O's Fest

[Ballzy]

all players will be there. last year they left off a bunch of names like tejada and palmeiro until the night before, then they added them. only person that wasn't there was sammy sosa. lines are sooo long that it would be impossible to get entire team.

 

[RedSoxFan91]

If anyone who's going would ever wanna do a 50/50 or a 75/25 in your favor for the bigger guys, I'd be really interested. Please PM me if you can. Thanks.

 

[Autograph Amy]

Ballzy..I dont' think the whole team is there. Just select names. I have never been to one where the enire team is there.
RedSoxFan91-I highly doubt you will get takers for 50/50s on this. You can only get one per if you are lucky..the lines are crazy. If a person stands in that line for 2 hours or more depending on the player...you won't be able to get more than one. And I am sure you won't get anyone to spend their time in line for you..without wanting an autograph for themselves. Really the lines are just too long. You stand in line early before they get there to get the tickets for the player, then you wait in the line while he signs, then if you are lucky enough you get right back in line for the next guy. You almost have to have someone with you to get in the 2nd line that forms for the next guy. Believe me..it takes alot of time to come away with anything. I don't know if they still have a separate area for SOME minor leaguers or not, anymore..but its the only place where you may be able to get more than one...and thats towards the end of the day and lines are shorter. Sorry!

 

[Ballzy]

you are right about the lines, but last year most everyone on the 40 man roster was there, i think it is mandatory. anyway, i am going to the hotel, i will not wait in those lines for anyone, except maybe sosa, and he is no longer with them.

 

[big_r]

The Orioles fanfest has been going down hill. I've gone every year since 99 , and will be going again on January 7th, but it keeps getting smaller and smaller. It used to be two days with an entire exhibition hall full of dealers. Now there's probably 10-15 tables of memoribilia dealers and I couldn't even find cards last year. Its only really worth it if you're a season ticket holder. I've had a season ticket plan for 4 years and each year holders get to go in 1/2-a full hour earlier for a special signing. Last year it was Javy Lopez, and the year before it was Palmeiro. This is great because its a short line and its guaranteed, and you get to stake out your spot for the next person that signs when the gates open to the public. But after that its not worth the wait in line.
One of the worst things is that Tejada hasn't been there, and probably won't be this year. He has the worst autograph on the team and it would be nice to be able to get him when he's sitting down and not rushing like at the ballpark. He has ruined plenty of photos or cards of mine and my buddy's because he rushes or uses bad pens, and I would love to get him at a signing. I guess I'll have to settle for Javy, Mora, or Roberts or whoever else is early this year.

 

[dd316]

I went two years ago and made out pretty good. Got around 20 players, even snagged a few multiples for a 50/50 deal with someone who hooked me up with the Pirates Fanfest. Didn't really nab anyone huge like Palmeiro, but I still went home happy. Only player that really gave me a hard time with multiples was Jorge Julio, he threw the extra card down and just signed one.

 

[Ny Crush]

I always call the week before and then a couple of days before to see if they added anyone. Last year they had a bunch of Minor league guys show up.

 

[JBsouthFan]

This years Orioles fanfest is set for January 7th, Saturday.

They haven't released any names yet, usually a ton of players.

The O's stopped releasing names in advance after the HUGE no-show problem they had 2 years ago. They ADVERTISED that Mora, Tedja, and Javy Lopez would be there in the News paper (right after the free aganet signings, so they were HOT in BALT) and ALL 3 no showed the day of the event. So since Palmerio was the only big name that showed his line was a FREAK SHOW. Since then they just add the names to the website a day or 2 before and don't advertise specific names in the Sun/Post. I will Probably bail on it this year and get the few O's I need in FL. I didn't go last year, since all I really needed was the brand new USA 25th anniversay guys and I got most of them in Spring Training. I don't really think I'm up for waiting 2 hours for David Newhan's graph.

 

[Ballzy]

jb, i am sure you know where the orioles hotel is, so you don't need to go to fanfest. anyway, i doubt i am going either, a friend of mine that works for the o's says the o's are real close to trading tejada to the cubs for prior and corey patterson. i got prior and patterson "a ton" in the minors, so i really only wanted tejada. out.

 

[big_r]

The O’s Fanfest was held in Baltimore over the past weekend, and I managed to go and stay for the whole day. The lines and autograph policy were all a little ridiculous and every time you stood in line it was a gamble because you never knew who you would get when you made it to the front. I managed to find a few other ways to get autographs without waiting in line, which worked well for getting the minor league players. Here are my results:

Brandon Fahey, Jeff Fiorentino, Leo Gomez (postcard), Adam Loewen, John Maine (postcards), Melvin Mora (cards), John Parrish (postcards), Sam Perlozzo, Brian Roberts, Bill Swaggerty, Eli Whiteside, and Walter Young (ball). My girlfriend got the John Parrish 8x10 for free after one of the Fan Forums, and I came out with a nice Cal Ripken commemorative patch and a Miguel Tejada bobblehead from giveaways and Orioles Bingo. A pretty decent day as I got a good amount of younger guys that I didn’t have yet.