Padres Fanfest 2019 Or How I Waited In Line Most Of The Day

Crowded...

I arrived at Petco Park a little bit after 10AM. Doors opened to the general public at 10AM. As I got closer, I saw the hundreds of people waiting in line to get in and I saw the players' parking lot where the garage sale was taking place. The jersey section was crowded.

It was a bit shocking as I've not had to wait to get in previous years. After waiting about five minutes, I couldn't get my ticket up on MLB Ballpark app. The security guard let me in. As soon as I got in, I waited in the garage sale line. They were letting people in about ten at a time. I might have waited another five minutes to get in.

After I got in, I waited in line to get to the game issued jerseys. This is what I saw while I waited.

A small section on the garage was dedicated to it and I was surprised so many people were into old jerseys. As the Padres changed from navy blue to brown and gold, I figured fans would be interested in the new jerseys. I got in and they had the racks separated by home, away, alternate, blank jerseys, signed jerseys, and more.

 Each rack had these on them and I should have taken pictures of all them because it would have come in useful later. In the back of my mind, I had a list of people I wanted and I only ended up with two jerseys I wanted and third one that was kind of interesting to me.

I must have spent about thirty minutes looking through the jerseys as people were doing the same thing. There were shoppers on the phone calling friends asking them what size they were. I need to hire a personal shopper to do this for me.

I found this jersey and almost bought it.

 They had a replica Brian Giles on the rack. I can tell because it doesn't have authentic tag on it and says merchandise.

I grabbed my three jerseys and went around to the different tables with merchandise.

 They had yearbooks, caps, pants, batting helmets, socks, catcher's gear, and All Star decorations on sale. One fan walked away with an All Star Game sign for $100. It was nice but I couldn't think of a place to put it.

I grabbed an All Star Game yearbook and a banner (where I don't know where to put it) and waited in line.

This line moved fast and saw fans leaving with boxes full of stuff. One customer left with a dozen blue hats.

Checking out was a problem because the cashier had trouble discerning what to charge me.  She had a sheet in front of her with about ten different jersey styles on them but mine were hard to find on them. If I took pictures of where I got them, I would have known how much they were. She was like I'll charge you this for the jersey for it and I was like at least it's less than a $100. I really know how to haggle. I paid $166 for three jerseys, a banner, and a yearbook. I have no idea if it was the right amount. They could have had color coded tags on all jerseys to make it easier to check out.

I left and made it on to the field, where it was packed. Fans were in the home dugout taking pictures, people were playing in the outfield, and I was trying to figure out what to do next. By the time I left garage sale, about an hour and a half passed. 

I walked around the park and it was crowded. I decided to go to the team store to see if they were having a half off sale or having all the navy-blue items on sale. They weren't (more on that later).

Walked around more and saw that Mark Grant and Don Orsillo, the TV announcers for the Padres, were signing autographs and got their autographs. This was awesome because I really wanted it and it was free and the line was short for it.

 Right over where they were, was the team store sale where everything was half off. I decided to go because I didn't spend enough during the event. I had to wait online to get in but they had plenty of shirts and hats available. I bought a hat and left shortly after because of I was tired of all the walking and waiting.


What did I buy?

Kazuhisa Makita played one season for the Padres in 2018. He's still in the farm system with them, so he could be on the team this upcoming season. I wanted this jersey.

Erick Aybar was known for being an Angel but spent his last season in the majors with the Padres. Someone asked me if was a Padre and I told him yes. I wanted this jersey too. It was from the 2017 Memorial Day game against the Cubs.

Jorge Cantú also played his last season in majors with the Padres. I know him more as a Marlin because I used to play against them a lot in MLB 2K8. Someone also asked me if he played as Padre I said yes as I started Googling. Turns out I was right.

Lastly, I wanted this last year and couldn't find it when it left my sight. Luckily, they had plenty of them this year.

I have a Jered Weaver jersey and wanted to add the banner to my collection. They had plenty of banners of different players and I really like former Angels.

I bought my first brown hat.

Paid $18 on sale for it. Funny story, it had a shoplifting sensor on it. They couldn't remove it. I had to go to the permanent team store and after a couple of attempts they got the sensor off.

