So I made a nice trade with Eric at The Snorting Bull, and I decided to break up my end of the deal into three parts. You can see part one here and part two here. The last part of our trade got me a new bobblehead for the collection. Carl Crawford might get a Dodger a bobblehead in 2013, but for now I'm happy to get my hands on this CC Durham Bulls bobblehead. This bobble was given away by the Durham Bulls, AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, on August 14, 2003. It honors Crawford for winning the 2002 International League Rookie Of The Year Award. Produced by Bobble Dobbles, this bobblehead was given to the first 1,000 fans in attendance.
Thanks again to Eric for the great trade. You can check out Eric's blog The Snorting Bull here. Also, if you're interested in this Crawford bobblehead, it's available at BobblesGalore.com.
On Saturday, June 23, 2007, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (this was before they droppd the Devil from their name) gave away Don Zimmer "Now and Then" bobbleheads to the first 15,000 fans in attendance. Presented by Regions Bank, this dual bobblehead features Zimmer both in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform and in Rays gear. I did not attend this game. This was an eBay find.
The Devil Rays hosted the Dodgers that night, Turn Back the Clock Night. Vintage uniforms were worn by both teams. The Rays wore the uniforms of the 1950-era Florida State League St. Petersburg Saints and the Dodgers wore the 1955 World Champion uniforms.
Three of Don Zimmer's teammates from the 1955 World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers were on hand signing autographs, Duke Snider, Johnny Podres and Carl Erskine.
Zimmer also won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959.
The Dodgers lost that night 4-3. Casey Fossum won the game, Randy Wolf took the loss.
Here are some other views of the bobblehead:
This a bobblehead that I wanted ever since I heard they were being given out at Tropicana Field. I remember listening to the game on the radio and hearing Vin Scully talking about the special giveaway.
Don Zimmer has been in professional baseball for 62 years. He won 906 games as a manager. He has six World Series rings, two as a player and four as a coach. He was an All-Star in 1961. But this is my favorite Zimmer moment:
