2013 Dodgers Fan Fest

[JesRey]

I had a blast at the 2013 Dodger Fan Fest yesterday. The list of players that were scheduled to sign autographs was just too good to pass up. My friend, Alex and I were debating the entire week if we should head down to San Deigo for Superfest or just head over to Dodger Fan Fest. I'm glad we went with the Dodger Fan Fest because I heard that Adrian Gonzalez didn't even sign at Superfest.


I've never been to a Fan Fest before because I've seen pictures of the crowds and it just didn't seem like fun with that many people. Luckily for us, season ticket holders were allowed access into Fan Fest 30 minutes before the rest of the fans. Alex has season tickets and was able to get me early access. To our surprise, the first 100 fans received a Dodgers autograph baseball signed by Magic Johnson! The one I received has a smear at the top but I can't complain since it was free.

After we received my gift, I noticed that there was 8 separate lines and the employees were telling us that the players would be randomly sitting down at a table. I went into line 1 in hopes of getting Andre Ethier or Zack Greinke. Luckily for me, Greinke was the first player to sit down and I chose the correct line.

After Greinke signed my bat, I saw that Mark McGwire was in line 2 so I immediately went to that line. After a while, they moved Tim Wallach over to line 2 since no one was in his line anymore. When I got to the front of the line, I had both of them sign my mini helmet. I didn't want to get Mark on a Dodger bat since he never played for the Dodgers.

The next group of players were scheduled to sign 10 minutes after I met McGwire and Wallach, so I tried to find out which line Matt Kemp would be signing in. At first, I heard he was going to be in line 4 so I waited in that line but it turns out he was signing in line 3. I figured out that the players would be signing in the same order they are listed on the appearance sheet. I wasn't that mad since I've met Kemp a couple times already but I wanted to get him on my other Dodger bat. I'll just have to try at Spring Training if he's there.


I was in Shawn Tolleson's line and I didn't have anything for him to sign so I asked for one of the cards they had on the side for the players.

After Tolleson signed the card for me, I headed over to Ryu Hyun-Jin to see if I could get him to sign my bat. I don't know why but his line was really short and Dodger fans were already lining up for Fernando Valenzuela. I took advantage of the short line and went in twice. I forgot to give him my marker when he signed the mini helmet so I didn't come out as great as the other autographs.

It was time for group 3 to begin signing autographs. Greinke, McGwire and Fernando were scheduled to sign but their lines were ridiculous so I met up with Alex who was able to get Matt Kemp. We figured that we could just get some other Dodgers that wouldn't have a really big line. We managed to get A.J. Ellis, Tim Federowicz and Nick Punto within the hour.

We called it a day and headed home with a smile on my face. I know it wasn't the same for everyone because if you didn't have a MVP pass you had to wait outside in order to get a wristband that would guarantee only one autograph. I saw a couple of fans yelling at the Dodgers employees who were trying to keep the lines in check but it was just too difficult with so many fans. It was crowded and a little out of control.

This was my first time graphing in almost a year. It was great seeing some old friends. I had a blast and I'll try my luck again at Camelback Ranch in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to the Dodgers for a great experience.


Become a fan of Los Angeles Inspiration on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter @LA_Inspiration

More...

[gladdyontherise]

You cleaned up! Awesome stuff!