So I had fun. I didn't buy as much as I used to because other people beat me to it. I was thinking about going to Angels Moving Day but they aren't having it this year. 

Padres Fanfest Eve

Padres Fanfest is tomorrow. Here are the previous year's posts about them.

https://sportsfinds.blogspot.com/2016/03/padres-fanfest-2014.html

https://sportsfinds.blogspot.com/2016/04/padres-fanfest-2016.html

https://sportsfinds.blogspot.com/2017/04/padres-fanfest-philip-humber-where-art.html

https://sportsfinds.blogspot.com/2019/01/padres-fanfest-2019-part-one-experience.html 

https://sportsfinds.blogspot.com/2019/01/padres-fanfest-2019-part-two-merchandise.html


Depending on what time I get back, I might have a post about it on Saturday.
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sportsfinds/) will be updated during the event.

Padres FanFest 2019 Part Two The Merchandise

Continuing on from yesterday, the stuff I bought or received.

Padres FanFest 2019 Part One The Experience

Today is the biggest day of the year for me. It's the biggest day for this blog. It all goes downhill from here (unless I go to Angels Moving Day, Dodgers FanFest, or the Ducks End of Season sale.) This day isn't about hats, shirts, or jerseys. It's about everything.

Today is my Christmas.

Today is Padres FanFest.

Padres FanFest 2018 - The Quest For More Jerseys

I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw today. There was a lot to choose from when it came to jerseys. Let's begin.

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.

2017 Padres FanFest

I plan on going to Padres Fanfest this Saturday. Info on the event can be found here. I am really looking forward to it, so I'll have a lot things to post the following week. Here's the post from last year's edition.

Padres FanFest 2016

The San Diego Padres used their last two exhibition games as part of FanFest, an annual tradition, includes live music, vendor booths where you could win swag, get player autographs, and of course, buy discounted merchandise around the venue.

I arrived at Petco Park around 10AM when the gates were opened to the general public. When I went two years ago, there were a lot of people at the event. As the morning progressed, more and more fans came to enjoy the sights and sounds. Because there were few people there, I could browse through the jerseys and other merchandise causally.

If you wanted a jersey at a discounted price, they had plenty of them. Ghost of Padres' pasts and I didn't recognize a lot of their names. If you wanted a Nick Vincent, Will Venable, Kyle Blanks, or anyone else that had retired or had been traded in the last five seasons, you could probably find his name.

 One row of jerseys were signed by the player that wore them. I avoided them because I wear them and don't display them. Another row had jerseys with commemorative patches from the passing of Jerry Coleman and they were charging $125 for them. I went to $100 rows, which were the least expensive sets of jerseys and they had a wide variety of them.

It was great to have so many choices. Let's begin, shall we.

Odrisamer Despaigne played on the Padres for two seasons and I think I saw six of his starts in those two years. I went to see Mets play the Padres and he had no hitter through seven innings and lost it. I really wanted him to do it. He's in the Orioles' farm system now.

This is a Sunday Military Appreciation jersey. Every Sunday home game, the Padres celebrate a different branch of the Armed Services. Members of the military come out to throw out the first pitch, they get to stand on the field next to the players, and there is an entire section filled with active duty officers.

I wanted a throwback jersey so badly. The Padres wore these jerseys from 1980 - 1984. A few seasons ago, they had Turn Back the Clock games, and they chose this time period because 1984 was when they went the World Series for the first time.

I love the rounded fonts, the orange and brown on sleeves, and neck lines. This is my favorite Padres jersey that I own.

Brad Brach was with the Padres for a few seasons and now is with the Orioles.

Oh yes, I added another jersey to my collection of Polish left handed relief pitchers. Marc Rzepczynski is with the Oakland A's now. When the Padres acquired him, I knew I was going to acquire this jersey. 

This is my first Padres Road jersey and he was the player that I spent the most time searching for the racks for his name. Someone else was searching through the road jerseys and passed on him and I got it. I would like to thank the Padres for having the jerseys in alphabetical order; it really did help me look for certain players.


