After the awesome time we had at FanFest on Sunday, we decided that we needed to go back. So I found some more tickets online for about $6 each and we headed back to the Civic Center on Tuesday morning to get to FanFest. We wanted to get there early so we could get a Max Scherzer bobblehead by being one of first 300 people in the door. (As it turned out, we did get there in time, but the bobblehead was about the size of a Christmas Tree Ornament) By being there early, the boys were able to participate in a lot more of the activities without having to wait in line. They also were able to get registered to participate in the Home Run hitting contest. We were able to get another Hall of Famer's autograph - Rollie Fingers, so that was pretty cool. We also got to meet and have a picture made with MLB Network's Kevin Millar, who is someone the boys watch every day on the show, "Intentional Talk". As a bonus, we got to witness a Hot Dog Eating contest sponsored by Nathan's Hot Dogs featuring the greatest Professional Eaters on the planet, including the 16 Time Nathan's July 4th National Hot Dog Eating Champion, Joey Chestnutt who set a new record this past Fourth of July when he ate 74 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes!
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| Hot Dog Eating Contest at FanFest |
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| The Legend - World Champion Professional Eater Joey Chestnutt with Trey and Tate |
It was quite a sight to see these people devouring so many hot dogs in 5 minutes. According to Tammy, "it was disgusting". The boys had their own baseball cards made at the Topps booth which was pretty cool.
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| Tate's Baseball Card |
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| Trey's Baseball Card which he autographed! |
After our second day at FanFest, it was time to head back to Nationals Park for the 89th MLB All-Star Game. This was, for me, the most exciting part of the trip. The chance for our boys to see so many Superstars at one time was pretty special. We go there early and, as usual, we were planning our strategy to get an autograph or at least a BP ball. Trey and I again went to the National League dugout in hopes of getting an autograph from anyone who would sign, especially any of the Braves players who were there. Unfortunately, no one came out to sign so we decided to go to the outfield to try to catch a ball or get a player to throw us one.
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Trey and Tate watching Batting Practice hoping for a ball.
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After waiting and watching in awe of all of the great players out on the field, we had just about given up on getting anything. It was getting more and more crowded by the minute. To no one's surprise, this was going to be a sold-out event. As the boys were just about fed up and ready to go up to our seats, in steps Aaron Judge to finish up his BP round. This guy is HUGE. He is a mammoth of a man. He hits right-handed and we were standing in right field. I was not feeling very optimistic, but he is very strong and could hit it out of the park to all fields. Just then, he cracks one toward right field and as I am watching it, I notice that it is coming right towards me. I have my glove on and am popping my fist inside it in anticipation of possibly getting to make a play. As I watch the ball, it is heading right toward me. As it crests and starts its downward path, I am ready! I stick up my glove as high as I can because I know there may be some other people who may try to jump in front of me to intercept it. Just then, it lands in my glove and I am squeezing it as hard as I can so no one else knocks it out. Score! I just caught a baseball hit by Aaron Judge and I am sure to be my kids' hero now.
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Trey and Tate with the "Aaron Judge Ball"
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After batting practice, we go to find our seats in anticipation of watching the "Midsummer Classic", the All-Star Game. We were very excited since four Braves players would be participating with two of them, Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis being chosen starters for the game.
