WASHINGTON 鈥� Thousands of baseball fans, wearing hats and shirts representing teams from all over, filed through the Washington Convention Center for Major League Baseball鈥檚 础濒濒-厂迟补谤听FanFest.
Fans were able to snag autographs and buy memorabilia, jerseys and hats. There were also forums and talks with both baseball and softball greats.
The excitement was mostly centered around the games, though.
On one end of the hall were batting cages, where fans were able to take some hacks off a pitching machine. On another, there were cages synced up to measure bat speed. There was even a virtual reality home run derby.
Cole Tartal, of Bethesda, said he was 鈥渄ecent鈥� after smacking five home runs in the virtual reality derby.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really weird because you put the mask on and it鈥檚 totally different.鈥�
But when you smack a home run over the fence at Nationals Park, he said 鈥測ou see the track of the ball go out and then there鈥檚 fireworks. And it shows the distance and everything.鈥�
Parents like Wes Epton, of Arlington, and Mark Beaton, of D.C., brought their little kids to run around the bases. Kids as young as 1- and 2-years-old had their own little fields to hit off a tee and run the bases.
And across the board, the one thing fans kept saying was just how friendly the staff was.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great time,鈥� said Lisa Hegwood, of Greenbelt. 鈥淚 got to meet some of the players from the All-American Girls Baseball League today, so that was really cool.鈥�
鈥淓verybody has been great, the volunteers awesome, happy. It鈥檚 been a good time,” she said.
As a partial season ticket holder with the Nationals, it was an event Hegwood wouldn鈥檛 dare miss.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like a once in a lifetime opportunity where the All-Star Game is being held in your hometown, so I had to come and check it out and have some fun,鈥� said Hegwood.
It鈥檚 an event she said had something for 鈥渒ids of all ages, including the big ones.鈥�
