Arizona Diamondbacks Fan Fest

Yesterday was the D-Backs Fan Fest. I took my two older boys from 10 am - noon and then they had a birthday party to attend so then the whole family went back from 4:00 pm - 5 pm.

When we first arrived I checked the Yard Sale but didn't find anything to my liking at a price I could afford so we moved on quickly and found the kids autograph lines. My kids were able to get Willie Bloomquist and Steve Sax. I contemplated getting Sax on a ball, but I just wasn't sure. After seeing the photo I probably for him I probably should have gotten a ball signed but oh well.

Bloomquist signed a card for my oldest son and gave a team issues photo to my other son.

I wasn't prepared and didn't have any cards for Sax to sign so each of the kids got a signed Sax photo. Because he was signed as a first base coach this off season they didn't have a picture of him for the photo so it's more generic. you'll notice that with all of the players that the D-Backs signed this year. Prado didn't even have a photo.

We then got in the next line and got Matt Williams and Glenn Sherlock, both coaches. Williams was nice and signed a card and gave each of my kids a photo.

The kids played on some of the inflatable bouncy house stuff for a while and then we left so they could got to a birthday party.We returned after the party and this time we had autograph tickets. This was the first year that I had been able to purchase autograph tickets. This was the first year that they sold some online and so I was able to get autograph tickets for Cody Ross/Wil Nieves, Trevor Cahill/Tony Sipp, Martin Prado/Brad Ziegler and two for Jason Kubel/Matt Reynolds. Tickets were $5 each with the proceeds going to D-Backs charities. It was supposed to be a strict one item per ticket, but you'll see that it wasn't that strict. I did run into an issue, but it was partially my fault. You see Cody Ross/Wil Nieves and Trevor Cahill/Tony Sipp were signing at the same time and we got there late (they started at 3:30 pm) so we had to rush but got to both tables in time.

If I would have know that the photo for Cody Ross would have been so generic, I would have made sure I brought some cards, but oh well. We were able to get three photos of each player.

Next up was Cahill and Sipp. I did bring some cards for Cahill and we were able to get three photos from both Cahill and Sipp as well.

Martin Prado/Brad Ziegler and Jason Kubel/Matt Reynolds were both signing at 4:30 pm, so the thought was that my wife would go to one and I would go to the other, but after being late and getting to both tables at the previous session I figured we would all be able to go to both. I was wrong.

We finished with Cahill and Sipp at 4:10 pm, so we decided to wait in line for Prado and Ziegler. While waiting in line I noticed that Aaron Hill was down on the field at the Kids Autograph station, so I took my two older boys with me and we went and got in line for him. My wife couldn't hold our spot in line for Prado because they had us waiting in the stadium seats and she had the baby in a stroller. I figured we would still have time to get everyone.

Aaron Hill was awesome! He signed a program that I had brought and 4 tickets from one of the games that he hit for the cycle in last year that we were at. I told him that we had got free tickets to the game and then he had hit for the cycle and it was just awesome. He said that we must be a good luck charm and should come to more games. He also gave us three signed photos.

While we were in line for Aaron Hill we were given three scratchers tickets and all three were winners. After Hill we went back in line for Prado and Ziegler. My wife went and redeemed the scratchers cards. The cards were Single winners, but they gave us two Triple prizes which was vouchers for 2 free Dugout Box Seats, so that was awesome!

We got Prado and Ziegler. I had one card for Prado and three for Ziegler. Prado didn't have a photo, but we got three from Ziegler.

Then we rushed over to Kubel and Reynolds but arrived just as the Diamondbacks personnel were packing everything up. I thought I might have been at the wrong station since it was only 4:10 pm but when I asked where Kubel was they said he had just left.  I showed them my two tickets and they apologized. They searched their box for signed Kubel postcards but didn't have any. They gave us three of Patrick Corbin (2 signed and one unsigned), a David Hernandez, and a Don Baylor.

The guy said he knew he had some Kubel downstairs and asked my son who his favorite player was. He said Paul Goldschmidt. He said he would be back in 10 minutes with Kubel and Goldschmidt photos. When he came back he said he didn't have any Goldschmidt, but gave us two photos of Kubel, two of Wade Miley and two of Ian Kennedy. So that was nice.

It was a long day, but we had a great time and got some awesome autographs! Side Note: I think I use the word awesome too much.