Day 2 - FanFest and the Futures & Celebrity Softball Games

We awoke on Sunday morning with anticipation of going to FanFest.  After our experience on the subway, which was not too bad the night before, we looked into using Uber.  We had never used an Uber before and to be honest, I had some reservations.  My brother Joe and his family just got back from NYC and he told me how he had paid $60 for an Uber ride.  So, just out of curiosity, I looked into it.  I had downloaded the app on my phone and punched in the location we wanted to go to and the location of where we were and voila!  We could take an Uber ride to the Convention Center for around $7.00.  Wow, that was cheaper than the subway.  So with the punch of a few keys on my phone, there was a car waiting outside our apartment in about 5 minutes and it took us to FanFest.  I was impressed with Uber and we would use it several more times.
Now I had no idea really what to expect but, was I pleasantly surprised!  It was like a Baseball Disneyworld!  There were so many cool things to see and do for young and old.  And you never knew who you might run into.

At the entrance of Fan Fest

Boys getting some fielding work in

Trey getting some swings in

Getting autographs from Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry

There were Hall of Famers there signing autographs as well as vendors giving away promotional items and there were the experiences, which the boys really liked.  For example, they had pitching machines where fans young and old could participate in hitting, fielding, and throwing games.  There were all kinds of exhibits showcasing baseball history, Negro League history, Minor Leagues history.  There was so much to do that we knew just one day there would not be enough.  We decided we needed to squeeze in another day at FanFest.  More on that in another post.  As we left FanFest, we were walking to the subway station to get to the ballpark when we were stopped by someone working for Chevrolet and they were running a "Grab a Chevy" promotion.  They asked us if we wanted a free ride to anywhere within a 5-mile radius.  We told them we were on our way to the Ballpark and they offered us a ride in a new Traverse, which was really nice.  And they gave us each a free 20 oz. Coke since Coke was partnering with Chevrolet on that promotion.  Score!  Free ride to Nationals Park and a free Coke!
My first impression of Nationals Park was pretty favorable.  It is in great shape.  It doesn't have the nostalgia that some have, but it kind of ranks in the middle of the pack of all the MLB stadiums I have been to.
Later in the afternoon at Nationals Park, we decide to attend the MLB Futures Game.  Originally we had decided not to go to this event but our youngest son Tate wanted to go to the Celebrity Softball game, so we looked into it.  I used TickPick to find some pretty reasonably priced tickets and we went.  It turned out to be a really cool event. 

Tate at the Futures Game, our first time at Nationals Park - Stadium #14 for the boys!

In the Futures Game, many of MLB's top prospects participated in a game of young players from the US vs. young players from around the World.  It was a pretty exciting game.  We even got to see two of the Atlanta Braves top pitching prospects, Kyle Wright and Touki Toussant.  Both played very well and in the game, there was a new record of 8 homers that were hit which doubled the previous record of 4.  That is always a good indication of how entertaining the event was for the boys.
After the Futures Game, there was the Celebrity Softball Game featuring people like Jamie Foxx, Disney Star Skai Jackson, Washington Wizards star John Wall, Washington Redskins star Josh Norman, as well as MLB legends like Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, and Bernie Williams among many others.  As an added bonus, we were entertained by D.J. Diesel a.k.a. Shaq.  It was an entertaining day and the boys enjoyed it.  So we left the park and again we used Uber.  Not bad even though the driver was not very chatty.  We got back to our apartment and crashed to get ready for the next day.