I decided that three was enough, unless I bought nine jerseys, so I could change every inning, I went around and saw what else was for sale. There were brown batting helmets with no logo for $35, used bats starting at $35, signed balls starting at $25, heavy jackets, player photos in frames, a set of stadium seats, batting practice jerseys, and big promotional banners from last season.

I went to checkout and went around the park.

 Speaking of banners, these were all around Petco and Gaslamp Quarter. Andy Green is current manager of the Padres and they had several banners of him around the park. I don't think Bud Black, the last manager, had a banner when he managed.

It's hard to see from this picture but it's a countdown clock to the All Star Game being held in San Diego.

All of the Padres' Team Stores had sales too. There were 50% percent off sales of different shirts, caps, and other knickknacks. I didn't know you could buy Chapstick with the team's logo on it. 

In the main team store, they were selling old Authentic jerseys for $50 but I didn't see any. I think they sold out after Friday's FanFest. You could buy Cool Base jerseys for $25 and that's a good deal.

Overall, I was happy. The weather was perfect, I got what I wanted at reasonable price, and it's good visit San Diego and the Gaslamp Quarter once again.  
 

Padres FanFest 2014

Before I write about Padres FanFest 2014. this year's is taking place on April 1st and 2nd during the exhibition series vs. the Chicago White Sox. Information can be found here: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/sd/fan_forum/fanfest.jsp.

When I went to Angels Garage Sale in 2013, I wondered if any other teams did the same thing. I emailed the Padres and they told me that they do before the season starts. After checking social media and their website many times during the off season, they scheduled it for February before they left for Spring Training. 

 When I went to San Diego, there were many Padres fans enjoying the different activities on and off the field.  Many of them were buying merchandise too.

I followed this sign and saw hundreds of people looking at different Padres wares for sale. They had jerseys, shirts, pants, helmets, bats, balls, hats from the Padres and other MLB teams, and everything else under the sun. I headed towards the racks and boxes of jerseys. I wanted an alternate blue jersey and another one of a different style.

They were charging different prices depending on the jersey. Non throwback jerseys were about $125 and throwback and signed jerseys were $200, if I remember correctly.

 I saw Jason Marquis pitch for the Padres in 2013. He went 8 innings against the Marlins and only gave up 5 hits. He had a decent career and pitched for many different teams. This is an Alternate San Diego Padres Authentic jersey. I like the navy blue color and the SD interlocking logo on the front. I probably paid $125 for it. I have worn this to most of Padre games I've been too.

This is a Mike Thompson Authentic Home Jersey. I like it because it is not a Cool Base jersey, so in someways it is a throwback jersey. I just looked at the style of the jersey and the name on the back and decided to buy it. After I purchased it, I was happy to find out he was a reliever because you know how much I love relief pitchers that people forgot about..

Word of warning, make sure the jersey fits comfortably before you buy it. This jersey is a bit snug on me and I should have tried it on before buying it. I don't regret buying it. I probably spent $125 on this.

The line to buy merchandise was long and I might have spent an hour in it. If you use cash, the line is shorter. I am not sure how things will be this year. 

I'll end with a picture of All Star Mickey from the All Star Game in Anaheim. It's in the outfield concourse in Petco Park.

Padres Finds

As of 3/16/2016, this blog has over 450 hits since I started it in late December. This is most successful blog and I like writing about sports apparel and related items. Tomorrow, I will post better pictures in some of the previous posts.

Padres FanFest will be April 2nd but tickets for the event haven't been released yet. I think they're trying to sell all the All Star Game FanFest tickets first before their own FanFest.

A few months ago I went to Ross and found two Padres tops I wanted. They were a little pricey for me and my thought was that they would go on clearance in a few weeks because there aren't many Padres fans in my area. Turns out I was right.

This is a Nike Pro Combat undershirt. I believe this what the players use as an undershirt because of the Nike logo on the collar. If you look at any players' headshot, you can see the Nike logo on their necks.

 Ross says the value is $40. They were selling it for $20 and it was $14 on clearance.

This is a Majestic Athletic Therma Base shirt. It's a thick sweatshirt with the SD sown into the chest. Ross says it was originally $50 and they were selling it for $25 before clearance.  I paid $17 for it.