He's My Boy

I had the privilege of going to the first Dodgers fan fest on Saturday May 19th.  The event was held in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.  There were going to be tons of players, both past and present, signing autographs that day.  I believe the total number of players was around 45.  I was super excited for this event.

Some of the current Dodgers that signed autographs that day were Andre Ethier, James Loney, and future all-star A.J. Ellis.  Those the were the names of players I wasn't most excited to meet.  The line to get Loney's and Ethier's signature were humongous.  Ellis' signing time conflicted with the time of the player I wanted to see the most.  That crossed those three off my list.  Maybe another day.

I was able to get several signatures that day.  I think that I will break them down into different posts, while highlighting my favorite signed cards from the fan fest.

But, there was one signed baseball that made the fan fest worthwhile for me.......

You may not recognize this signature.  This signed baseball is of the great Ronald Belisario.  This guy has had a wild big league career.  He has had a career of striking dudes out, an alcohol related arrest and a failed drug test for cocaine.  Belisario has also had visa issues while trying to get from his native Venezuela to the United States.  This visa issue had him miss part of the 2010 season and all of the 2011 season.

He is kind of like a real life Kenny Powers.  He also has only been in the big leagues for three seasons.  He debuted in 2009, pitched in 59 games in 2010, missed 2011 and is now back in 2012 after serving a drug suspension.

Did I mention that he has only pitched in the majors for three seasons.  He has already been running amok with various problems.

That is why I like him.  He goes through a bunch of crap that he puts on himself and bounces back like nothing ever happened.  Belisario shows back up to spring training this year and pretends like everything is cool and got down with working out.

Every year I pick a random bullpen guy to pull for.  A type of guy that some Dodger fans may not care about or know much about them.  In recent years I have latched onto and cheered for players like Jeff Weaver, Joe Beimel, and Giovanni Carrara.

This year it is party boy/relief pitcher, Ronald Belisario.  My favorite autograph of the day.

I will post some more of the autographs from the fan fest later.  Keep an eye out for my second favorite signature of the fan fest.