Last night I made the 100 mile drive to Bakersfield to catch a Blaze game. The Blaze are the single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in the California League. I went out there with buddies Mike of Nomo's Sushi Platter fame and Tom. The Blaze were giving away Josh Hamilton bobbleheads to the first 500 fans in attendance. Hamilton played for the team in 2002 when they were an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
This was only the second minor league game I had ever been to, and the first one was a lot of fun, so I couldn't wait to get down there. When we arrived at Sam Lynn Ballpark there were a couple of short lines, nothing too crazy. We only waited about ten minutes before the gates opened. When we got in we opened up the bobblehead boxes right away to see Hamilton. What we saw was a bit shocking. Let's just say it's not the average bobblehead. We'll take a look at that in a sec. As far as the game goes, it was pretty lackluster. The Blaze lost to the Stockton Ports 6-0. Oh, we did run into former major-league pitcher-turned agent Dave Stewart. He was sitting a couple sections from us watching one of his clients play, so of course I had to get his autograph.
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| Dave Stewart signing |
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| Stewart's sig |
Back to the bobblehead. I don't know much about this, like who designed it or where it was made. It's just so...weird. Take a look.
Obviously it looks nothing like Hamilton, but I must admit, it does put a smile on my face so I'm happy to add it to the collection. I had a great time at the Blaze game too and can't wait to get back there for another game!
Kirk Gibson Bobblehead night. Back in April I showed the first images of the Kirk Gibson bobblehead the DBacks were gonna give away. Well, that night has finally arrived, and the first 15,000 fans attending tonight's game will receive a Gibby manager bobblehead. The Dodgers are in Phoenix tonight, so I'm sure they'll be a lot of Dodger and DBack fans looking to pick one up.
Twins give away Hrbek/Gant bobbleheads. Last night, the Minnesota Twins gave away Kent Hrbek/Ron Gant bobbleheads. It depicts Hrbek lifting Gant off of First base during Game 2 of the 1991 World Series. Maija, from the great Twins blog Kirby's Left Eye, gives us the details from last night's game.
Votto/Hamilton 2010 MVP bobblehead. In 2007 Joey Votto and Josh Hamilton were teammates for the Louisville Bats, AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. In 2010, each player would go on to win an MVP award, Votto in the National League with the Reds and Hamilton in the American League with the Texas Rangers. Now the Bats are honoring both players on one bobblehead. For $25, you can get two tickets to a Bats game in August and one of these bobbleheads.
Padres to celebrate Tony Hawk. On August 19, the San Diego Padres will celebrate skateboarder Tony Hawk. The first 5,000 fans to purchase tickets to the game will receive Tony Hawk bobbleheads and all proceeds will benefit the Tony Hawk Foundation. Hawk will also throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game.
Blake Griffin Rookie of the Year Bobblehead. In June, Clark Toys began pre-selling Blake Griffin Rookie of the Year bobbleheads. Now we're finally getting our first look at the bobblehead made by Forever Collectibles. The Griffin ROY bobbleheads will be available in September.
Bobblehead takes part in weather balloon experiment. Check out this video of a bobblehead duct taped to a weather balloon and sent 20 miles up. The bobblehead doesn't survive the fall back, but we get some great footage of the balloon rising, exploding and coming back to Earth.
