Dodger Fan Fest 2012

This past Sunday, the Dodgers held their very first Fan Fest at Dodger Stadium. It's something  Dodger fans have wanted for years. Well we finally got what we wanted, a full day of Dodger madness. There were about 45 former and current players scheduled to sign autographs, there were games for the kids, a wine tasting tent and a mini Dodger museum in the main tent, which was full of memorabilia.


Before I got there, I thought  this would be unorganized like every other Dodger event. As soon as I walked into Dodger Stadium I found out I was right. Getting into the event area was a bit of a pain in the ass, but once inside, we discovered that there were four lines to choose from and the players in them were random. You basically had to wait and hope you get someone you wanted. Things were easy at first because of the players that were signing early, but as the day progressed, the lines got very long and the weather got hot and as usual, the whole thing turned chaotic because people were standing around waiting. 


My goal for the day was to get Andre Ethier, Tommy Lasorda, Fernando Valezuela , Dee Gordon and Bill Russell all on their own baseballs. I didn't even come close to meeting that goal, only getting Gordon on ball. I did get to meet Tommy at the wine tasting tent, so it wasn't all bad. 

Vinny blessed us with his presence 

Me and Charlie Steiner 

Me and Tommy at the wine tasting tent

I know most of you like the autographs, so here's what I got:

Adam Kennedy

Justin Sellers

Ronald Belisario

AJ Ellis

Wes Parker

Here's Wes Parker's beautiful side-panel job. He wanted to sign the ball in Sharpie.

Dee! 

I wanted to get Dee on ROMLB. 

Elian Herrera signing my team ball

Jamey Wright

Todd Coffey

Herrera & Coffey

Loney & Guerra

Elbert & Wright 

Honeycutt & Belisario

Here's how I feel about the Fan Fest. This was basically La Gran Fiesta with another name and  a few more players. I think this could've been better organized, giving everyone a chance to meet some of the bigger names. It was all too random and that's not fair to everyone. The other thing was the heat. It's too damn hot outside in the stadium parking lot. They need to hold the event in the convention center, let people pay to get in, and have them get tickets for the players they want. Also, it's time for some different veteran Dodgers to make an appearance. I love all former Dodgers, but honestly, how many times can they schlep the same old timers out there?