The great advantage of arrivng early is that you beat the crowds. The disadvantage is that you have to wake up very early to do it. Fortunately, I was able to relax a little on the train ride in, and after the 3 block walk from Penn Station to Jacob Javits, we arrived refreshed and ready to go!

The first thing I wanted to do was get on line for the free autographs. The first thing Andrew wanted to do was play. So since this was his first trip to any type of large scale sports/memorabilia show, I wanted him to have enjoy it, so we bypassed the live interview with Whitey Ford and made our way to the interactive games.

Fan Fest was filled with many opportunities to test your skills in pitching, batting, fielding and baserunning. Our first stop was the Fan Fest Batting Practice, where after filling out the mandaory waiver in case of injury, Andrew headed in bat in hand. No sooner had I pulled out my camera to get an action shot, and Andrew was down - hit by the pitch from the batting machine (the pitches, although slow, were still faster than what he's seen in little league and he was just unable to get out of the way). A few tears, and a quick visit from the staff paramedic (to insure he was ok) and we were on our way to the pitching booths. This was very cool.

Here, you had the chance to pitch against the All Star of your choice (on a video display). Throw the ball to the catcher's glove & it's a strike. If you strike him out, you win a prize. Being a NY Yankee fan, Andrew decided to pitch against Derek Jeter. Watching the fans before us, I wasn't too optimistic about his chances since the strike zone sensor seemed to have a mind of its own. However, 5 minutes later (remember we arrived early so there were virtually no lines) my little fire-baller was on the mound. Three incredibly well placed pitches later, Jeter was struck out and Andrew was thrilled (and the proud owner of his first souvineer plush baseball).

A few feet away from the video pitching, we had the chance to see exactly how much heat Andrew was sending Jeter's way. Again, after another 5 minute wait, he was back on the mound.

For a boy of 7 years old, I must admit he's got a pretty good arm. His pitches clocked in between 27 and 35 mph (the fastest in the Boys under 12 was 45mph). Since we had plenty of time, I decided to see what kind of mustard was on my fastball.

As much as Andrew wanted me to top the fastest throw, I was under no illusions that I would be able to throw better than 89mph, but I had to try. At the very least, I was consistent clocking in 7 throws between 56 and 60mph. Honestly, I was glad I managed to hit the target every time and not throw the ball into either the ground or the netting (as a few overly enthusiastic adults before me did). With batting and pitching down, we next made our way to the interactive fielding.

A short fly ball away from the Strikeout Challenge, I found myself stepping over ropes (and picking them up for Andrew - remember, we're early so no lines) and making my way to third base. The Steal Home Challenge is a 90ft dash against the clock. The key to this one is to step on the center of Home Plate to stop the clock and record your time, otherwise it just keeps going and going and going...

Similar to the Strikeout Challenge, Stealing Home kept a display of the fastest times for the different age groups. Not knowing exactly how fast Andrew can made it exciting (for both of us) to see what his time would be. I, on the other hand, never considered myself fast. Quick, with good relfexes yes, fast - no. In any case, there was no way I was going to beat the 3.42 seconds, honestly I was hoping to finish in under 6 seconds.

Soon enough, it was our turn. There were three lanes of 3rd-to-Home baselines set up, but we were allowed to run against each other. Out of sheer curiousity, when the 'Ump' said go!, I took off and finished in a respectable 4.46 seconds. Andrew, to my surprise, was not very far behind posting a time of 5.65 seconds.

I did feel a little bad having beaten him (my wife still doesn't understand why I couldn't just let him win), but after the race I knew he couldn't care less when he said "Wow Dad, I didn't know you were that fast".

Honestly, neither did I.

What to me, looked like a pretty boring activity, turned out to be one of Andrew's favorites - the Fan Fest Fielding Practice.

