There is a storm brewing up in San Francisco as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots get ready to go toe-to-toe for the Super Bowl next weekend. But another sport is getting ready to start the minute football ends. I’m of course talking about America’s other pastime: baseball.
In Los Angeles, the season was unofficially kicked off last Saturday for Dodgers fans, as Dodger Stadium flung its gates open for its annual Dodger Fest. Fans waited to get in and enjoy all the festivities. Emotions and expectations are high as the Dodgers come off from winning back-to-back World Series. This year was different for me covering Fan Fest…because I actually went!
There were lots of different activities to do, and fun fans to talk to. I even tried my hand at pitching (and I didn’t do too bad, not to brag…). Different booths offered different activities such as caricatures, temporary tattoos, and even a chance to take a picture with both of World Series trophies from the last two years.
Of course, the fans also wanted to get a look at their 2026 Dodgers. The expectation is to try and repeat once again. No team in the National League has ever won three World Series in a row. So, the Dodgers are looking to change that, and so is the front office. Their offseason highlights include acquiring Edwin Diaz and Kyle Hunter to help defend the title, as well as bring back World Series Game 7 hero Miguel Rojas. It was announced that Rojas planned to retire after the 2026 season, and that the Dodgers front office brought him back this year with the goal of integrating him into the front office for 2027.
We got to see and hear from many of the Dodgers stars such as Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. We also got to see some faces we hadn’t seen in a while, such as River Ryan. Ryan, who was brought up to the Dodgers during the 2024 season, didn’t play during the 2025 campaign. Ryan, having rehabbed from Tommy John surgery, expects to be back and play a part in 2026. Other players like Tanner Scott and Hyeseong Kim conceded that they didn’t have a great 2025 and worked hard during the offseason to be able to contribute more to the Dodgers this season.
And of course, you can’t have Dodger Fest without the personalities from the Dodgers’ TV channel: Spectrum Sportsnet LA. I personally got an autograph from, not just one, but TWO of them: Nomar Garciaparra and Orel Hershiser. They got to talk to the players, as did Joe Davis who hosted the stage show on the playing field. Stars like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman say they’ve been working hard in light of the fact that they are getting older. But both Betts and Freeman believe they have more in the tank. Tommy Edman also expressed hope that he was at full health after playing through ankle problems for most of last season.
It wasn’t just fun activities that the Dodgers were promoting at Fan Fest. They were also promoting a new key piece to their farm system: their new minor league team, the Ontario Tower Buzzers. The Dodgers’ new minor league team is expected to kick off their inaugural season on April 2 of this year. The Tower Buzzers had a tent hyping up fans who came from the Inland Empire, including a visit from their mascot Maverick.
As if seeing their favorite players wasn’t enough, many fans could enjoy getting autographs and pictures, watching the events, and to enjoy what they believe is the best professional sports venue. Dodger Stadium features statues of hall-of-famers Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson. There are displays of Dodger favorites on plaques, famed baseball bats, plenty of team shops and lots of food, especially the famous Dodger Dog.
We also got two big news items from Dodger Fest. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters, myself included, that Shohei Ohtani will NOT be pitching for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. While he will be still hitting, this is welcome news for the Dodgers, as Ohtani has become an important part of the team both on the mound and at the plate. The other news is more disappointing. A new insurance provision for players over 37 years old will prevent Miguel Rojas from playing for Team Venezuela. Rojas admitted during Fan Fest that it was tough and disappointing news.
Overall, it was a great day for the Dodger players, their fans and even stadium employees. It was full of hope and promise. I asked multiple fans what they were excited about, and almost all said that they were excited for the Dodgers to try for the Three-peat. When asked if they felt bad for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays, I got a resounding “NO” from all of them. It was an incredibly fun event, and I look forward to another great season from our hometown Dodgers. As for the rest of Major League Baseball, watch out for when “dem bums” roll into town.
