A Look Back at the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim

 At the end of the 2001-2002 NHL season, I went to my first Mighty Ducks of Anaheim game. I had a great time at that game even though they lost. A few seasons later, after an ownership change and a re-branding to the Anaheim Ducks, the team won its first Stanley Cup. This post is about my first years as a fan.

This is the first Ducks shirt I ever owned. It was bought at the Ducks' Team Store for $50. It's a bit pricey but it's made out of a thick fabric and the logo or the material hasn't worn out from all the times it has been washed.

 

This is a replica road jersey made by CCM. Before the great NHL lockout of 2004-2005, color jerseys were the road jerseys and white was worn at home. After the lockout, the NHL mandated that color jerseys were home and away teams wore white. Most teams before and after the lockout had color alternate jerseys, which meant traveling with extra jerseys and matching equipment on road trips. The switch meant teams only had to carry one set of jerseys on the road. 

On occasion, some teams will switch for certain games and wear their white jerseys at home.

I bought this during the 2001-2002 off season. I bought it at Sports Authority and I think I spent about $50 for it. 

 I bought this replica home jersey at the team store during the 2002-2003 Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Wild. I think I spent over $200 on it. (Team stores are usually really expensive and I don't advise buying during games. Wait till there's a sale or if you're lucky, Ross, Burlington Coat Factory, etc. might have it.)

Jean-Sebastien Giguere was the goalie who carried the Ducks all the to the Stanley Cup Finals. They ended up losing to the New Jersey Devils in a close seven game series. He would end up winning the Cup several years later with the Ducks. He was one of my favorite players on the Ducks. Ironically, I don't have his signature on it. I can't remember most of the players who signed it except for Guy Hebert and Teemu Selanne.

Three last things:

Paul Lukas who writes on Uni-Watch.com wrote an article about a Royals fan who attended Opening Day and purchased a one of a kind find. The story is on ESPN.com.

ESPN has the oral history of New Jersey Swamp Dragons. The team president of New Jersey Nets wanted to change the name and everything about the branding of the team. It was very close to happening.

MLB sent out an e-mail telling me that their auction site had Opening Day mementos up for auction. I checked what the Padres had for sale and they are selling game used baseballs from last season. I purchased a couple of them. When they come I'll post about them.

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.  
 

The Day Before FanFest

Since Friday and Saturday are the Padres FanFest days, I wanted to post more Padres items on the blog. This has been a good exercise for me because I didn't realize how much Padres merchandise I have. Next week I'll try to focus on the NHL.

This is the first Padres jersey I purchased. It's a Majestic Athletic Padres Away Batting Practice jersey. I bought it about two years ago for less than forty dollars at Ross.

Since I have the jersey, I may as well have a matching cap to go with it. This is a Padres Batting Practice cap that I bought from Ross a few years ago for less than twenty dollars.

 

This is a Padres New Era cap from the All Star Game in Minnesota. I found it at Ross and paid less than twenty dollars for it. It's interesting how the SD logo has red outline to it.

This is a Snapback Adjustable Hat that I bought on clearance few years ago on MLB.com. I like how San Diego pops out on one side and the Swinging Friar is prominent on the other side. 

This is a Kyle Blanks Player Shirt I bought at the Petco Park on clearance for twenty dollars last season. I bought it because in MLB: The Show 2014, he would be the only player in Road to the Show to hit home tuns off me consistently.

One more thing before I go, Mitchell & Ness, the company that produces all the great throwback jerseys and merchandise, produced a map of each states top selling jerseys. The most surprising thing about it is that Muggsy Bogues has the top selling jersey in Wyoming.

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.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. This is a green post.

Good news, I'm updating several old posts with new pics and I'll be done next week. I didn't like how some of them came out. I'm still working on a logo. 

I don't have many green jerseys. I posted about the green Dodgers Spring Training jersey I bought a couple of years ago.

I own a couple New York Jets jerseys.

Chick's Sporting Goods was a California regional retail store. They were going out of business and I bought this for $50 and I regret it.

Okay I wanted a Brett Favre jersey and they didn't have his Packers jersey. The number is heat pressed on the material and the four on the back is starting to fade.