The set-up rather creative, the 'outfielder' stood some 150ft across from a pitching machine that in the first lane would send a grounder, you then moved to the 2nd lane for a short pop-up, onto lane #3 for a line drive, then lanes #4 & #5 for longor short fly balls, all of which you had to field, and throw back to the 'hitter' (the person operating the pitching machine). Gloves were provided, so once Andrew found an appropriately sized one, he was into the outfield (did I mention we only had to wait behind 6 other people since we arrived early and it still wasn't crowded).

Anyway, the first 'hit' was a ground ball that was expertly fielded by my son and thrown back with superb accuracy (remember, he struck out Jeter on three pitches). He then moved to the short pop-up, which he dropped - and later blamed on the fact that he wasn't using his own glove and the ball were a semi-hard foam, not real baseballs. Anyway, he fielded the line- drive on 1 hop, and caught several of the fly balls (since there was virtually no line, the 'hitter' in the last lane sent several balls his way).

After returning his glove, I had barely asked if he liked it, when he asked if he could do it again. With no line, why

For me, the best part of Fan Fest is the opportunity to meet some of the games greatest players, and get their autographs. The interesting thing about Fan Fest is that although they provide a list of the players scheduled to appear each day, they do not mention the times that they will be signing. The other issue is the line.

Since we had spent ~2hrs enjoying all of the interactive skills challenges, by the time we reached the Topps Collector's Showcase, where the Major League Baseball Legends were signing autographs(free with the price of admission), the line stretched from one end of the building to the other. The usher at the end of the line told us the wait from where we were would be ~2.5 hrs, which turned out to be almost exactly correct. We were also informed of who that the current signers were Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda and Steve Sax, but they would be gone by the time we reached the podium. Apparently, the Legends signed in 2 hr shifts, so although 2 new Legends would be signing, we had no idea of who they would be.

To my surprise, Andrew was very patient and well behaved for a 7yr old on a 2.5hr line. We were kept occupied by various DHL & Upper Deck reps who handed out assorted common cards, and were also able to view many of the vendor booths that we passes at a snails pace. We were also surprosed to see LA Dodger great Steve Garvey walking among the crowd, stopping to take pictures with fans as he was escorted through the room (as he was not an announced signer, his presence was quite a surprise). Finally, at noon, Cepeda and Sax left the podium, to be replaced a few minutes later by Boston Red Sox great Fred Lynn, NYY favorite Oscar Gamble, and (surprise) Steve Garvey.

This turned out to be quite fortunate for us since Andrew had no intention getting the autograph of a Boston Red Sox player (no matter how good he was). If there was no Yankee signing he would have been rather upset, lucky for us Oscar showed up.

Within the next 30 minutes, after reminding me several times about how hungry he was, we had Oscar's autograph and all was good again. In our quest for quest for chicken tenders (we ended up with a personal size cheese pizza), we paused only briefly to admire the Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and Mickey Mantle's autographed glove from his "Perfect Catch" in the Game 5 of the 1956 World Series (in which Don Larsen would also end up pitching the only post-season Perfect Game). But all of these moments and memories are lost on a hungry 7yr old, so we hurried out to find lunch, and plan the rest of our day.

One of the great things about having kids is their complete predictability. Given the choice between learning about the History of Baseball
, viewing rare memorabilia from The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, waiting for another autograph (possibly Harmon Killebrew) or playing games; they will almost always want to play.

So, soon after lunch ended, did we stop to listen to the interview with Gaylord Perry on 'The Diamond' ballfield - of course not. Did we view the exhibits on the Negro Leagues, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, The National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, or even the Hometown Heroes tribute to the NY Yankees - definitely not. We made a bee-line (or should I say a line-drive) to the back of the exhibition hall for more Fielding Practice. Didn't matter that there was now at least a 45 min wait, when your child is genuinely excited about something, it's absolutely worth it. Even when they ask to do it again. Same goes for the now 1 hr wait for a 6 second sprint to try to Steal Home.

It was only around 5pm, when all the activity of the day began to take it's toll did Andrew finally announce that he was getting tired and wanted to go home. So with our All Star Fan Fest memories fresh in our minds, and another free Baby Ruth candy bar in hand, did we end our day.