2011 SoCal Minor League Bobblehead Giveaways

Tonight I'm gonna take a look at some of the local minor league teams giving away bobbleheads in 2011. Five of the 6 Southern California minor league clubs are running at least one bobblehead promotion this season.

Picture via TMZ.com

I'll start with the Lake Elsinore Storm, Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. Last month I mentioned the Storm would be holding a Charlie Sheen themed night on May 5.  They're calling it "Charlie Sheen-co De Mayo" night. The Storm will be giving away limited edition #99 Charlie Sheen bobbleheads. This is the only scheduled bobblehead night for the Storm in 2011. You can see the entire promotional schedule here.

Next up is the Inland Empire 66ers, Single-A affiliate of the Anaheim Angels. This is a team that gets it. The fans want bobbleheads, and the 66ers are giving away plenty of them, six to be exact. Here are the six: Ken Griffey Jr(April 23), Kendry Morales(May 28), Adrian Beltre Big Head(June 11), Dan Haren(July 9), Felix Hernandez(August 20), and Angels Gnome(September 4). You can see the entire promotional schedule here.

The High Desert Mavericks are the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The team out of Adelanto has one scheduled bobblehead night. They're giving away bobbles of  mascot Wooly Bully on Saturday, July 16. So if you're a Wooly Bully fan, that's the night to go. You can see the entire promotional schedule here.

Staying in the desert, the next team is the Lancaster JetHawks, Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. The JetHawks have one scheduled bobblehead giveaway in 2011. On Saturday, August 13, they will be holding Aerospace Appreciation night, giving away a spaced themed bobble. They held the same promotion last year, a game I attended. Last year they gave away Robert "Hoot" Gibson bobbleheads. You can see the JetHawks entire 2011 promotional schedule here.

The last team is the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Quakes only have one bobblehead giveaway in 2011, Clayton Kershaw on Friday, May 20. I wrote about this promotion last month. If this bobblehead is different from the one the Dodgers are giving away, I'm gonna try to go. You can see the entire Quakes promotional schedule here.

LA Times Columnist Catches A JetHawks Game

Los Angeles Times columnist Chris Erskine took a trip to Lancaster a couple of weeks ago to catch a JetHawks game. It was actually the same game I attended, which was also my first minor league game. I had a great time. He seemed to have a great time at the game too. Erskine gives us all the details on the JetHawks. Here's a bit of what Erskine had to say:

Lancaster's the place, and here we find a plucky little Class-A team, the JetHawks. Best of all, we find baseball devoid of ego and excess and all the other trappings that sometimes churn your Cheerios.

That's right, Lancaster — last gas before Nevada. Basically, you drive until you start seeing trailer parks and mules. When the L.A. radio stations get all fuzzy, hang a left. That's Clear Channel Stadium, ironically enough. Locals also call it the Hangar.


It's a gem of a little stadium too, as many of these minor league parks are. For 13 bucks, you get the very best ticket and all the slices of Americana you could ever devour.

He's right. I felt like I was surrounded by real baseball fans, people who cared more about what was happening on the field  rather than what was on their cell phones. I was amazed to see some of the players talking to the fans. How cool is that?

Erskine then goes on to talk about what you're getting for your money:

In fact, carve 40 bucks out of your late-August budget and here's what you'll get during an evening for two in the California League

Parking
2 tickets behind the plate
Chicken sandwich
Corndog
Fries
Large soft drink
2 game programs
A free comic book for the kid

Plenty, right? But that doesn't even begin to capture the experience. The F-18 flyover to start the game, so low you could almost high-five the pilot.

If you go on the right day, you can even get a bobblehead. I would recommend a trip to Lancaster to anyone in search of some good baseball, and a good time at a low cost. You can check out the JetHawks website here. Hat tip to Tom on the LA Times piece.

My First Minor League Game

Last night I went to my first minor league baseball game. My buddy Tom and I took a trip down to Lancaster to see the JetHawks, single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, play the Inland Empire 66er's. It was Tom's first minor league game too.

In years past, I've driven down Highway 14 to get to Las Vegas, and I've seen Clear Channel Stadium, where the JetHawks play, on the side of the freeway. I always wanted to see a game there.

Clear Channel Stadium, also known as the "Hangar" is over 50 miles from my home, so the situation had to be right to get me down there. The JetHawks either had to be giving away a bobblehead or they had to be playing the 66er's, who are the Dodgers single-A affiliate. Well last night I got both.

The bobblehead is interesting. It's not of a player but an astronaut. This weekend is Aerospace weekend at the Hangar, so they honored  fromer astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson with a bobblehead. It depicts Hoot's head bobbling above a space shuttle. The shuttle's wings have JetHawks logos on them.  I was little disappointed that it's a mini bobblehead, but it was made by Alexander Global Promotions, so the quality is good. Tickets were handed out randomly at the gate to get Hoot's autograph. Tom was one of the lucky few who got the autograph.

It was nice to see the 66er's play too. As a Dodger fan, I hear about the players in the farm system all the time. I finally got a chance to see some of them play. We sat right behind home plate and had a nice view of the game. We were also sitting amongst six or seven scouts. They all had radar guns and were taking notes on the players. Jon Michael Redding was the starting pitcher for the 66er's. I asked one of the scouts next to me how hard he was throwing, and he said between 89 and 93 mph, topping out once at 95. I was impressed with Redding's stuff through the first three innings. He had great command of his fastball and his slider had a nice bite. After getting through the JetHawk line-up once with success, Redding hit the wall in the fourth inning. That was a bit disappointing. Leading 5-1 after three innings, the 66er's gave up 11 unanswered runs to the JetHawks, who won 12-5.

We did get an interesting moment in fifth inning when 66er's manager Jeff Carter got tossed from the game. We could hear him talking crap to the ump from the dugout. He got a warning to keep his mouth shut, but didn't listen. The ump ejected him, and Carter got all up in his grill. The two were in each other's faces for a few moments, then Carter took the walk of shame back to the locker room.

The JetHawks did get the fans involved in different activities between innings. After the second inning, they were shooting shirts into the crowd with a canon, and I grabbed one of those.

Overall, I'd say I had a good time in Lancaster. I got a bobblehead and a JetHawks T-shirt and I got to see some future Dodgers play. I'm glad I experienced it.

The Hangar

Full-size FA-18 test jet from NASA in front of the stadium

JetHawks Mascot KaBoom

My JetHawks Shirt