Padres Welcome Fans for All Star Weekend

The Padres are hosting their first All Star Game since 1992 and fans can’t wait. The All Star FanFest kicked off Friday afternoon with player signings, photo-ops and even a free Needtobreathe / One Direction concert.

While the Padres will only be represented by Wil Myers in the All Star Game (and Home Run Derby), they will have 3 players representing them in the MLB Futures Game Sunday afternoon.

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The city has a busy weekend planned already between Comic-Con, the OTL tournament and a standard weekend of beautiful weather. Scott Hermes, the GM of the Westin Gaslamp had this to say:

“To me, the beauty of having the game in San Diego is it puts us in the national spotlight, this game is broadcast all around the world, and with our amazing weather and Petco and all of those amazing aerial shots, the opportunity for attracting future visitors to San Diego is the real home run. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.”

It is estimated that the All Star Game will bring about 60,000 people from outside the county (though a former resident count me as one of those people) and up to $80M in tourism revenue.

There will be no shortage of fun for the weekend, and with typical amazing San Diego weather it will be another great showcase for America’s Finest City.

San Diego Tourism Authority Joe Terzi said “We rely on these very high-profile, hugely popular events that people see around the world to give people a positive perception of San Diego”.

Here is a link to a schedule of all the former players and baseball figures who will be signing autographs and taking pictures. The Futures Game kicks off the baseball activities Sunday afternoon before the Celebrity Softball Game afterward.

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The Home Run Derby lineup is stacked – though without Madison Bumgarner – but Wil Myers hopes to follow in defending champion Todd Frazier‘s footsteps with a championship. By the way, Frazier will be back to defend his title.

The main event of course is Tuesday night, with the National League hoping to get back in the win column for the first time since 2012. Mike Trout has won two consecutive All Star Game MVP Awards and is back once again to continue that impressive trend.

San Diego. Baseball. Sunshine. Doesn’t get much better.