At 3 AM I found myself lying in bed staring at the ceiling. At least I think it was the ceiling; it was dark so I can't be sure. It was obvious that I wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep I was way too excited. I've been looking forward to this day for quite a while and there was just no way I was going to go back to sleep and potentially sleep through the 3 alarm clocks that I had set around the room. No, I was better off getting out of bed and just starting my day a little earlier. I went downstairs and while I was waiting for my hot chocolate to actually get hot I decided to check my email and the web. Maybe there was an update to the Diamondbacks Fan Fest schedule that I needed to account for. Besides, I still needed to print out my map so I knew where to go and what time to be there. That sounds so funny; I need a map to Chase Field so I know where to go. That's like saying I need to print out the instructions that tell me how to breathe. I am not positive but I think that after 10 years of trips to the ballpark my body is conditioned to the point that I could probably do it in my sleep. I'll never actually be able to test that theory but I do have a degree of confidence that it could occur.
As the sun rose the sky turned a beautiful shade of Sedona Red (well it looked about the same color as my pajamas so I am guessing it was Sedona Red). With the sun's first rays reaching the window it was time to get the family up. After all, we didn't want to wait until the last minute to get ready to go. This was one day I definitely did not want to be late. I ran from room to room shaking each child from the slumber eagerly shouting, "It's Fan Fest day, it's Fan Fest day!" Other than Dakota no one seemed to get the same level of excitement as I did from that declaration. After a little prodding everyone was up and at least presentable. I was very proud of the family. I was afraid they might come down dressed inappropriately but to their credit each of them was wearing the appropriate items of clothing. Diamondbacks T-shirts, jerseys, backpacks, lunch boxes, hats, and sweatshirts; it was enough to bring a tear to a father's eye. I thought, "oh, we should have a picture taken as this would be the perfect photo for our Christmas cards next year. There was no time for that though; we had a Fan Fest to attend.
The trip to the ballpark was filled with conversations about the memories we had of making this journey 81 days a year. Well it is 81 days for me, the others split those days amongst themselves. We parked in our traditional spot on the street (it's free parking on the weekends in downtown Phoenix) and we made our way to the ballpark. Chase Field loomed in front of us and as we got closer we began to see more people headed the same way as we were going. I had anticipated there would be around 1,500 people at the Fan Fest which I thought would be a great crowd. The closer we got though the more people we saw. 
It was clear that my estimate was just slightly off. During the festivities it was announced that the crowd size was estimated at over 10,000 people. Wow, that is a larger crowd than the Tampa Bay Rays have at a three game series at Tropicana Field! One of the first things we noticed was how many activities there were for the kids at Fan Fest. There were pitching machines and inflatable toys. There were also wiffleball fields set up for the kids to try their hand at hitting. The pitchers and fielders on the wiffleball fields were current Arizona Diamondbacks players. On the diamond where Dakota played he played against first base coach Lee Tinsley. The infield was made up of Conor Jackson and Orlando Hudson while the outfield was patrolled by Chris Young and Jeff Salazar. Oh how I wish I was ten again. I would have killed to play wiffleball with Major League Baseball players. The funny thing was that it didn't seem all that out of the ordinary for Dakota. I think he has been given a false sense of what reality is. He has grown up at Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field having been coming to baseball games since he was less than a year old. Through the years he has been on the field countless times for different activities. He was a member of the Big Daddy BBQ Bullpen Buddies that allowed the kids to go down into the bullpen before Sunday games to meet the players and get autographs. He was on the mound with his sisters as I threw out the first pitch. He has been in the dugout as an honorary bat kid, and he has met several of the players. To him this is a natural occurrence. 
I have to wonder whether he will ever understand that this kind of thing is not normal. Most kids get to go to just a very few games and rarely are they given the types of experiences he has become so accustomed to. I give the Diamondbacks a mountain of credit for including the fans so much. These opportunities represent how much the team cares for the city and its fans. For that I will be eternally grateful. When Dakota grows up and finally realizes all of the things he got to do, I am going to look like the greatest dad in the world even though all the credit belongs to the Diamondbacks.
