Dodgers Holiday Mall Tour Recap-Nick Punto/Tim Leary Session

The Dodger’s winter holiday mall tour continued, with an event today close to my neck of the woods. The Blue winter holiday mall tour stopped off at the Westfield Valencia mall this afternoon. The event featured a meet and greet, and autograph session with Dodger utility man Nick Punto, and former Dodger pitcher Tim Leary. Leary pitched with the Dodgers from 1987-1989, and was a central part of the 1988 World Series Championship team. Leary that season was 17-11 with a 2.91 ERA, and pitched in the 1988 World Series for the Blue. Leary pitched for six other MLB teams, across 13 seasons. Leary finished with a 78-105 record, a 4.36 ERA, a silver slugger, and nine shut-outs. You might not remember but Leary was a very good hitting pitcher, and batted .269 (18 for 67) that season to earn the silver slugger award.

Tim Leary

The event was right next to Lucille’s Barbecue, and the William Sonoma. I showed up and noticed there were three different booths setup. Two booths where people were spinning a raffle wheel to win free Dodger tickets, and another one for Dodger fans to sign up for 2013 season tickets. The third booth was where Punto and Leary were signing autographs. I decided to bring my 2012 opening day commemorative playbill for Punto to sign. Then I had a special treat for Leary. I brought my 1988 World Championship Dodger Blue magazine. Back in those days the Dodgers printed a monthly magazine called “Dodger Blue”. The publication was distributed by the Press-Telegram. This edition I had was from October of 1988, and features many pictures of Kirk Gibson, Tommy Lasorda, Orel Hershiser, Mike Scioscia, Mickey Hatcher, and of course, Tim Leary. My goal was to have Punto sign the Opening day playbill, and Leary to sign the 88’ Dodger Blue publication.

The line wasn’t too long, and while waiting I ran into Josh from Dodgerbobble. Punto signed the playbill, and I had him make it out to Lasorda’s Lair. Next I got Leary to sign the 88’ Dodger Blue magazine. I had him sign in two places. First he signed underneath his picture at the back of the magazine, and I also had him sign the front. He was pretty impressed, and hadn’t seen one of those in years, or so he said. He also said he remembers driving with Kirk Gibson to Dodger Stadium every day, since they were roommates at the time. Good times!

I wasn’t there for very long, but I was happy as I got my autographs that I wanted, and Punto you could say slid into my autographs head first. You can check out some of the other pictures below. Will Punto be sliding head first into our hearts next season? Thank you to Punto and Leary. A good time was had by all.

Dodger Blue Publication-October 1988 Edition

The Dodger’s holiday mall tour continues with their final stop on Saturday December 22^nd, at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, CA. That event will be held from 10AM – 6PM, but the Dodgers have not yet announced which players will be attending. You can find more information about the Dodger’s holiday mall tour on the Dodger’s web site Here.