2013 Dodgers' FanFest Recap: Some Autos and Some Terrible Lines (HADOUKEN!)

I made the trip to Dodger Stadium for the 2013 edition of FanFest, the club's second such event. My recap of last year can be found here. I wasn't as prepared for this year's event but wasn't going to miss it. I spent the day with my good buddies Spiegel and Arno which made the long wait bearable. Shout-outs to DodgerBobble, Jesse, Alex, Teresa, and Oscar, whom I met in-person for the first time. Dodger Bloggers, Unite! My goal was to grab autos of some of the new Dodgers. I didn't think last year's line situation could get any worse. I. Was. Wrong.

The line this year began outside of the actual event. You waited with thousands and then were asked to pick one player. If that player was still available you were given a wristband for that player only. As the above sweet-spotted ball shows, the player I chose - the best option left by the time I reached the selection station - was Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Korean newcomer who inked a 6-year, $36 million deal this offseason. He sweet-spotted automatically which is really cool and inscribed his number as well without me asking. Matt Kemp was one line over. Anyhoo, I clumsily dropped the cube holding the ball shortly after meeting Ryu but thankfully the case took all of the damage. Many thanks to Spiegel for the baseball. I owe you Broseph Goebbels.

There was almost no line for Shawn Tolleson, a righty reliever I have high hopes for. He has tremendous stuff and will help anchor the pen for years. I asked Shawn to sign under Kenley Jansen on what I've begun referring to as my "ball for Dodgers I like." Tolleson inscribed his number without me asking and requested that I let Kenley - who was at the next table - know that his signature was too large. Noted.

Matt Guerrier also had a short line and I was in possession of a picture I needed signatures on. He's in the picture so I decided to grab him while I could. He was a really nice guy and stayed until everyone who wanted his signature got it. Javy Guerra, also in the picture, was in the station to Matt's right but I couldn't grab his signature, unfortunately. Blue pen was a bad idea; should have used silver. Oh well. Photobomb away, Dee.

The final Dodger I met was Brandon League. The line was reasonable and even though I didn't have anything to get signed I decided I shouldn't turn down a free John Hancock when given the chance. He signed the above postcard for me and inscribed "Party Hard Greg!", per my request. All credit to Arno for making use of that inscription many times and inspiring me to give it a go.

All in all it was a fun day and I look forward to next year's FanFest when I'll be arriving ridiculously early. I did miss out on A.J. Ellis for a second straight year, which is very disappointing. Oh, and Magic Johnson, Peter Guber, or any other Dodger owner/employee reading this: hire me and I'll make FanFest and the autograph lines in particular run more smoothly next year. Seriously. I'm available and more than willing to lend a hand.

Shawn Tolleson and The Show.

Welcome to the big leagues Shawn.

Longtime friends and teammates now together in the bigs; it must be pretty special for these two gentlemen to put on the same uniform in the same locker room once again.

Trade With Night Owl Cards: My 100th Clayton Kershaw Card Is As American As Apple Pie. And Erin Hawksworth.

Yeah, it's been a trade-centric week of posting for me. I've been dealing more in recent weeks, and I want to get these posted and not fall miserably behind before I head out of town. Keep reading until the end though....it'll be well worth your time. Anyhoo, I completed my fourth trade with Greg from Night Owl Cards. You can read about the first here, the second here, and the third here. Our previous three trades have been fantastic, but this one right here definitely takes the proverbial card cake as the best deal yet. You can see what I sent the Owl-y one here. My major coup will follow these words.

My fourteenth Clayton Kershaw certified autograph (in card form)! Granted, I count my in-person auto as certified because I can certify as to its authenticity due to the fact that I was there and met Clayton. Anyways, any 2005 USA Kershaw in that beautiful red, white, and blue is a welcome addition to my Clayton PC, particularly ones that bring with it his signature. This pairs oh so nicely with the Kershaw/Shawn Tolleson dual auto I own, seen below.

This new Kid K also brings my Kershaw Collection to the century mark! Night Owl doth protested because Kershaw is paired with a Yankee on the card. I don't have the same issues with the card, but then again, I'm also a Dodgers fan that doesn't root against the Giants more so than any other team that could stand in the Dodgers way. So I'm weird, needless to say. Clayton and friend is numbered, 015/250.

Greg sent along some more goodies, starting with the Russell Martin 2011 Ginter Code Parallel you see above. For those of you tackling this year's code, have at those gold design thingys. All I ask is that if the above code card puts you over the top and you win, keep me in mind for some part of that sweet code-cracking prize package. Also of note is that I now have the Ginter Code Parallel and the Ginter Glossy /999 versions of Martin's '11 A&G card, yet my PC still lacks the base version of this particular piece of cardboard.

Next up, two new Matt Kemp cards for the collection. Great shots on both.

Night Owl was gracious enough to send me two Jerry Sands rookies. Well, Topps tells me they're rookies. I'm colorblind. I mention this because the gold parallel looks puke green to me. It's #'d, whatever the color may be, 0532/2011.

The last two cards in Greg's bubbler, and it just so happens that it's two of the greatest Dodgers of all-time. A sick Koufax retail parallel (I think retail only) and a late-90s insert of Mike Piazza. Awesome.

And finally, I'm about to turn in one of my two final papers as I near completion of my first semester of Grad School. So I feel as though I should reward myself.

When human beings are finally cloned, I submit we clone Miss Hawksworth (who by that point will most certainly be Mrs. Gregory Zakwin) before any other human is cloned. Because the above picture is legitimately the greatest thing ever, and I'd take it before a Dodgers World Series title. Of course, I fully anticipate both (and her new title) to occur during my lifetime.

Thanks for the fantastically great trade Greg!

Clayton Kershaw PC Addition Part 9 - Team USA Rookie Dual Auto

47/250

I put down more than I normally feel comfortable in doing for a single, but for a Kershaw rookie auto, it's well, well worth it. Add in the fact that Shawn Tolleson was actually drafted by the Dodgers in the 30th round of this past year's draft, and the card becomes a bit more awesome.

Tolleson's already had Tommy John surgery, but in his first year of pro ball he performed very well in Rookie Ball, exclusively out of the pen: 12.2 K/9 IP, 1.6 BB/9 IP, 0.77 WHIP.

In retrospect, I probably could have purchased this for less on eBay, but if I'm going to overspend I'd rather it be at my local shop.

And this certainly beats buying a blaster any day of the week.

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Part 7
Part 8