Houston Astros: A Colorful, Hearty Redux Of Fan Fest 2017
The Houston Astros hosted their annual Fan Fest 2017 celebration this past Saturday. Minute Maid Park in downtown was lit up with fun!
The Houston Astros hosted their annual Fan Fest 2017 celebration this past Saturday. Minute Maid Park in downtown was lit up with fun!
To round off the last of their caravan stops, the Fan Fest took place this past weekend to a crowd estimated at around 26,000 people.
Besides for autographs with the players, there was music, food, games, and even bouncy houses for the kids. A celebration like no other, with no expense spared!
I chronicled a lot of what I came across in my Evan Gattis fan blog, The White Bear Chronicles. Feel free to enjoy my video entries!
In the meantime, there were three things that stood out to me about this particular party.
1. Every fan, not just the ones with vouchers, had a chance at an autograph!
You’re reading this correctly, folks. Building upon some of the issues the organization ran into last year about not enough time to see their favorite players, or even be denied autographs all together, every fan there had the chance to get a player autograph.
How, you ask? Well, aside from the sessions that required the paid vouchers were rotating sessions throughout the park. With this, a different player signs for the fans every 30 minutes at any given station.
This was, indeed, a commendable move by the organization. Incredibly revolutionary!
2. The accessibility of those responsible for these games was astounding!
This goes well beyond the players. The good folks over at Root Sports Southwest, who bring us the games live as they happen, were also on hand to interact with the fans. I had the privilege of meeting Kevin Eschenfelder, Bart Enis and Julia Morales. All of whom are exquisite human beings!
That is the main thing that gets lost on some of the fan base at times. We forget that these players, coaches, front office staff and media are all human beings the same as we are. Only difference, these folks get to make sports magic happen over 50% of the year.
3. The Fan Forums (Q&A Sessions)
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed these for the two seasons that I have attended Fan Fest. It allows those that come to the games, the fans, to ask questions of the players, coaches and media. I even had a chance to ask newly acquired catcher, Brian McCann a two-part question of my own.
a. What his thoughts were on reuniting with Evan Gattis.
b. What he noticed differently about this pitching staff from watching videos.
His response to both were very insightful and thought provoking. In regard to the second one first, he said that the Houston Astros pitchers were a lot more spontaneous on what they call to throw. McCann also added that the young arms very much impressed him.
As far as his reunion with Gattis, he had some serious fun with that. At least a half a dozen fans mistook him for El Oso Blanco, despite him being on his honeymoon with his new wife. McCann played right into that, and mentioned such in plenty of interviews.
One here with Fox 26’s own, Mark Berman had me laughing up a storm.
Additionally, newly-acquired pitcher Charlie Morton and former Tampa Bay Rays sportscaster — and heir to Bill Brown — Todd Kalas were also on hand.
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Morton talked about his various surgeries, and Kalas mentioned about his dad being from the Houston area.
All in all, the 2017 Houston Astros Fan Fest is one for the record books. Having well over twice the amount of folks from the previous year is a good sign for these spacemen.
Let’s hope it translates into game attendance.
Now, it’s on to Spring Training in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Then our guys will host the Seattle Mariners to open up the regular season.
And, fingers crossed, a shot at a world title!
Let’s make it happen H-Town!