Aaron Gresham stood anxiously with his family while waiting in the ever-growing line formed just inside the entrance to All-Seasons RV Stadium.

He's usually a Gold Sox fan, but there was only one reason he came to the yard on Friday — and it had nothing to do with baseball or the postgame fireworks show.

"Gold Sox are Gold Sox. Fireworks are fireworks. But this is Urijah Faber," he said.

Faber, a standout Mixed Martial Artist and former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion made an appearance to sign autographs, take pictures and promote the upcoming "Battle at the Ballpark" event as part of MMA night at the stadium.

"I'll take pictures, say hello to people," said Faber, whose hand is still injured from his June 7 fight against Mike Brown. "I'm not sure how well I'll be able to sign."

Turns out, the affable 145-pounder could sign quite well. Even with a black cast covering his right arm, Faber still managed to put his signature on everything from programs to cell phones to even a forehead or two.

Seemingly as soon as the gates opened, fans gravitated toward "The California Kid's" booth. A healthy line of 100-plus spectators remained in front of his table until the later innings of the Gold Sox's 3-2 win over the Folsom Pioneers.

"Personality, all personality," said Gold-Sox owner Tom Lininger, who was helping control the line with a bullhorn and has known Faber for three years. "He's extremely tough but he is extremely friendly."

Not to mention marketable.

The holiday fireworks game has always been a draw for the Gold-Sox, but Faber's presence helped bring more people than ever before. On Friday, 3,727 fans passed throughout the gates — the largest number in the history of the club.

With a 22-3 record, Faber is one of the most successful featherweights to ever step into the octagon. Though he lost the chance to regain his WEC Featherweight title with a unanimous decision loss to Brown, Faber's popularity has actually increased because he showed his toughens by continuing to fight though he broke his hand in the first round of the bout, he said.

Hours before the game, die-hard Faber fans had already began to show up.

Diane Sacchetti, her husband Richard, daughter Sarah and son Matthew arrived more than two hours before the scheduled 7 p.m. start time so they could be one of the first to meet Faber.

"He is from Sacramento, he's local," the mother said of Faber, who grew-up in Lincoln but fights out of California's capital. "We've been watching him for a long time."

And after meeting Faber, she was even more smitten with the fighter.

"He takes real good pictures too," she said jokingly.

A group of Olivehurst teens wholeheartedly agrees.

Giggling like the school girls they are, Leanna and Laura Whiteley and Mackenzie Ford talked about their varying degrees of affection for Faber, which ranged from just cute to marriage material.

After he signed their cell phones and took pictures with the trio, the group jumped up and down and showed off their latest souvenirs.

"I'm going to put it on my wall and I'll carry it around in my back pocket and show it off," Leanna Whiteley said.