Giants Fanfest Tomorrow - Zito & Cain

[dersfan81]

I posted this on the A's fanfest thread as a joke but here is some pretty good info about the Giants Fanfest tomorrow...

http://giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sf/fan_forum/fanfest.jsp

 

[Milkywai]

I didn't get a chance to go to this today cause of work, but I saw a few customers wearing Giants clothes and asked if they went/were going. They said they just came back from it and said it was terrible. They had it in the stadium this year instead of on the pier.....and it was just completely packed and the lines were humongous. Glad I didn't go

 

[plbstew]

It was so bad. Their "free flow" lines were a "no go" line. Two hours to get to the front of the line and get whoever was at the table at the time. A guy next to me had been waiting at the park since 8am(gates opened at 11am) and was only done with his second line at a little after 1 pm. I was about to leave but as I walked around I found the stairwell that the players used to go to and from their sessions and was able to pick up people in the stairwell better than in line. Standing in line 2 hours got me Todd Linden(3), Erick Threets and Scott Munter. Standing in the stairwell produce Pat Misch, Rich Aurilia, Mark Sweeney and Brian Roberts. Could have gotten a few others in the stairwell such as Righetti, Taschner but I already have enough of them and I just missed Bochy. I also got Lowry as he was leaving his session just before Linden and the others sat down. Lowry wouldnt sign the cards I had but quickly signed a Giants tiny CIC that was on the table. It was incredibly crowded, parking was bad and the staff members leading the players to and from the sessions were rude. I got Roberts only because he was ahead of his staff member coming up the stairs and he stopped to sign for me and as he finished she yelled at me "You were lucky" in a shocking tone. But I should have expected it because it was all free. A's fest is next week and it may take me that longer than that to get over this one.

 

[dersfan81]

I agree with plbstew 100%. The whole Giants Fan Fest was a disaster this year. They used to do it in the warehouse accross the cove and it wasn't that bad. It wasn't just the autographs (though those lines were shockingly long). They closed off RF so there wasn't a nice flow of people around the park - everybody was doubling back. On the lower levels it was a sea of humanity that took forever to get through. They were also letting people into the clubhouse but the line was longer than for the autographs. I talked to a guy who was in that line an hour and wasn't even close. BOO GIANTS!

 

[Milkywai]

I'd hate to see how they'll handle the All Star game this year and the fanfest for that

 

[plbstew]

The All Star fanfest is handled by MLB and it is off site at the Moscone center

 

[big_r]

That's a pain. It's exactly how the O's did it last year and it was really bad. There were times where the tables were amazing with 5 guys in it (Cabrera, Matos, Roberts, Boog, Markakis) and then you would get through and get Roberts adn Leo Gomez. It was all just the luck of your timing. At the end was the best part when the lines were all short and you could got through three in the last hour or two and get them as they were leaving. But I hate the whole, wait in line for whoever happens to be there thing. You get really screwed or really lucky.

 

[dersfan81]

THIS IS THE RESPONSE I JUST RECEIVED IN REGARDS TO MY COMPLAINT SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL...


Thank you for writing.

I offer my sincere apologies for what turned out to be a less than desirable
experience for you at the KNBR 680/ Giants Winter Fan Fest.

Frankly we were overwhelmed -- the largest attendance we have ever had at this event was last year's 6,000 attendees at Pier 48. The turnstile count this Saturday was 21,500. We weren't even selling single game tickets this year. We had no forewarning or idea that this many people would attend.

 

[Milkywai]

Well.....they have to EXPECT something like they might happen

 

[warjohn]

I don't want to start an argument here but how should they plan for more than 3x the amount they have ever had? I am sure they expected to get 10-15% more but I doubt they could ever expect for that many people to show up. Now, next year if they aren't prepared then I would say that is a problem.