Allen Lieu
The Los Angeles Dodgers went from the norm of holding the Fan Fest outside of the stadium (parking lots in previous years) to this year’s fanfest, which was held inside Dodger Stadium. Admission to the event was free and there was plenty of parking throughout the stadium. I arrived today at 9am, thinking there was going to be a huge crowd waiting to get inside. After waiting for a bit, the line was processed smoothly, with metal detectors at the entrance and security checking your bags as you entered. There were numerous booths throughout Dodger Stadium’s field, such as the State Farm’s rally towel/picture booth, Time Warner’s SportsNetLA booth, Ticket Sales booth, Los Angeles Sparks booth and many other booths. The SportsNetLA booth gave away blue and white plastic cups. State Farm gave away rally towels if you signed up for an insurance quote. Kids could also run the bases on the infield. There also was a social media lounge right behind 2nd base, where fans could sit, relax and charge their phones. Behind the social media lounge were the autograph lines and the main stage, where numerous players, media personnel, and Dodgers legends (Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda) spoke to the fans. Nancy Bea played the organ through the speakers of Dodger Stadium.
One of the main attractions is autographs from different Dodgers players. Fans were able to purchase autograph vouchers for different sessions in different lines. Each line had two Dodgers signing. Fans that were able to secure their autograph vouchers would only be eligible for that line. Popular players like Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez, Fernando Valenzuela and Zack Greinke were hard to purchase if you were not a season ticket holder. The autograph line was smooth and the staff had it down to a system. Some lines flew through quickly as time progressed. My line had their scanners break, so they went the old fashioned way and ripped your voucher. From the vouchers, I was able to obtain Zach Lee, Brandon McCarthy, Yasmani Grandal, Howie Kendrick, and Kenley Jansen. I ran out of baseballs and I missed out on Tim Wallach. Other players/coaches that were signing included Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Steve Yeager, Chris Withrow, Daniel Coulombe, Scott Van Slyke, Kike Hernandez, Joel Peralta, Joc Pederson, Mark McGwire, Orel Hershiser, Eric Karros, Joe Wieland, Chris Hatcher, Mike Bolsinger, Paco Rodriguez, Yimi Garcia, Pedro Baez, Adam Liberatore, Lorenzo Bundy, Chris Reed, and Jerry Hariston Jr.
I brought along my trusty sweetspot jacket, where multiple fans in the autograph line asked where they could get their own. This is great if you don’t like having your baseball side paneled and want the sweet spot of the ball signed. If you’re interested in getting your own, order here at : http://mlbsweetspot.com/
The LADF (Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation) had a mystery bag booth, where for $40 per bag, you could purchase an autographed baseball. The balls were in brown paper bags so you had no idea what you were getting. You may luck out and get someone you’re looking for or you might end up with players that are former Dodgers or older Dodger alumni. This year the balls included Tommy Lasorda, Jimmy Rollins, Vin Scully, Joc Pederson and many other Dodgers greats. Two other people in my group picked up Aaron Harang and Derrel Thomas. My first pull, where I purchased three bags, was three Orel Hershiser balls. The guy in front of me got three Ron Cey balls so I ended up trading one of my three for his. My fourth bag was an Al Ferrara ball. . They also had autographed 2010 Star and Stripes hats. They also hosted a yard sale booth but I was unable to get in there as the line was super long.
Fanfest is a great way to bring fans together under one roof (in this case the stadium). Each year the fan fest experience improves immensely. Fans were buying Dodger dogs, hanging out in the bullpen overlook area, taking pictures in the dugout and were having a fun time. I enjoyed it, hanging out with friends at Dodger Stadium. Spring training is around the corner. The season in almost upon us.
“It’s Time for Dodgers Baseball.”
