San Diego : Ted Williams Opens All-Star FanFest

The All-Star FanFest, a five-day event featuring batting cages, radar pitching machines and other baseball-related attractions, opened Friday amid predictions that it will draw 100,000 people to the San Diego Convention Center.

“Last year in Toronto, they had more than 70,000. We’re optimistic that we’re going to beat that,” a FanFest spokesman said.

About 25,000 people bought tickets for the event ahead of time, but many more were buying them at the door Friday, he said.

Total attendance Friday was 14,000, the spokesman said.

Hall of Fame member Ted Williams, who grew up in San Diego, threw out a first pitch Friday to kick off the FanFest, which, in addition to a slew of baseball-related games, includes the largest collection of memorabilia outside the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.