FanFest 2010!

It's finally here, and it was one of the best days we've had in a while. It was a jam packed day, and even though I'm not going to put any pictures up until later, we have a lot to write about. The day started out around 8 in the morning with Bailey and Beverly, who would be joining us for the day. We then made a long drive down to the park (only got lost a little bit) and got in line about 20 minutes before gates opened.
The entire thing was going to be at the Convention Center, and by the time we went in, the line wrapped around almost the entire way. By the end of the day, they announced that there were close to 12,000 people there, which is great because that means people are excited about the season. But enough general--lets go into what happened. There were autograph tables set up all day, and we started out with Matt Weiters, Nolan Reimold, and of course, Jim Palmer. Palmer is a great guy and was very nice to all of us. There were forums and activities all day, and we did get to participate in a lot of those. When we weren't standing in line for autographs, we did get to walk around, shopping, talking to other fans and of course players.
At the MASN station, Segev, Bailey, Beverly, and I were chosen (extremely exciting) to play a game of Family Fued (as the Goldberg family). The game was hosted by Amber Theoharis, and after 3 rounds, we were the winners (in dramatic fashion) and now have tickets to one game in the MASN Suite, where we will be joined by broadcasters and MASN personalities. People started to recognize us all around FanFest which was cool, and we're all very excited to go to the game. We are also now entered to win a trip to Orioles Spring Training. We'll have to see if that works out.
Later on, after more walking around and more autographs, I went back with Bailey to play Skee-Ball, with a prize that if I could sink it in the corner hole, I would win the 900 page Orioles Encyclopedia. I've always wanted the book so it would be cool to win. On my second shot, with supporters behind me, I sank the shot, won the book (which I won again later-- they wouldn't give it to me because I'd already won) and then got to meet the editor/compiler/author, where he signed by book.
At this point, we had gotten lots of free stuff from pretty much everywhere-- Matt Albers and Alan Dunn recognized us and said hello, which was cool, and Bailey and I got to meet and take pictures with our new pitcher Mike Gonzalez. Some of us got to meet Scott McGregor who pitched, and won, the last game of the 1983 World Series. Avi and Segev will have more stories, and I will post them, but overall, we have the same idea-- FanFest was amazing, and the upcoming season will be so much fun.

Go O's!!!!

HOF 2010

This isn't Orioles related, but Andre Dawson will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year-- he joins an elite club of the greatest MLB players of all time.

Bert Blyleven just missed out, along with a few other players making next years race even more exciting.
But again, congrats to Andre Dawson!

Updates

So Avi and I are now Season ticket holders, and Segev will be within the week, which is exciting. Avi and I got, as a reward for buying the plan, a signed picture of Matt Wieters hitting his first MLB hit, a triple, at home. It looks great, in a nice card, glossy picture, something to be proud of. I love it, and it'll sit on my shelf with some other signed baseballs. Avi also got really nice Orioles shoes, so now from head to toe we can show our support of the Orioles. FanFest is in 19 days, so that's going to be a thrill, and Ronnie Deck finally got back to us which was great. We love hearing from the players, and hopefully at FanFest we'll be able to catch up with a few of them.

Also, for those who don't follow, Danys Baez was signed by the Phillies for 2 years. I'm so happy for him, and in the long run, that works out pretty well for us. We'll be able to see him when he comes down to DC and since we can go up to Philly and to Pittsburgh, we may be able to see him a few times during the year.

That's all the news I have for right now, but there will be more soon, and absolutely a big post right after FanFest, with contributions from the 3 of us.

And finally,
Go O's!