Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

by J.D. on Feb 23, 2008 7:07 PM EST

Well, I think it's safe to call the 2008 Rays Fan Fest was a success. I don't know the official attendance numbers, but there was a veritable sea of people, especially in the autograph lines. Some were so long you could get in over an hour early and still not reach the player you wanted in time. This happened with me twice, believe it or not. But I digress.

Rich Herrera and Paul "Hoover" Hunt head-to-head in a hot dog eating contest (Hoover won, 13 dogs to Herrera's 1 3/4)
Baseball-related companies were there in force: Topps, Baseball America, and Baseball Prospectus just a few, along with countless other Rays sponsors. Harold Reynolds was there in a Rays jersey, along with Jim Morris and other assorted former major leaguers. There's not a whole lot else to say, it was just a lot of fun and I'd enjoy hearing what you guys did (and how many autographs you got) in the comments. Also, there's a whole lot more photos of players signing after the jump.

James Shields

Jonny Gomes

Matt Garza

Don Zimmer

Akinori Iwamura

Andy Cannizaro

B.J. Upton

Justin Ruggiano

Rocco Baldelli

Fernando Perez

Cliff Floyd

Carlos Pena

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Seperated at birth

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 23, 2008 7:11 PM EST reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

I've got a good one of McGee looking bored as hell. Whoever put him with Kazmir must hate him or something.

If you want results, press the red button. The rest are useless.

by Katie on Feb 23, 2008 7:27 PM EST reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

My son and I attended for a few hours. I never ask for autographs, so that had no allure for me, but we did tour the clubhouse which was nice and spoke with people at the New Stadium booth. They were very cordial (of course) and informative.

We also spoke for quite a while with Will Carroll at the BP booth. I always enjoy his writing and have had a few chances to chat with him personally as well. I am always impressed by his forthrightness and the reasonableness of his comments. And anyway, he is a lot of fun.

We couldn't find the BA booth; it was not where the guide said it would be. And I thought it odd that there was no way to figure out where or when the panel discussion was going to take place. Even Will Carroll did not have that information, and he was supposed to be on the panel.

Seemed very well attended with lots of enthusiasm. Very enjoyable few hours.

by bobr on Feb 23, 2008 7:33 PM EST reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

It appeared that BJ Upton was delayed for a while. Don't know what happened, but I was hanging around watching Kazmir walk aimlessly and then Upton get delayed. It was fun.

Joe

by joedobr on Feb 23, 2008 10:04 PM EST reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

I made off like a bandit... got Price, Longoria, Davis, Neimann, Brignaic, Garza, Crawford, Bartlett and others.

by Flabull on Feb 23, 2008 10:30 PM EST reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

Holy crap, you must've done some major line standing.

by J.D. on Feb 24, 2008 11:59 AM EST up reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

Yeah it was intense. I was there from like 9am till 4ish. I stood in all the lines cept CC which my little brother wanted Carl so he got him. It was fun cept my bad ankle was acting up. It was fun had to make up for not going last year cuz of surgery.

by Flabull on Feb 24, 2008 12:04 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

Good for you, I'm glad you got so many good autographs. I stood around from probably 11 to to 3, I wanted Shields but didn't make it to the front in time and ended up with Zimmer's (which is still very cool IMO) and then the same thing happened with the Aki/Cannizaro line, I ended up getting Floyd/Perez/Gomes instead which was still good. I also hopped in the Bartlett/Johnson line 'cause it was fairly short.

Gomes was kind of a surprise, it said Floyd/Perez on the schedule, but Gomes came out and started signing too even though he was listed as beginning at 3 and not 2. Does anyone know if he signed for an extra hour on his own, or did he not stay around after Floyd and Perez left?

by J.D. on Feb 24, 2008 6:46 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Fan Fest 2008 Pictures

The Baseball America booth was on the other side of the Geico booth from where it was supposed to be. It was kind of disappointing because it wasn't so much a booth as just a dude at a table handing out sample copies of the magazine.

We had a great time though. I didn't bother with the autographs but I really enjoyed the Metro PCS phone-a-friend. We only waited in line for about 10 or 15 minutes, then got to have Joe Magrane and Duane Staats each call a friend that couldn't be there. They weren't able to answer their phones but they were both tickled to have voicemails left by Staats and Magrane. Very cool.

by homeboogie on Feb 24, 2008 10:29 AM EST reply actions