Today was the Astros FanFest, getting us
all pumped for the 2016 season.
Naturally I had to go. It started
at 11:00, and I so my friend and I decided to get there just at that time. I was surprised, as we drove past Minute
Maid, at the lines of people waiting to get in.
It was my first warning sign.
After we parked and made our way past
security, entering at the Diamond Club (never been there before), we came into
the stadium right next to the home plate store.
They had signs there about $5 apparel and hats, naturally a good first
stop. What did they have? A jersey with no name for $30? Nah. A
Jed Lowrie jersey for $50? Maybe for
$30, but not that much. A Chris Carter
jersey for $50? HA! A Craig Biggio rainbow sleeve Hall of Fame
jersey for $80? Not that was a
thought. I picked one up and told my
friend to talk me out of it. He didn't
have to. Two things made me say no. First, it was a CoolBase Jersey, the new
fabric, not authentic. Second, the line
to checkout was too much for me. So I
said goodbye to the store and made my way to the garage sale, what I was
looking forward to.
The garage sale is where they sell all
the leftover giveaways from last year.
In FanFests Past I have picked up some pretty good player statues (Nolan
Ryan, Jose Cruz, Jimmy Wynn). This year,
even by 11:30, there was a ridiculously long line. I figured I had to wait in line just in
case. An hour later, I finally got to
the sale. By the time I got there all
that was left was some Dallas Keuchel shirts, cheap giveaway jerseys, gym bags,
Fiers No-Hitter posters, and the Evan Gattis bobblehead. I already had the bobblehead, didn't want the
cheap jerseys or shirts, so I ended up with the gym bag and a couple of posters
for $7. Decent, but definitely not worth
the long wait. I was beginning to think
I had wasted the day. About the only
cool thing to that point was that I saw Colby Rasmus, but he was busy and went
by too fast to get a picture. I also saw
Max Stassi.
I was hungry. Not many things were open, and it was almost
time for a Fan Forum I wanted to attend, so I settled for a definitely not
worth it hamburger and coke. By 1:15 I
was regretting my day.
At 1:15 was a forum on the Astros
jerseys of old with Mike Acosta, Manager of Authentification, and Rob
Ford. It was pretty cool. A brief history of MLB jerseys. A look at the Astros jerseys starting with
the Shooting Star (mine and Acosta's favorite) to the rainbows to today. He mentioned that the H star logo, so iconic,
came from the block H of the Houston Buffs.
Then the big reveal. The Astros
will be using a new alternate Sunday jersey.
It looks a bit like their batting practice jerseys, and will be the
first time they wear blue on the field during the game. Like the batting practice jersey, it includes
the rainbow pattern on the sides. They
also will start to wear an orange hat with blue brim. Overall, it was a pretty good talk.
We then walked around the stadium a
bit. I was bummed out because when I had
gone in the past they had had dozens of vendors selling baseball cards,
jerseys, memorabilia, all kinds of stuff.
All I saw was one guy selling some team sets, one stand with some
autographed pictures, and one with some patches and way overpriced
jerseys. But then I saw a table for SABR
(Society for American Baseball Research, also known as Those Guys My Brother
Hates Because They Believe In Advanced Stats) with Bill Brown. So I had to saddle up and talk with them. They showed me they had a book that had just
come out about baseball in Houston from 1861-1961, and it was on sale that day
for $30 (regularly $50). Ok, sold. And Bill Brown was even nice enough to sign
it for me.
After a break, we returned for a forum
on the farm system with Director of Minor League Operations Allen Rowin and
Steve Sparks. This was really quite
good. I thought about asking him about
how they help prospects from Latin America, but he covered it quite well talking
about how they have a schooling process not only to teach them English but even
basic Spanish since many of them do not have an education beyond, say, fourth
grade. When Sparks came around asking if
anyone had questions, I had two. Before
I asked mine, I asked him if it would be okay to ask about the Cardinals
hacking scandal. He said "I would
rather you didn't." I told him I understand. Instead I had to ask my weaker question about
how it works with moving around minor league affiliations. Oh well.
Again, overall it was an interesting talk.
Then it was time for the main
attraction. The final Fan Forum was on
Clubhouse Culture with Evan Gattis, George Springer, and Colby Rasmus. This was quite interesting since we really
got to see them in a more personal setting.
Rasmus is a freak. Springer is
just a nice guy. And Gattis is
quiet. About what I expected. I thought about asking Gattis if there were
any plans for him to get back behind the plate, but figured it was too serious
a question for the forum.
So the day went from "what a waste
of time" to "that was great, and now I can't wait for the season to
start!" Let's Go Astros!
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