The Gila River Casino Plaza was filled with Diamondbacks partners showing off their wares. The kids ran from booth to booth picking up free stuff and giving each other high-fives at the luck they were having. Tiffany who is the smart one today brought a baseball and began the 2008 team ball. We are going to diligently try to get autographs from each of the players on the ball to commemorate our summer of fun at Chase Field. It is a huge goal and one that I am pretty sure is unobtainable but we're going to try. Our hope was to get an Orlando Hudson autograph but unfortunately his autograph station sold out well before we could get to the front of the line. It was not a complete loss though as Tiffany did get Chris Young and Chris Snyder's autographs. That was pretty exciting. As we entered the stadium there were more activities inside. There were autograph sessions with all 15 Diamondbacks players. There were also booths of vendors selling Major League Baseball memorabilia. The Diamondbacks Insider Magazine had a booth and I was glad to see people there signing up for the magazine. Maybe someone will read my article some time, that would be cool. The team also had a booth set up for Select Your Seat where fans could purchase Diamondbacks Season Tickets. I was happy to see that throughout the day that booth remained quite busy. Hopefully it resulted in a lot of new Diamondbacks fans that will be at the games this year.
The Diamondbacks also offered tours of the Diamondbacks dugout and the team's clubhouse. 
Fans are rarely given an opportunity to get a glimpse of what things look like from the dugout and even fewer will ever see the inside of a Major League Baseball clubhouse. We definitely took advantage of the look behind the scenes and made our way to the clubhouse. It was amazing to see. There were the lockers of some of our favorite players. The kids loved Chris Snyder's nerf nunchucks and his plastic shark toy. They loved the fact that Brandon Lyon had a cup holder in his locker and they wondered why Micah Owings locker was empty except for a box that said "Send Home". They wondered why Randy Johnson had two lockers and why one of them contained just 2 jerseys and a remote control airplane. Trina was impressed that Chad Tracy had pictures of his baby in his locker and Dakota was likewise impressed that Eric Byrnes had a skateboard in his locker. The talk of the family was the fact that Orlando Hudson had the largest locker in the clubhouse and everyone wondered what the story was with the large jar of homemade salsa stored on the shelf. It was an incredible tour and we loved every second of it. I'm still curious why there is a tire bolted to the wall of the tunnel leading from the dugout to the clubhouse. Some things are just beyond explanation.
Probably the most exciting thing about Fan Fest though was the Diamondbacks Yard Sale. I had no idea what to expect from this. It was basically a place where the Diamondbacks offered for sale some items that you may not have been able to get. For example, they had some of the left over giveaways from the 2007 season. There has long been a feud in our house over the Diamondbacks Trucker Hat. Tiffany wanted so badly to go to that game but her sister Mallorie had already chosen it. Mallorie got the hat and brought it home to model it. Tiffany wanted that hat more than anything else in the universe and for that reason Mallorie would never let it go. It has been a constant battle for the past several months. So when the Diamondbacks offered leftover Trucker Hats you would have thought Tiffany had just discovered gold. Obviously we would have to get one of these. We also picked up a Diamondbacks picture frame and an O-Dog T-shirt. There was a table that had autographed memorabilia from players who were no longer associated with the Diamondbacks. Tiffany found a Matt Mantei baseball which she could not live without. It doesn't make a difference that she has 4 Matt Mantei baseballs and an autographed bat, she just had to have one more. All of these things would have made the Diamondbacks Yard Sale a success for our family but that wasn't all. Nestled back in the corner was a young lady surrounded by crates. As we went over to her I quickly realized what she had. When Bank One Ballpark was built the team included the Arizona Baseball Club restaurant on the Diamond level. This has since become the Lexus Club. Then owner Jerry Colangelo insisted that the Arizona Baseball Club have Diamondbacks dinnerware adorned with the team logo. These dishes are no longer being used as the colors have changed and so has the ownership. Here at the yard sale was stacks of Diamondbacks dishes. Now it was my turn to get excited. Rarely do I get emotional about dinnerware but this was different. What are the odds that you could actually own a piece of team history and be reminded of it at every meal? Trina has long complained that we didn't have proper dinnerware for parties and family events. I was about to become a hero. I rushed to the woman and began to assemble place settings. I was able to come up with 6 complete place settings of fine china (hey it is fine china to me). This will make the perfect Valentine's Day gift for Trina. After all, what says "I love you" quite like a set of Arizona Diamondbacks plates and bowls? This is awesome and the best part was that all the proceeds from the sale went to charity. You just couldn't ask for anything better.
