Rangers Fanfest and Awards Show

[Gonzaleznut]

So tomorrow night (Thursday) is the inaugural Texas Rangers Awards Show. I got VIP tickets for Xmas so I am taking my wife. There are supposed to be quite a few current and former players there. I will let you know how that turns out. I am taking along a couple of Hamilton jerseys I am hoping to get signed.

Also, Rangers Fanfest is this weekend. I have tickets for Saturday and I am probably going to spend the night on Friday out front of the convention center with my son to make sure we are towards the front of the line to get the players we want. Last year was sooooo crazy so I anticipate the same this year. I will let you know how I do there as well.

What I hate is that the Rangers still have not announced which players will be signing on which days and times. Very annoying. Makes it difficult to plan ahead.

Is anyone else going to either event?

 

[jbmm161]

It's to hard to get autos now without camping out. Have to be lucky to
get the tickets.
Hamilton is going to be doing a Winter Carvan appearance at the Academy near my house
Jan 23rd may try for that one.

I cleaned up a couple years ago at Fan Fest and the winter caravans.
Got several of my favorite players, but since they made the post season the last 2 years the Bandwagon is over flowing and it makes it 100 times harder to get autos from the guys you want.
I went last year but just walked around didn't try for autographs, the convention center was packed
and it was hard to get around.

 

[txbevo]

Here is an announcement of who will be signing on what days:

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/artic ... b&c_id=tex

They also sold 50 Fast Passes at $500 each. These are kind of like Fast Passes at Disney. It allows the person holding the pass to move to the front of the line guaranteeing an autograph. Each player/personality will sign only 225 autographs, so with the Fast Passes in play that only leaves slots for 175. Making the odds very difficult of getting one of the more sought after autos. I have a Michael Young game used bat and was hoping to get it signed, but that does not look likely.

Where do you find info on the Winter Caravans?

 

[19braves77]

From a friend last year in his own words:

This was a disaster and I knew once we left on Friday night to head for Dallas that I shouldn't have gone. We stayed in the hotel right beside the convention center where the Fan Fest was held, so I got up at 4 AM on Saturday morning and walked over to get in the line that was already about 150 people deep. Nolan Ryan was the big ticket that everyone was there to get that morning. I purchased a photofile 16x20 and had it express shipped just to make it in time. Well, they started handing out the bracelets for the first 4 signers at around 8AM (gates opened at 9) and because people kept cutting in line and van loads of kids kept getting dropped off to go join their church groups who were holding their places, I missed out on a Nolan chance. I took Adrian Beltre instead. I was so pissed at how they ran things this year. If you got one autograph the whole day, you were lucky. Anyway, Fergie Jenkins and Gaylord Perry were running a charity booth and you could pay $20 ea. and they would sign an item and add their HOF inscription. Got Fergie on an 8x10 and Perry on a ROMLB. CJ Wilson signed as one of the morning guests then went to his own charity booth and signed for hundreds of people. I donated $20 to his charity (you didn't have to) and got a t-shirt and had him sign 2 8x10's and a WS ball. My wife got the ball done and didn't know to ask him to sign in below the WS emblem, so he sweet spotted it! You could not get another autograph bracelet until after the one you were in was finished. It's so hard to explain how they ran it, but just know that it was not geared towards guys who collect autographs and instead for just the casual fan.
Was actually in the Fan Fest for 2 hrs and stood in line outside triple that time. It got so bad that the fire marshall's shut down the way they had the lines going everywhere inside and made them go to a lottery system for a chance at Hamilton's signing today. Speaking of which, we didn't even go today. It opened at 12 and lines were already wrapped around the building outside by 8 this morning for a chance at Kinsler and Michael Young.

Totals:
Adrian Beltre - 1/1 (Rawlings black big stick bat signed in silver fine point deco)
Fergie Jenkins - 1/1 (Rangers 8x10 with HOF inscription)
Gaylord Perry - 1/1 (SS ROMLB with HOF inscription)
CJ Wilson - 1/1, 1/1, 1/1 (2 8x10's and 1 2010 WS baseball signed on SS instead of under logo)


Have fun and good luck

 

[19braves77]

Rangers Caravan Info:

