Baseball Pitches All-Star Pregame Show in San Diego

Major League Baseball considers itself America’s Pastime but has struggled to maintain that status for a few years now.

As salaries and ticket prices continue to inflate, a combination of disgust over the former and inability to afford the latter have deflated attendance for several franchises this season.

And when a $5-million-a-year superstar charges a 12-year-old five bucks for an autograph . . . well, that’s more than some people can take.

Major League Baseball understands this, by the way. (Hey, team owners would be ecstatic if salaries were more palatable.) And it has begun throwing a yearly party for fans in a bid to make it up to them.

This year’s All-Star FanFest, a five-day “baseball theme park” leading up to the July 14 All-Star game at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, will be held at the San Diego Convention Center, beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 10.

The idea: Pay one small ticket price per day (maximum of $10) and experience up to 13 hours of the magic of baseball.

No charging for autographs (about 125 “heroes,” including 15 to 20 Hall of Famers, are scheduled to sign their names for free), no gouging for exhibits (free). Once you’re in the door, the only things you’re supposed to pay for are food and commercial souvenirs.

The first FanFest in Toronto in 1991 was, by most accounts, a huge success. Stu Upson, vice president of business development for Major League Baseball Properties, said organizers hoped for a crowd of 40,000 to 50,000. The event drew 75,000 in baseball-mad Toronto, host to the 62nd All-Star Game.

“The reaction was tremendous across the board,” he says. “And out of all the letters we received, only 13 were complaints. You’d like none, of course, but out of 75,000 . . .”

The original concept for FanFest, according to Toronto Blue Jays marketing director Paul Markle, was included in the team’s application for the ’91 All-Star game. Major League Baseball Properties liked the idea so much that it tried to put one together for the 1990 All-Star game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

“But we got started late, and we wanted to do it right,” Upson says. “It turned out to be a great decision, because we did do it right.”

“When Major League Baseball came on board and supported it, it really took off,” Markle said.

FanFest will be the only game in town for the 2 1/2-year-old convention center during the five days. Original estimates were that it would cover 225,000 square feet. Upson says that has been revised to 350,000 square feet, including the entire upper level and mezzanine.

(The building will be easy to spot, decked out in red-white-and-blue bunting, with a 60-foot baseball on top.)

“Not everyone who wants to buy a ticket to the actual All-Star game is able to do so,” Upson said. “This is a way for more people to be involved and a way for baseball to promote itself for five days.”

To diminish entrance congestion, a set number of tickets will be sold for certain times on specific days; some times are already sold out. Ticket-holders will not be able to enter before the time on their tickets but will be allowed to stay all day once inside. Upson says he’s expecting about 80,000 or more but says capacity for the five days is well over 150,000. Most crowded will be Saturday and Sunday, he says.

Among the attractions:

- Cooperstown Hall of Fame. This is called “the largest exhibit of historic memorabilia ever displayed outside of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.” Included in the exhibit are a Babe Ruth uniform, Lou Gehrig’s shirt and cap and Ted Williams’ glove.

- Heroes of Baseball. Free autograph sessions. Upson rattles off the names Dick Allen, Steve Garvey, Nate Colbert, Vida Blue, Tony Oliva, Juan Marichal, Ferguson Jenkins, Brooks Robinson, Robin Roberts, Graig Nettles and Gene Mauch as being among the scheduled participants.

- The Bullpen, where you can throw a pitch and have a radar gun measure your speed and accuracy.

- FanFest baseball cards. Have your own card created, with your statistics on the back, at no charge.

- Diamond Theater. Players, managers and experts of the game conduct ongoing seminars and clinics.

- Collectors Showcase. About 200 card and memorabilia dealers.

- Home Plate. Traditional ballpark-type foods, such as bratwurst from Milwaukee (if they get this right, it could be worth the price of admission by itself), Philly cheese steaks, Dodger dogs, Chicago pizza, New York pretzels and San Diego nachos (indeed, this is Jack Murphy Stadium’s signature dish; thankfully, the material from event organizers makes no mention of that same facility’s sushi, which is simply an outrage for a ballpark).

- Hometown Heroes. A celebration of Padre teams, past and present. (The word celebration , unfortunately for long-suffering San Diego fans, is a bit of a stretch.)

- Knothole Gang Fence. Look through and relive some of baseball’s greatest moments on film and videotape.

The manifest of things to do also includes equipment-making exhibits, displays of uniforms, bats and gloves used by today’s players, continual entertainment, an old-time carnival and a store with souvenirs of all of the 28 Major League teams.

We’ll mention the most intriguing, and perhaps the best, last. In “Spring Training,” aspiring Major League hitters will step into a cage against a machine that displays a lifesize video image of a real pitcher while it dispenses baseballs.

Don’t worry about getting your head taken off by a 95-m.p.h. Nolan Ryan fastball, though. Rollie Fingers, the former Padre reliever who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, will be the main attraction, and his “pitches” will be slowed from their normal pace down into the 45-m.p.h. range (the machine will, however, throw sliders, curveballs and forkballs).

Fingers is this FanFest’s guest of honor. He is the Padres’ all-time save leader and also played for the Oakland A’s and Milwaukee Brewers.

Upson said that despite the size and scope of the FanFest, the overall aim is a simple one:

“We just want people to feel good about baseball.”

What: All-Star FanFest.

When: Friday, July 10, through Tuesday, July 14, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Where: San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego Freeway south to 10th Street exit. Follow 10th to Market Street. Go right on Market, then left on Kettner Street and left again onto Harbor Drive. The Convention Center is on the right. Or, you can travel by Amtrak to the San Diego station, then take the trolley (Bayside destination) straight to the convention center.

Wherewithal: General admission tickets are $8 before July 10, $10 on or after that date. Tickets for children 12 and under, people 62 and over and military personnel are $6 before July 10, $8 after.

Where to Call: TicketMaster in Orange County, (714) 740-2000.