Padres FanFest (Philip Humber, where art thou?)

I got to Petco Park at about 2PM. I went to work in the morning and got held in up traffic going to San Diego for a couple hours. I wrote on here I would go and typically these FanFest posts generate a huge amount of hits for the blog. The more money I spend, the more hits I get.

There were a lot of Padres' fans roaming around the park. Different vendors were open selling beer, food, and merchandise. Events were being held on the field and everyone was having a good time. I was really tired and I just wanted to get in and out, so I headed towards the Yard Sale.

The Padres had a lot of stuff available to purchase even though the event started 10AM for the public and an hour earlier for season seat members.

I swear that signed jerseys used to be $200 but otherwise I felt these prices were fair. Let's see what else was for sale.

They had plenty of All Star Game caps for sale. This was only All Star related stuff for sale that I saw.

Different on deck circles.

Banners used during KidsFest.

Banners used around the park and street.

Batting practice jerseys for $50.

Also they had batting helmets, bats, signed balls, jackets, and other game used items.

How do I explain this...I like the Padres a lot but it's hard to keep up with who's been with team for how long and if they were decent and other things like that. I was looking through the racks for jerseys and my sleep deprived brain was starting to wake up and remember some guys.

I wanted a 90's throwback jersey and picked up this James Shields jersey. I remember him as a Tampa Bay Ray, as a Kansas City Royal, and the Mets' Bartolo Colon hitting a home run against him in San Diego. His start against the Mets that day was his last as a Padre. Anyway, I think these throwback jerseys are nice and I really like the pinstripes. Oddly enough, this isn't a Cool Base jersey, probably because they didn't have Cool Base jerseys in the 90's.

A woman asked me if there were anymore Shields jersey. I told her I didn't know. A little later I did run into another one that was a road jersey but I didn't know where she was.

I paid $100 for it.

I went through more jerseys and I found this one. Like most of the jerseys, I couldn't remember that this guy as a Padre. I remember him as a Pirate and for kidnapping Zelda and stealing the Triforce. I'm sorry that's Ganondorf. Ross Ohlendorf played one season for Padres and had an ERA of 7.77. That's awesome. I mean those are lucky numbers and a terrible ERA,

The patch on sleeve is for Darrel Akerfelds. He was the bullpen coach for Padres for many years and died of pancreatic cancer in 2012.

This jersey was $125 because of the patch.

Jedd Gyorko was one of my favorite Padres because he represented the youth movement of the team. His rookie season on the team was really good but he seemed to plateau after that. He's was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals during the off season a couple years ago. He's doing well with them.

I bought a fourth jersey during this trip, which isn't my MO but I traveled very far to go to this annual event and I felt I deserved it. Let me tell you, this might be the strangest one I own.

So during FanFest, the Padres sell Josh Johnson jerseys. Johnson never played on the team because he was injured and never threw a pitch for the team. He ended up retiring because of arm injuries. I wouldn't buy those jerseys because it would kind of weird to have jersey for someone who didn't play on a team.

About that...

Philip Humber threw a perfect game as a member of the Chicago White Sox and his career fell off a cliff. He went to the Houston Astros and signed with Padres several seasons later.

This Padres jersey was only used for a season because they were hosting All Star Game. (Notice the gold trim and All Star Game patch. I think they're the only team to have special home jersey for the the All Star Game.) My brain is imaging me watching him pitch and I think it would be great to own a jersey for guy who pitched a perfect game and was a Padre.

I get home from my long trip and go to Baseball Reference to look up Mr. Humber. Let's see he pitched for the Mets, the Twins, the Royals, the Chi Sox. and the Astros. Um what. Okay let's see what Wikipedia says. Signed with the Padres and then retired several months later.

What do I do with a jersey for a guy who didn't even play for the team? The way I look at it, if anyone asks me, he pitched a perfect game with Padres and hit for the cycle. It's a beautiful jersey, an oddity, and very rare from my standpoint.

This makes me wonder how many other jerseys they sell are also non roster players.

I paid $100 for this which makes the total I spent $425.


I went to the Team Store after buy these jerseys. They had different shirts, caps, and other small items for sale. Nothing much interested me except for the caps that didn't fit me.

Overall, I had a good time. I bought four nice jerseys and it was nice to go back to San Diego. The last time I was down there was the Chargers last game on January 1st.

Like always, the Instagram is here. I won't be spending this much money anytime soon. Thanks for the support and I'll be back with another post next week.