Troops of kids brought their parents out for free face-painting and hot dogs, and of course, to meet the 2012 Wareham Gatemen players on July 12 at Wareham Crossing.

It is the third year that Wareham Crossing has sponsored the family fun day featuring the baseball team.

"It turned out great. We had a bigger turnout than we had last year. Every year it grows," said Colleen Dolan-Hastings, spokeswoman for Wareham Crossing, estimating that about 400 people showed up to the event.

"It's something that families can do without spending any money," she said.

Sandra Tullish brought her children and friends to attend the event.

"It's hard to find something fun to do with the kids that's not chaotic," she said, adding that the children "loved it. They loved the face-painting. They loved the players."

With cats, skulls, and unidentifiable monsters painted on their faces, kids lined up in front of Gatemen-manned tables to get their autographs.

The Gatemen players happily obliged, with many of them commenting on the fun face-paintings and funky haircuts of their fans.

"It's great to go out and interact with the fans and help people be able to put faces with the names, so they recognize us when they see us," said relief pitcher Colby Suggs.

"Everybody is so supportive. … They say, 'we're coming out to the game, we're coming out to watch you,'" said Suggs. "It's fun to come out here and just see everybody smiling at you."

Families got their faces painted by Art on the Spot from Middleboro and trekked into a photo booth set up at Old Navy to have their pictures taken.

"It was fun, because I got autographs and face-painting," said 10-year-old Arianna Ferrier from Middleboro.

The Gatemen were the highlight of the day, however, with both kids and adults walking away with signed baseballs, shirts, team pictures, and even miniature baseball bats.

"This is an event where we get to promote the Gatemen and let them know the Gatemen are in the community," said Dolan-Hastings, who later noted that one in four Gatemen make it into the big leagues. "A lot of the people are here because they're die-hard Gatemen fans. ... They know that one of the players can make it to the major leagues."