On Saturday morning, fans that got up early enough got a chance to meet Oriole outfielder Nick Markakis, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and the Marlins Jeremy Heremdia at the Under Armour store at the Annapols-Westfield Mall.
The event in Annapolis was a meet-and-greet autograph session, plus to prove that video games and professional athletes indeed go hand-in-hand, both Zimmerman and Heremida participated in a video game Home Run Derby by playing MLB 2K8.
Being that the city of Annapolis is within proximity of both Washington and Baltimore, fans of both the Orioles and Nationals got to meet their young franchise icons, while getting valuable autographs on postcards provided at the event and whatever memorabilia fans could bring with them.
During the event, Under Armour provided parting gifts for fans who came out as they gave out complimentary batting gloves, sweat bands and stickers.
The autograph session ran for an hour, and fans were waiting inside the store for the athletes starting at around 9:45 and once it started, about 200 or so fans filed in. Although Markakis had to leave the event at noon to participate in the Rangers-Orioles game, Heremida and Zimmerman went head-to-head in the video game Home Run Derby; in the end, Zimmerman completely smashed Heremida for the title.
As well, the Home Run Derby event was interactive as kids were invited to play along with the major leaguers – which made quite a memorable day for everyone in attendance.