 This is a Tim Tebow Nike Green Limited Jersey that I bought on clearance from NFL Shop. I paid less than $50 for it. I like it because it looks authentic, the numbers aren't heat pressed. and I thought Tebow was a serviceable quarterback.


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This is a Jets knitted cap that I bought from Ross awhile ago. It has a black exterior with Jets logo sewn on it. I would have made it all green.

Last but not least.

My dad bought me this Tebow McFarlane figure. I know what your thinking. "McFarlane made a Tebow Jets figure?" "Yes, they did.

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.

Angels' Yard Sale

This is the first baseball jersey I ever purchased. It is a replica home Angels Majestic Athletic home jersey without a name on the back. I got in a sports apparel store for around $60 many years ago. It is worn out because I went to a lot of games wearing it.

Three years ago before the baseball season started, I received an email from the Angels promoting a game used yard sale that was going to be at Angels Stadium. They were going to have jerseys, balls, bats, and other things on sale. I wanted a new jersey because I admired fans at the Stadium wearing their replica or authentic Guerrero, Anderson, or Figgins jerseys. Also my replica jersey had seen better days.

I got to the Stadium gates about the same time they were about to open. There was a small line forming outside leading to the plaza near the team store. Through the gates I could see what was for sale. When I saw this, I couldn't believe it, I didn't know the team still had these, and I knew I was going to go home with one. I kept hoping the people ahead of me didn't have the same idea.

This is an Anaheim Angels Authentic Road jersey issued/possibly worn by Mark Lukasiewicz.

After their World Series win in 2002 and the ownership of the team changed hands, Artie Moreno, the current owner of the Angels re-branded the team the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. These road jerseys went away and the ones that replaced have Angels word mark on the front just like the home jersey on top of this post. I love the old Anaheim jerseys because I like when team font spells out the home team city like Los Angeles with the Dodgers' script. This jersey reminds me of when they won the World Series.

When I saw these few classic road jerseys on the racks outside the stadium, I thought to myself, "I'd spend $200 for one of them". I believe the team charged me less than $150.

After grabbing one of these, I wanted to get an alternate red jersey because I didn't have one and I may as get something a little more modern. I should mention with these yard sales teams are getting rid of jerseys of players that aren't on the roster. That means 75% of jerseys on sale are of middle relievers of days past that most people won't buy. Oddly enough there were a few people at the event excited to buy the Bat Boy jersey.

I found this jersey on the rack and I had to buy it because I liked the player cause he was a reliable and consistent reliever for the Angels and the other teams he was on. 

This is a LaTroy Hawkins Authentic Alternate Angels jersey. There isn't much to say about it. I paid less than $100 for it. The Angels had different prices depending on jersey. I believe the lowest price for a jersey was $75. I bought these two jerseys and a few unused line up cards.


Last year the Angels had their Yard Sale before a game on the Saturday before Mothers' Day. I went again because I was hoping to snag another Anaheim jersey or possibly a Disney Angel jersey. There was also a particular player I wanted because I know no one else would wear his name.

Joe Blanton. If you're a fan of the Angels, you know who he is. If you aren't completely sure just click the link to Baseball Reference. Blanton earned $6.5 million for one season with the Club and he went 2-14 with a 6.04 ERA. His tenure with the Angels was a disaster but he rebounded with the Royals and Pirates. Currently, he's with the Dodgers.

I bought another jersey because whenever I do this I buy in twos. 

This is my first Authentic Angels Home jersey. Hank Conger was a fan favorite backup catcher for the Angels. He is currently with Houston Astros. The interesting thing about the jersey is Velcro strips next to the word mark.

This is the only Angel jersey that I own that has any Velcro on it.
 The Angels were selling jerseys for $50 each. I also bought this bat for $50.

This is a game issued Raul Ibanez bat. Ibanez was great player who spent the twilight years of his career in an Angels uniform. I am tempted everyday to take it a batting cage but I don't want to break. It could have cork in it. :)

The Angels nor the Padres have announced when they are having this season's yard sales. I will post it on here when I have exact dates. These events I went to were open to the public.