Autograph passes for the 2016 Tampa Bay Rays Fan Fest presented by the Tampa Bay Times will go on sale next week. Rays Fan Fest is scheduled for Saturday, February 27 from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Tropicana Field. Season Ticket Holders are granted early entry to Fan Fest beginning at 10 a.m. Admission and parking are free.
Rays autographs at Fan Fest will be available with the purchase of an autograph pass. These player-specific passes go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, February 10 exclusively at raysbaseball.com, subject to availability. Rays Season Ticket Holders and fans who sign up for the Rays Insider newsletter at raysbaseball.com by noon on Monday, February 8 will receive information regarding presale opportunities. Autograph passes provide access to a player at a specific time during Fan Fest. A limited number will be sold for each signing player, and all sales must be completed online in advance of Fan Fest.
Passes will not be available for purchase at Fan Fest. The cost of each autograph pass is $25 per player. All proceeds from autograph sales will benefit the ALS Association Florida Chapter. Fans who become Rays Season Ticket Holders will also have an autograph presale opportunity. To become a Season Ticket Holder, visit raysbaseball.com or call 888-FAN-RAYS. An autograph station featuring more than 40 former major league players will also be available throughout the day to kids 14 and under and fans who have purchased autograph passes.
For a sixth year, the Rays Charity Yard Sale will feature unique, game-used and autographed memorabilia dating back to the club's inaugural season. All proceeds benefit the Rays Baseball Foundation. Proceeds from Don Zimmer collectables will benefit the Clearwater for Youth Don Zimmer Memorial Scholarship Fund for local high school seniors. The Rays Charity Yard Sale and autograph sales at the 2015 Rays Fan Fest raised more than $110,000 for the ALS Association Florida Chapter and the Rays Baseball Foundation.
Free activities at Fan Fest include a discussion with Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons and Reading with the Rays, presented in partnership with Suncoast Credit Union, on the Pepsi Main Stage; speed pitch, batting cages and home run derby in the All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine Kids Interactive Zone; and a social media zone, presented by tampabay.com. Baseball clinics for youth players, parents and coaches will be held in the infield, and kids can high five players at home plate after running the bases, courtesy of Sagicor Life Insurance Company. Billiards champion Jeanette Lee, known throughout the billiards community as "The Black Widow," will perform demonstrations.
For more information about the 2016 Rays Fan Fest, fans can visit raysbaseball.com/fanfest. More event details will be released soon.