By the end of the day we were exhausted but extremely happy. This was one of those days when everything just seemed to go right. There was the slight scare when Dakota nearly took off Conor Jackson's leg with a flaming wiffleball but overall it was all good. I highly recommend Diamondbacks Fan Fest to everyone. It is one of those rare experiences whose memories will last a lifetime.
It was clear that my estimate was just slightly off. During the festivities it was announced that the crowd size was estimated at over 10,000 people. Wow, that is a larger crowd than the Tampa Bay Rays have at a three game series at Tropicana Field! One of the first things we noticed was how many activities there were for the kids at Fan Fest. There were pitching machines and inflatable toys. There were also wiffleball fields set up for the kids to try their hand at hitting. The pitchers and fielders on the wiffleball fields were current Arizona Diamondbacks players. On the diamond where Dakota played he played against first base coach Lee Tinsley. The infield was made up of Conor Jackson and Orlando Hudson while the outfield was patrolled by Chris Young and Jeff Salazar. Oh how I wish I was ten again. I would have killed to play wiffleball with Major League Baseball players. The funny thing was that it didn't seem all that out of the ordinary for Dakota. I think he has been given a false sense of what reality is. He has grown up at Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field having been coming to baseball games since he was less than a year old. Through the years he has been on the field countless times for different activities. He was a member of the Big Daddy BBQ Bullpen Buddies that allowed the kids to go down into the bullpen before Sunday games to meet the players and get autographs. He was on the mound with his sisters as I threw out the first pitch. He has been in the dugout as an honorary bat kid, and he has met several of the players. To him this is a natural occurrence. I have to wonder whether he will ever understand that this kind of thing is not normal. Most kids get to go to just a very few games and rarely are they given the types of experiences he has become so accustomed to. I give the Diamondbacks a mountain of credit for including the fans so much. These opportunities represent how much the team cares for the city and its fans. For that I will be eternally grateful. When Dakota grows up and finally realizes all of the things he got to do, I am going to look like the greatest dad in the world even though all the credit belongs to the Diamondbacks.
The Gila River Casino Plaza was filled with Diamondbacks partners showing off their wares. The kids ran from booth to booth picking up free stuff and giving each other high-fives at the luck they were having. Tiffany who is the smart one today brought a baseball and began the 2008 team ball. We are going to diligently try to get autographs from each of the players on the ball to commemorate our summer of fun at Chase Field. It is a huge goal and one that I am pretty sure is unobtainable but we're going to try. Our hope was to get an Orlando Hudson autograph but unfortunately his autograph station sold out well before we could get to the front of the line. It was not a complete loss though as Tiffany did get Chris Young and Chris Snyder's autographs. That was pretty exciting. As we entered the stadium there were more activities inside. There were autograph sessions with all 15 Diamondbacks players. There were also booths of vendors selling Major League Baseball memorabilia. The Diamondbacks Insider Magazine had a booth and I was glad to see people there signing up for the magazine. Maybe someone will read my article some time, that would be cool. The team also had a booth set up for Select Your Seat where fans could purchase Diamondbacks Season Tickets. I was happy to see that throughout the day that booth remained quite busy. Hopefully it resulted in a lot of new Diamondbacks fans that will be at the games this year.
