San Diego Padres 2018 FanFest Should Be a Home Run
Saturday, January 13th, the Padres will host their annual FanFest from 10am to 4pm PT at Petco Park.
They will have the usual things like a playground for the kids, autograph opportunities, games, and face painting.
However, this year the Padres seem to have some extra sauce in their FanFest.
First of all, this will be the 20th anniversary of the 1998 National League championship team. There are several promotions and theme nights planned for the regular season. During FanFest, it is expected that there will be some alumni of that team in attendance entertaining fans as well as locker exhibits celebrating that exciting team.
This year, field access will be available. Kids can run the bases and even play catch in right field and shag some balls. They can also throw in the bullpen with plenty of photo ops along the way. There are virtual reality experiences that will put on a MLB Home Run Derby. There will be a gaming area near the Padres Store as well.
Another popular item that is back is the Padres Foundation Garage Sale.
You can buy almost anything from game-used jerseys to bats to gloves. As a kid, about 10 years ago, I bought a broken bat of Russell Branyan which I still have in my closet today.
The best part about this whole event?It is free to the whole public.
Admission is free as well as parking in Padres-owned lots. You can claim up to eight complimentary tickets on at padres.com/fanfest.
We complain a lot about how out of touch the ownership is with consistently fielding maddeningly boring uniforms and making weird decisions with radio and other media members.
However, this FanFest (on paper at least) is worth a kudos to the Padres brass.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.