Three players from the Arizona Diamondbacks ditched their leather gloves for plastic ones as they helped feed the appetites of fans Wednesday.
Diamondbacks pitchers Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Joe Saunders served as Subway Sandwich Artists at a downtown Subway to promote this Saturday’s Subway D-backs FanFest at Chase Field.
Hudson and Saunders made sandwiches for hungry fans while Kennedy greeted them at the cash register, bagging their meals without forgetting the napkin. The three hurlers served sandwiches to fans from 12 to 1 p.m. at the Subway located at 35 W. Jefferson St. Fans and Subway employees were thrilled to meet the pitchers.
“I ordered a meatball marinara, and Hudson and Saunders made it,” longtime D-backs fan Jose Perez said. “They’re a nice group of guys.”
The pitchers signed autographs and posed for pictures with both fans and Subway employees after the event. They were approached with D-backs gear, baseballs and note pads to sign.
Saunders said he had a blast making sandwiches. He was mostly designated to the cheese station while Hudson prepared the majority of the sandwiches, but the three pitchers switched spots throughout the job.
Saunders admitted he had trouble putting the cheese on because of the gloves.
“It’s great to finally meet the fans at Subway,” Saunders said. “I think I did a really good job toasting, putting the cheese on the sandwiches.”
The employees at Subway agreed. Servers Mariah Howard and Dillon Skinner were happy for the extra help from the players. They said it was a great experience getting pitchers as Subway employees for the day.
“Today was excellent,” Howard said. “Joe was awesome on the cheese. Daniel built the sandwiches. Ian did a great job meeting and greeting the customers.”
Howard added a few of the employees were starstruck when they first arrived, but once they started working they all became a well-oiled machine.
Saunders was “really into his job” when preparing the food, Skinner said. Skinner, a self-proclaimed huge D-backs fan, was in shock at first when meeting the pitchers. He worked with Hudson and Saunders the most.
“Joe even yelled at me because he needed the toaster,” Skinner said. “Hudson was doing a good job. They all enjoyed it, smiling all the time.”
Skinner added Saunders was a little hurt when they rotated spots because he loved making the sandwiches.
The trio of pitchers will be at the Subway D-backs FanFest this Saturday, Feb. 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Current and former D-backs players, broadcasters and personalities will also attend.
Working at Subway is a great way to help promote FanFest on Saturday, Saunders said.
“The more fans, the merrier,” he said.
Contact the reporter at slmaldon@asu.edu
