Hideo Nomo Garden Gnome Night, Yasiel Puig & Ken Griffey Sr

So I made another trip up to Bakersfield for a Blaze game last night. There were two reasons I went. One was to get the Hideo Nomo garden gnomes they were giving away and the other was to to try and get Yasiel Puig's autograph. Puig is the Cuban Defector the Dodgers signed to a $42 million contract a couple months back. He was promoted to the Dodgers single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes two weeks ago from the Arizona League and I wanted to get his auto before the California League's season ended.

When I arrived at Sam Lynn Ballpark, the first thing I did when I got the box for my garden gnome was open it up to check it out. I was worried the Hideo Nomo garden gnome was gonna be silly looking like the Josh Hamilton bobblehead they gave away in July. When I got it out of the box I was shocked. This thing was actually pretty nice. It looked a bit like Hideo and the quality was good. Nomo played for the Bakersfield Blaze in 1995 when they were an affiliate of the Dodgers, so it has the old school Blaze logo on the gnome hat. 

After looking at the gnome, I went to get autographs from the Quakes players. I was joined by my buddies Franz and Rob and we patiently waited for Puig. While getting autos from all the other players, we noticed there were only a few minutes left before game time and Puig hadn't shown up. That's when we found out he wasn't in the line-up and he was going to rest that day. He didn't even suit up and take the field with the rest of the team. We were disappointed, but we figured we'd wait until after the game to try and get him. 

The waiting paid off. Puig signed for the small group waiting for him outside the stadium. He was a real nice guy and signed everything that was put in front of him. Hopefully we'll see him in a Dodger uniform next year manning left field. After we got  Puig, we headed to the car to leave and we ran into the Blaze's manager Ken Griffey Sr. He signed for us as well, so it was pretty successful trip.

Me and Puig

I got one Puig sig on a ROMLB and one on a Cal League ball

Griffey Sr

I want to give a big thanks to the Autograf Hound, Rob for helping me out in Bakersfield. I can't wait to go back next season!

Bobblehead News: California League

With my Dodgers giving away the final bobblehead of the year last week, and the Angels doing the same this week, it's time to look to the local minor league teams for bobbleheads. Here's a little bobblehead news from the California league.

Felix Hernandez bobblehead pushed back. The Inland Empire 66ers have pushed back the Felix Hernandez bobblehead giveaway, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, August 20. The team has replaced the bobbleheads with Anaheim Angels newsboy hats. A date for the Hernandez bobblehead hasn't been determined yet. For questions regarding the promotion change, call Kevin Shaw at (909)495-7623. Thanks to Eddie for the tip.

Ken Griffey Sr. gets bobblehead. The Bakersfield Blaze, Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, will be giving away bobbleheads of their manager, Ken Griffey Sr. The first 500 fans attending the game on Friday, August 19 will receive the bobblehead of the former Reds great. 

Rawhide honor 65 years of baseball in Visalia, and Kirby Puckett too.  The Visalia Rawhide, Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, are celebrating 65 years of baseball by giving away four different bobbleheads of their mascot, Tipper the cow. Each bobblehead has Tipper wearing clothing from different eras, starting with the 50's themed Tipper, which was given away on July 31, 60's Tipper on August 7, 70's Tipper on August 14 and the final 1980's Tipper which will be given away on August 28.


And, on August 24, the team will be honoring Kirby Puckett with a bobblehead as well. Puckett, the city's most famous former player, played for the Visalia Oaks in 1983. This bobblehead will be given to the first 500 fans in attendance.

Apollo 13 astronaut honored last Saturday. Fred Haise, one of the the astronauts from the Apollo 13 mission, was honored on Saturday, August 13 by the Lancaster JetHawks with a bobblehead. The bobble, which depicts Haise coming out of the Apollo 13 capsule, was given to the first 1,200 fans in attendance as part of the Aerospace Appreciation Weekend.