All Star FanFest
 

Has anybody ever gone to the All Star FanFest. I was going to go check it out this year. Are the autographs free? Are there a lot of guys there that sign?

Detroit in '05....
 

I went back in '05 when the game was in Detroit. There were 'free' signers, but the lines were a mile long. I attempted to bring in a store model bat for Orlando Cepeda to sign, but security wouldn't allow it as they said it could be used as a 'weapon' or something completely stupid along those lines. Harold Reynolds signed a ball for me before doing a demo for some kids. Bob Feller was supposed to talk, too, but didn't show up on time and was scratched. Overall, it's fun to go, especially if you have kids......and you can view the items for Hunt's auction, too.

All Star Fanfest 2005
 

I would highly recommend attendance. The one and only time as of yet I have attended was in 2005 in Detroit. I went every day and just kept running through the lines for 4 days straight. Most of the signers were Hall of Famers. Loads of other things to see and do as well. I had a blast. Also, the opportunity exist to approach and pick up some graphs of players/former palyers you'll run into on the floor. Below are the Hall of Famers they had signing for free when I wen t they had:

EARL WEAVER
LUIS APARICIO
JUAN MARICHAL
PHIL NIEKRO
GAYLORD PERRY
HARMON KILLEBREW
PHIL NIEKRO
BROOKS ROBINSON
FERGIE JENKINS
ANDRE DAWSON

I went to the one last year in KC and it was very similar to the other posts. I got Fingers, Jenkins and Perry for free. It's a pretty safe bet these 3 will be there this year also. And depending on the town, they'll have local favorites so in this case, Jeff Montgomery. They had many others as well but this is what I got in a 3 hr span.

Nice thing is right after they signed it, MLB authenticated it.

I would recommend bringing a dozen OMLB's with you also.

Here is a schedule of those attending this year:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_st...st_legends.jsp


Plus, keep an eye out for guests at other booths. When I went in 2006, Gwynn and Ripken were both there and at corporate booths. If you go, you pretty much need to decide-are you there for autographs or there for the fanfest, as it will be hard to do both. I have also gone in 2002 and 2005. I have to say 2005 was there worst as there was only one line for autographs, while in other years, there were 2 lines for autographs. I think a lot also has to do with what city the show is in, so expect it to be more crowded this year in New York than say last year in KC.

Finally, if you collect prospects, they usually do their own signing at fanfest-some years it is free and some years it is not.

Here are photos I took at the 2008 Fan Fest in New York...

July 11, 2008

July 14, 2008

I went in '99 in Boston....same exact experience as previous posters...EITHER do the fan fest OR stand in line all day for autos...I know Carl Erskine was there in '99 but I forget who else...

On Friday, there was a two hour wait for Rollie Fingers. Just a couple of aisles away, he had been signing for a fee, with the money going to the Fergie Jenkins Foundation.

Did you get Rollie for free or did you pay for him? I went Saturday got in line early for Rollie got a nice auto from him. I just missed Frank Thomas and Jack Morris so I went to go try and get Marichal just missed him, so I had to settle for Orlando Cepeda. All in all it was a pretty fun day.

I didn't get any autographs. Didn't want to waste my time on line. Just took pictures.

I went to the Fanfest three days. Here are links to my pictures, for those who are interested...

Friday, July 12

Saturday, July 13

Monday, July 15