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Friday, October 4, 2024

Baseball notable Nicky Lopez will appear at fundraising event to benefit Jwegstrong Foundation

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Above / Dean Bapes, owner of Dean’s Dugout, credits his wife and business partner, Marilyn, with the photos and posters in his store window that promote upcoming events such as the fundraiser featuring sports notable Nicky Lopez.

From 6:30 to 8PM on Mon., Nov 8, Nicky Lopez, shortstop and second baseman for the Kansas City Royals, will be at Dean’s Dugout in Naperville to help raise money for the Justin Wegner Foundation.

Nicky Lopez and Justin Wegner were friends in high school at Naperville Central before Justin lost his battle against cancer in 2019, as readers learned in a story about Wegner in advance of an earlier fundraiser to benefit pediatric cancer held on July 10, 2021.

Last summer Naperville resident and sportswriter Blake Baumgartner wrote about the Lopez/Wegner friendship, noting that directly below Wegner’s Naperville Central High School Redhawk football jersey sits the signed Kansas City Royals jersey of Nicky Lopez in the Wegner home.

“Lopez, the ever-first Redskin/Redhawk alumnus to reach the big league level, was Jason’s (Justin Wegner’s brother) teammate on the 2013 Redhawk baseball team,” wrote Baumgartner.

Dean’s Dugout, known for its signings with sports notables, is located at 2035 S. Washington Street, Suite 155, just north of 87th Street.

With fond memories of young Nicky Lopez, Marilyn Bapes and Dean Bapes, owners of Dean’s Dugout, have been welcoming all ages of sports-memorabilia collectors to their business for 30 years. Now at their third location where they often host signings with sports notables, their motto continues to be “Where kids are VIPs.” The couple is looking forward to the Lopez visit on Nov. 8.

To reserve tickets to the event, call (630) 527-8888 or email deans_dugout@hotmail.com.

For more information about the Nicky Lopez event, future events, parties, gaming tournaments and/or memorabilia available for the collector, visit www.deansdugout.com.

Note: Local safety protocols are followed at all events.

Ad received from the agency that represents Naperville native Nicky Lopez and Kansas City Royals. Photos at Dean’s Dugout by PN.

Related Story / (Click here) Remembering the Legacy of Justin Wegner by Blake Baumgartner

 

 

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PN Editor
PN Editor
An editor is someone who prepares content for publishing. It entered English, the American Language, via French. Its modern sense for newspapers has been around since about 1800.
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