experience I won't forget any time soon.

 

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