By: Kelly
Another year and another Mariners FanFest for my family has gone by. January is a tough month for me especially with all the snow that we had this year. I spent most of January counting down the days to FanFest and trying to wait patiently to see what players would be attending. Usually we go down to the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood for the M’s final caravan stop but didn’t make it this year. Dan Wilson and Dan Altavilla attended that.
Technically there wasn’t a “headliner” at this year event but a ton of new players that were acquired in the offseason including Jean Segura (Sat. only), Jarrod Dyson, Drew Smyly, Yovani Gallardo, Danny Valencia, Mitch Haniger and Leonys Martin (Sat. only) who was supposed to be there in 2016 but couldn’t make it. The prospects were the best set since they first started bringing them in, in 2010 I believe. Kyle Lewis, Tyler O’Neil and Andrew Moore. Nick Neidert was supposed to be there but he got sick on Friday and couldn’t attend. Vouchers stayed 300 and I hope they keep it at that number. You aren’t in line for autographs as much with that number which gives you more time to do stuff around the stadium. Saturday was extremely unorganized as the gates opened. Takes much longer to get people through with the metal detectors. Sunday, like last year was much better as they opened the gates a little bit earlier, at 10:30.
The only thing we haven’t done at a FanFest is play catch on the field and every year we say we are going to do it but always forgot or don’t have time. Finally this year we remembered to bring our gloves and we did it! It was awesome, playing catch with my daughters on a big league field, I will never forget that moment. Last year they had a new attraction. You could go into the batter’s box and pose for a fun picture and we missed out but made sure to do it this year and I got a great picture of my girls. Along with getting all the autographs we want we always do the fun stuff around the ballpark. A few of the things we did were the Home Run Challenge, Clubhouse Tour, got a picture with Drew Smyly in the Mariners Photo Zone and run around the bases. Next year we plan on pitching in the bullpen, it has been a while since we have done that.
Here are the pictures I took, Mariners FanFest Pictures.
JARROD DYSON
Dyson was a big hit and I could see him being a big reason on why the Mariners could make it into the playoffs this season. Dyson had the line of FanFest. During his Dugout Dialogue on Sunday he was asked if he was going to bring the Mariner fans a ring. He answered with, “Wherever I go, the champagne flow”.
ATTENDANCE
The attendance saw an increase from last year. It was the second highest in the event’s 19 year history, 22,730 including a record for a Saturday session of 12,360.
21,771 in 2016
25,290 in 2015
21,019 in 2014
17,952 in 2013
9,774 in 2012
12,298 in 2011
17,299 in 2010
8,571 in 2009
AUTOGRAPH BREAKDOWN
36 total autographs
28 total on cards
3 on jersey/relic cards
4 on 8×10 photos
4 on balls