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Padres News: Padres FanFest 2015 Recap

By Andrew Beccarelli

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Wow, I know we talk about how great the weather in San Diego is all the time, but you could not have asked for a more beautiful day for today’s #PadresFanFest.

It was an absolutely perfect day for the San Diego Padres to host their annual FanFest, and the fans came out in droves to support and get a look at their new Pads in action.

Before the exhibition game against the Diablos Rojos, Petco Park was open free to fans with autograph & photo booths, club room tours, “garage sales”, and mini press conferences.

I missed the James Shields Q&A I was hoping to attend, but my brother who saw it is a big fan of his now, thought he was really funny.

Here’s a clip from Padres.com:

As for the sales, there were certainly some deals to be had. I wasn’t in the market for any new Padres swag, by my friends made off with some $10 hats and $50 jerseys.

The exhibition game against the Diablos Rojos was a bit lop sided, which was to be expected. The San Diego Padres closed out their spring training with an 8-0 victory.

Highlights of the game included a nice diving catch by Wil Myers, who then turned and threw out the advancing runner at first:

Another moment that stood out to me, was the standing ovation from Padres fans that Matt Kemp received on his first at bat. It’s so funny how just a season ago Padres fans loathed this guy. Now with an SD on his hat, they look at him like he’s the second coming. Dude has a lot to live up to in San Diego.

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Side note, ever wonder what happened to former Padre outfielder, Ruben Rivera? Well, turns out the now 41 year old has taken his talents south of the border.

Another aspect I was looking forward to seeing was the new scoreboard in action, and it is REALLY impressive. The thing is enormous, with fantastic HD picture. My only complaint was during the game it was missing some standard scoreboard features, like the team lineups.

However, according to the Padres official Twitter, the scoreboard we saw today will not have the same look once the regular season starts.

While the FanFest was a lot of fun, I am still so anxious for Monday afternoon, to see our Pads kickoff the 2015 season against the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m trying to think of an excuse I can use on my boss to let me work from home that afternoon. Anyone have any suggestions?

All photos courtesy of our friend, and Friar Faithful, Cody Cox. Thanks again for all the great photos!

How was your FanFest experience? Please share in the comments below.

Go Pads!

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