2004 All-Star Fan Fest

We showed up for Fan Fest at about 8:45 am but by the time we walked over to get our tickets and made it inside to get in line it was already 9:30. They had Luis Aparicio and Orlando Cepeda signing autographs from 10am to 12pm and we missed out on them by about 20 minutes. I really wanted to get Aparicio and Cepeda but we got passed over to the next signing session and nabbed Juan Marichal and Earl Weaver. Weaver and Marichal were *extremely* nice and very accommodating. I took pictures of them but I have no idea who that guy with the Astros jersey is... he kept showing up in my pictures for some reason. The picture to the lower right is actually former Astros pitcher and manager Larry Dierker who was signing at a FOX Sports Net booth when we were leaving. We were actually walking along and Dierker was walking right beside us, it was weird to just look over and see a former player walking along with you. We also happened to see Orlando Cepeda walking around after his autograph session but he turned us down for an autograph, he was pretty tired and he had family with him.
We got our signed items authenticated for free by MLB so that was pretty cool. I also got a card signed for both Marichal and Weaver though I had to buy the Weaver card from someone standing in line. I wasn't prepared to get Weaver as I thought for certain we'd be able to get Aparicio and Cepeda. 

 

2004 Futures Game

After we got our autos at Fan Fest we escaped the George R. Brown Convention Center and walked over to Minute Maid Park. We got there about 15 minutes before the gates were due to open and there were already big lines to get into the park. By the time we were able to get into the stadium the base lines were already packed with people. That was pretty annoying actually but we tried to push through and get a decent spot. I had to put my camera away at this point because it was obvious getting graphs was going to be a bit of a battle. Koyie Hill (left) and Jeff Mathis (right) were both signing right off the bat. I believe that's Aaron Hill signing to the right of Mathis.  

The autographing was like a mentioned before a bit disappointing. Prince Fielder came over for about a minute and signed a few and then left and never returned. Delmon Young started signing for a bit to the right of us and then worked his way toward the dugout but stayed mostly with graphers in the very first row which left us out. Just when all the players came out to sign, some lady running things or something told the players to switch sides with the World Team which completely killed everything. Not only didn't we get some of the players on the USA Team coming toward us but after the World Team took their time getting over to our side of the field they for the most part didn't even make it to our section. That was pretty much end of story for autographs. I was able to nab autos of Conor Jackson, Kyle Sleeth, Jeff Mathis, John Danks, Koyie Hill, Ruben Gotay, Jesus Cota, Dallas McPherson, Michael Aubrey, David Wright, Matt Cain, and Jason Kubel.  

After the players were finished autographing they took a little infield and then headed into the dugout. Clint Everts, Delmon Young, and Prince Fielder are on the left and David Wright, Jeremy Reed, and Jeff Mathis are on the right. I think Mathis was being fitted with some kind of microphone belt or something for television. I didn't tape the game so I'm not sure but that's what it looked like.

Then there were the player introductions and the National Anthem. B.J. Upton tipping his cap on the right.

Jeff Francis for the World Team warming up on the left. Joe Blanton and the USA Team taking the field to start the game on the right. I have to say Jeff Francis was very impressive on the mound. He had hitters coming back to the dugout visibly puzzled. He really looked like the real deal to me.

BJ Upton left and Robinson Cano right.

This was the player who impressed me the most in the game. Jose Capellan was bringing it and the hitters were overmatched. His pitches were just electric, he was awesome. Unfortunately most of the shots I was able to get of him were a little blurry. I wish I'd had a better camera with me. I brought a 105mm Nikon and a digital 3.1 mega pixel Kodak camera. They just weren't powerful enough to get the kind of shots I wanted. Oh well...

Prince Fielder left and Dioner Navarro on the right.

The photo on the left is one of my favorites from the game. It would be a cool picture to get autographed by all the players in it. Perhaps that'll be a future project of mine. The picture on the right illustrates the biggest surprise of the Futures Game to me. Joel Guzman is HUGE! Here you see him standing next to Prince Fielder who's pretty big himself. Guzman actually came to the USA side prior to the game to sign a little and he just dwarfed everyone. I guess we'll see how that will translate on the field for him in the future. An interesting thing happened on the way out of the stadium. We ran into former Oakland A's pitcher Dave Stewart. Unfortunately he was only signing for chicks with low cut tops who didn't know who he was so we just took off. It was a pretty long day but I'd say we had a pretty good time. Perhaps we'll do it again sometime.  

 

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