All events listed below are at Academy Sports stores

Arlington
Wed, Jan 11
6:30p - 8:00p
1101 West Arbrook Blvd., Arlington
Meet: Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Mike Napoli, Ron Washington Tom Grieve, Jim Sundberg
Dallas
Mon, Jan 16
6:30p - 8:00p
8050 Forest Lane, Dallas
Meet: Nelson Cruz, Alexi Ogando, Martin Perez, Eleno Ornelas
McKinney
Wed, Jan 18
6:30p - 8:00p
1720 West University Drive, McKinney
Meet: Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Mark Hamburger, Andy Hawkins, Eric Nadel
Longview
Thurs, Jan 19
5:30p - 6:30p
445 Forest Square St. at McCann Road, Longview
Meet: Mark Hamburger, Scott Coolbaugh, others TBA
N. Ft. Worth
Mon, Jan 23
6:30p - 8:00p
5836 North Tarrant Parkway, Fort Worth
Meet: Josh Hamilton, David Murphy, Michael Kirkman, Mike Maddux
Lubbock
Tues, Jan 24
5:30p - 6:30p
5802 19th St. at West Loop 289, Lubbock
Meet: Michael Kirkman, Jackie Moore, Steve Busby, others TBA
Abilene
Wed, Jan 25
4:30p - 5:30p
3950 Knox Drive, Abilene
Meet: Michael Kirkman, Jackie Moore, Steve Busby, others TBA
Sherman
Thurs, Jan 26
3:00p - 4:00p
3939 U.S. Highway 75, Sherman
Meet: Matt Harrison, Scott Coolbaugh, others TBA
South OKC
Thurs, Jan 26
7:30p - 8:30p
7700 South Walker Ave., Oklahoma City, OK
Meet: Matt Harrison, Scott Coolbaugh, Bobby Jones, others TBA
Wichita Falls
Fri, Jan 27
5:00p - 6:00p
3201 Lawrence Road, Wichita Falls
Meet: Matt Harrison, Scott Coolbaugh, others TBA
N. Austin
Tues, Jan 31
6:30p - 7:30p
12250 Research Blvd., Austin
Meet: Ron Washington, Dave Anderson, Eric Nadel, others TBA
San Antonio
Wed, Feb 1
4:30p - 5:30p
15350 I.H. 35 North at Olympia Parkway, Selma
Meet: Mike Adams, Dave Anderson, Eric Nadel, others TBA
Waco
Thurs, Feb 2
4:30p - 5:30p
210 North New Road, Waco
Meet: Dave Anderson, Eric Nadel, others TBA
Burleson
Fri, Feb 3
6:30p - 8:00p
12700 South Freeway, Burleson
Meet: Craig Gentry, Scott Coolbaugh, Steve Busby, Jim Sundberg, others TBA
Cityview
Tues, Feb 7
6:30p - 8:00p
6010 I-20, Fort Worth
Meet: Mitch Moreland, Mike Maddux, Tom Grieve, others TBA

 

[gmarutiak]

Just curious...does the money from the Fast Passes go to charity?

 

[sabrgeek]

I know its related -- so I'm surprised the Frisco Rough Riders "Fan Fest" is not included in the schedule

 

[Gonzaleznut]

From a friend last year in his own words:

This was a disaster and I knew once we left on Friday night to head for Dallas that I shouldn't have gone. We stayed in the hotel right beside the convention center where the Fan Fest was held, so I got up at 4 AM on Saturday morning and walked over to get in the line that was already about 150 people deep. Nolan Ryan was the big ticket that everyone was there to get that morning. I purchased a photofile 16x20 and had it express shipped just to make it in time. Well, they started handing out the bracelets for the first 4 signers at around 8AM (gates opened at 9) and because people kept cutting in line and van loads of kids kept getting dropped off to go join their church groups who were holding their places, I missed out on a Nolan chance. I took Adrian Beltre instead. I was so pissed at how they ran things this year. If you got one autograph the whole day, you were lucky. Anyway, Fergie Jenkins and Gaylord Perry were running a charity booth and you could pay $20 ea. and they would sign an item and add their HOF inscription. Got Fergie on an 8x10 and Perry on a ROMLB. CJ Wilson signed as one of the morning guests then went to his own charity booth and signed for hundreds of people. I donated $20 to his charity (you didn't have to) and got a t-shirt and had him sign 2 8x10's and a WS ball. My wife got the ball done and didn't know to ask him to sign in below the WS emblem, so he sweet spotted it! You could not get another autograph bracelet until after the one you were in was finished. It's so hard to explain how they ran it, but just know that it was not geared towards guys who collect autographs and instead for just the casual fan.
Was actually in the Fan Fest for 2 hrs and stood in line outside triple that time. It got so bad that the fire marshall's shut down the way they had the lines going everywhere inside and made them go to a lottery system for a chance at Hamilton's signing today. Speaking of which, we didn't even go today. It opened at 12 and lines were already wrapped around the building outside by 8 this morning for a chance at Kinsler and Michael Young.

Have fun and good luck

I had an almost identical experience last year. All you have to do is substitute Nellie Cruz for Beltre. I also got Fergie Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, and CJ Wilson via their charity tables. The rest of it was an absolute cluster.

I went last night to the Rangers Awards Show and it was totally lame. It felt very contrived and sterile. There was zero interaction between the fans and players. I paid $75 each for my wife and I to go and it was a total waste of money. I left there very disappointed and even wrote the Rangers a feedback email this afternoon.

I am going to Fanfest tomorrow but I feel like it will be a total joke as well. If this is what success means then I would rather go back to the last place days...oh wait...no I wouldn't. Winning cures all ails.

 

[Greg Cleveland]

I always find reading about other teams' Fanfests very interesting. You've probably noticed the thread for Twinsfest already at 4 pages and growing. Sad to hear that the Rangers don't seem to be able to figure out how to run it well. Makes you wonder if teams check with each other to see what they do. Twinsfest has been going since 1988, and as much as we complain about some logistics, we still think it's the best run team Fanfest in the league. Especially when we read about how poorly some other ones are run. There's a new wristband policy being introduced for Mauer and Morneau autographs this year, and it screams "EPIC FAIL" to us.

Please post pics and give reports afterwards. Good luck getting autos, guys!