This past Saturday, I braved the overcast and windy weather, and headed west to Bridgewater for the Somerset Patriots annual Fan Fest.

When I arrived about 15 minutes before the start of the festivities, the crowd in front looked very un-crowd like. By the time I parked and made my way into TD Bank Park, the crowd had somehow multiplied,  and the concourse was a busy place. Behind the plate, you had various sponsor tables, a raffle, along with manager Sparky Lyle, catcher Travis Anderson, and pitcher Casey Cahill signing autographs. I thought about getting Lyle’s autograph, but I had nothing for him to sign. The team store was open, but cash was limited today, and I had tickets to buy. 

The right field section of the concourse was set up with kids games. There was a strongman ring the bell stand, free throw shooting, and a game where you spun the wheel, and whatever number came up, you won that corresponding prize. You couldn’t lose. 

The left field side had the concession stand open, as well as some of the other food carts. I had my first hot dog of the year. It wasn’t particularly good, but it is the preseason, so there’s time to work out these kinks. I don’t think there was beer, but I also didn’t ask. Probably for the best with all the kiddies around. There was a live band playing, but I didn’t catch their name. They played covers, and were pretty good, but the lead singer looked awfully cold. The wind was gusting up to 40 mph, and it felt a lot colder on the concourse than in the seats.

There was an Olde Time Baseball game played, that was contested under 1890’s rules. No gloves, underhand pitching, dead ball, larger bat. I caught half an inning before the cold had gotten to me, and it was now time to leave. Oh, I neglected to mention the various mascots that were at the game. There were team mascots Sparkee and Slider, that’s a given. But there were also a dancing penguin; a guy looked like he was dressed as a rook chess piece, that I later found out was “The Dean of Chess”. I’m still not sure what that’s all about. There was also the Max Reader of Re-Max (looked like a giant balloon), the Cliff Hawk, which if it is what I think it is, is a little early, and my favorite, the QuickChek Q. The less said about this mascot, the better. Seriously, the letter Q?

Before I left, I stopped to buy some regular season tickets. The Patriots offered a 2 for 1 special for any games Sunday through Thursday. In this economy, that’s a great deal. I picked up 2 for July 19th against the Ducks. Not real ducks, the Long Island Ducks. I suspect there wouldn’t be a ticket special if they played real ducks. Two tickets, $9.00. I can’t complain. 

All in all it was a good time. According to the Patriot’s web site, over 3,000 fans showed up. That’s an awesome result considering the weather. If you were there, shoot us an email or tweet us, and let us know what you thought. If you’d like to see all the pictures I took, just click here.

Hope you liked our first extended post of the year. If you did, share us with friends. If you didn’t, let us know why. 

In the mean time, and in-between time, that’s it.