The Diamondbacks also offered tours of the Diamondbacks dugout and the team's clubhouse. Fans are rarely given an opportunity to get a glimpse of what things look like from the dugout and even fewer will ever see the inside of a Major League Baseball clubhouse. We definitely took advantage of the look behind the scenes and made our way to the clubhouse. It was amazing to see. There were the lockers of some of our favorite players. The kids loved Chris Snyder's nerf nunchucks and his plastic shark toy. They loved the fact that Brandon Lyon had a cup holder in his locker and they wondered why Micah Owings locker was empty except for a box that said "Send Home". They wondered why Randy Johnson had two lockers and why one of them contained just 2 jerseys and a remote control airplane. Trina was impressed that Chad Tracy had pictures of his baby in his locker and Dakota was likewise impressed that Eric Byrnes had a skateboard in his locker. The talk of the family was the fact that Orlando Hudson had the largest locker in the clubhouse and everyone wondered what the story was with the large jar of homemade salsa stored on the shelf. It was an incredible tour and we loved every second of it. I'm still curious why there is a tire bolted to the wall of the tunnel leading from the dugout to the clubhouse. Some things are just beyond explanation.
Probably the most exciting thing about Fan Fest though was the Diamondbacks Yard Sale. I had no idea what to expect from this. It was basically a place where the Diamondbacks offered for sale some items that you may not have been able to get. For example, they had some of the left over giveaways from the 2007 season. There has long been a feud in our house over the Diamondbacks Trucker Hat. Tiffany wanted so badly to go to that game but her sister Mallorie had already chosen it. Mallorie got the hat and brought it home to model it. Tiffany wanted that hat more than anything else in the universe and for that reason Mallorie would never let it go. It has been a constant battle for the past several months. So when the Diamondbacks offered leftover Trucker Hats you would have thought Tiffany had just discovered gold. Obviously we would have to get one of these. We also picked up a Diamondbacks picture frame and an O-Dog T-shirt. There was a table that had autographed memorabilia from players who were no longer associated with the Diamondbacks. Tiffany found a Matt Mantei baseball which she could not live without. It doesn't make a difference that she has 4 Matt Mantei baseballs and an autographed bat, she just had to have one more. All of these things would have made the Diamondbacks Yard Sale a success for our family but that wasn't all. Nestled back in the corner was a young lady surrounded by crates. As we went over to her I quickly realized what she had. When Bank One Ballpark was built the team included the Arizona Baseball Club restaurant on the Diamond level. This has since become the Lexus Club. Then owner Jerry Colangelo insisted that the Arizona Baseball Club have Diamondbacks dinnerware adorned with the team logo. These dishes are no longer being used as the colors have changed and so has the ownership. Here at the yard sale was stacks of Diamondbacks dishes. Now it was my turn to get excited. Rarely do I get emotional about dinnerware but this was different. What are the odds that you could actually own a piece of team history and be reminded of it at every meal? Trina has long complained that we didn't have proper dinnerware for parties and family events. I was about to become a hero. I rushed to the woman and began to assemble place settings. I was able to come up with 6 complete place settings of fine china (hey it is fine china to me). This will make the perfect Valentine's Day gift for Trina. After all, what says "I love you" quite like a set of Arizona Diamondbacks plates and bowls? This is awesome and the best part was that all the proceeds from the sale went to charity. You just couldn't ask for anything better.
By the end of the day we were exhausted but extremely happy. This was one of those days when everything just seemed to go right. There was the slight scare when Dakota nearly took off Conor Jackson's leg with a flaming wiffleball but overall it was all good. I highly recommend Diamondbacks Fan Fest to everyone. It is one of those rare experiences whose memories will last a lifetime.
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