My 2016 Dodgers FanFest Recap - Photos and Links

What an absolutely divine day at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.  As you may know, there was some threat of rain and bitter cold for the Dodgers 4th Annual FanFest, but that all came to pass.  As the nearly 25,000 fans in attendance can attest, the day couldn't have been more perfect.  The sun peeked out through the clouds to provide some warmth and not a frown could be found in the whole stadium.

As you surely know, this will be Vin Scully's last year as an Dodgers broadcaster, so all eyes were on him as he gave his final FanFest speech to an eager crowd.  As you would expect, it was wonderful.  If you missed it go ahead and check out Dodgers Nation's great video of his opening monologue (Link Here).

Featured in this post are a bunch of photos I took from the day.  The setup for the afternoon was similar to last years event.  There was the autograph lines in right field, the stage along the right field line, the children's games in left field and the Dodger infield was open for fans to walk upon. 

Of special note, the Dodgers have chosen a new organ player to replace the recently retired Nancy Bea Hefley.  The Dodgers new organist will be the well-traveled Dieter Ruehle.  He currently plays the organ for the Lakers and Kings at the Staples Center, and even played during the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  I'll be sure to make an fantasy card for him in the next few days. 

Before I show you all of my pics from FanFest, I thought I would provide links to some other sites that include some great photos and recaps.  Check them out below:

• Here are a bunch of photos from Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo (link here).
• Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider writes about Vin Scully's fantastic speech at FanFest and shares a bunch pics from social media here.
• Jon also shares several videos recapping FanFest (Link Here).
• Elisa Hernandez at Dodgers Nation also writes a bit about Vin Scully at FanFest here.
• Dodger Penguin recaps his day at FanFest, including being one of the few to attend the "meet and greet" with Clayton Kershaw.  (Link Here)
• Reddit user r/BigApparatus notes a new plaque at Dodger Stadium that commemorates the home run Giancarlo Stanton hit out of the Stadium (Pic Link Here).
• Alex Cora at Sons of Steve Garvey shares his day at FanFest, here.  He put up some great photos.
• Blue Skinny Fan tells us all about his day autograph hunting at the Dodgers FanFest, here.

If I failed to include other posts from the day please let me know.  I would like to include as many of them as possible above. 

BTW, for a look back at my past post of this event check out the links below.  There are plenty of photos to look through, and links to other sites with their stories and photos.

• 2015 Fan Fest
• 2014 Fan Fest
• 2013 Fan Fest

And now, below are the rest of my photos. Click on any pic to embiggen.

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2015 Leaf Trinity Baseball - All the Dodger Cards

The deluge of 2016 Baseball cards sets to usher in the new Baseball season is fast approaching.  Still, there remains a handful of sets with the 2015 moniker to go through.  One of these sets is from Leaf and it is a part of their Trinity brand.  Featured below are all of the Dodgers 2016 Leaf Trinity Baseball cards.  This set was release last week, so you should be able to find them at your local card shop.  Go here for a complete checklist.

Only four Dodgers prospects are available: Jose De Leon, Julio Urias, Walker Buehler and Yadier Alvarez.  Several Yadier Alvarez cards are available only through a redemption.  Also, I really dig the signature phrases cards (as seen on the very bottom of this post).  Each player signed and included a hand-written phrase on these cards.  There appears to be three different versions available for each player.

Patch Auto 

#PA-JDL Jose De Leon                       #PA-JU1 Julio Urias

Blog Kiosk: 2/1/2016 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

As I'm sure you all know by know, Vin Scully Avenue will officially be a thing in a few short weeks.  The LA City Council unanimously voted to a street name change that will forever commemorate the the broadcaster.  The street that leads into the main gates of Dodger Stadium, currently known as Elysian Park Avenue, will be renamed to Vin Scully Avenue.  Featured in the pic above is Dodger manager Dave Roberts speaking to the council in support of the change. 

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more pics from Jon of this event. Below are more links to check out:

• BTW, Vin Scully mentioned to reporters during FanFest that he hopes to call some road games during this last season.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com: 

"As a little kid who grew up literally in the Polo Grounds and was an avid Giants fan, I think I would love to finish in a Dodgers-Giants game," said Scully at Dodgers FanFest on Saturday, an event attended by nearly 25,000 people. "God willing, it will work out. We'll see."

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Kershaw on Greinke: 'He's tough to replace.'"

"Zack is a very, very great pitcher. Last year, in my opinion, no offense to Jake [Arrieta], Zack was the best pitcher in the game. He's tough to replace.

"But we've got guys with experience, we've got talent and depth, and we should be a good team. Other than Jimmy [shortstop Jimmy Rollins], it looks like we'll have pretty much our team back. With the team we've put together, if everybody plays up to where he should, we'll be a really good team. We have a lot of depth. We just have to do what we're supposed to do."

• Via Bill Shaikin at the LA Times, "Chase Utley's appeal hearing will probably happen during spring training."
• ICYMI:  Baseball Prospectus came out with their Top-100 Prospects list for 2016 and it includes six Dodger players; including Corey Seager at #1.  Go here to check out the complete list.  The other five to make the cut are Julio Urias (#6), Jose De Leon (#28), Grant Holmes (#40), Yadier Alvarez (#78) and Yuniel Diaz (#91).  Also, Reddit user r/mattsergent posted up the short bios from Baseball Prospectus on Reddit that you see here.  Below is the writeup on Grant Holmes:

Holmes is one of the more underrated pitching prospects in baseball. He is outshone in his own system by the top-end arm strength of Jose De Leon and the combination of youth, stuff and pitchability of Julio Urias. He even got overlooked among the 2014 prep-arm draft class due to the lack of projection in his 6-foot-1 frame. The Dodgers may have gotten a steal with the 22nd-overall pick as a result. Holmes features a plus fastball and curve, but needs to refine his command and changeup to reach his projection as a mid-rotation starter. You may have heard some of this before.

• I thought I would just pass along the report that Baseball America ranks my alma mater, Cal State Fullerton, as the 22nd best Baseball team in the nation.  Check out the entire list here.  Other California teams include Cal (#8), UCLA (#10) and USC (#16).

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