After much deliberation here is a list of our favorite Bobblehead Stadium Giveaways from Minor League Baseball this past season. All of these cool SGA bobbles could make any true bobblehead collector greener than She Hulk
with envy!
1) St. Paul Saints - Al Franken/Norm Coleman ReCount Bobblehead
Some choices for this list were difficult – but choosing a MiLB Bobblehead put out from the Saint Paul Saints franchise is seldom a tough call. They have been entertaining us with edgy and somewhat offbeat bobbles for years!
Whether it was the previous year’s infamous Larry Craig Bobble Foot bobble
Or a “Kevin Bacon” (Pig) Bobble
, or the Saints co-owner Bill Murray Bobble, the St Paul Saints have ALWAYS provided us with what the hobby needs more of: FUN and creative bobble heads that will be cherished conversation pieces for years to come!
So, it gives me great pleasure to announce the Al Franken and Norm Coleman spinning head “Re” Count Bobble” takes First Place in Bobblehead Daze first annual Bobblies Awards!
2) Bernie Brewer - Fang Bobblehead
- Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
We are giving two enthusiastic Thumbs up to Bernie and Fang! Yeah, I’m a sucker for Dual Bobbleheads
. Like the saying goes – Two heads are better than one, right? So, when this Mascot Dualie was awarded to fans while the snow was barely melted back in April 2009 it was love at first sight! The colors are bright, and what could be more uplifting than a MiLB Mascot (Fang) shaking the hand of his mustachioed MLB Brother, Bernie Brewer?!
3) Rick Leach Bobblehead
– West Michigan Whitecaps
Rick Leach didn’t exactly have a Hall of Fame type of Baseball career, but when the West Michigan Whitecaps awarded the first 1000 fans through the gates of Fifth Third Ballpark back on June 12th a true bobblehead star was born.
A great series of former Detroit Tigers players highlighted the Whitecaps promo items this past season, but the Wendy’s sponsored bobblehead of Rick Leach was hands down our favorite! The simple, but effective addition of adorning the former stand out quarterback with a Michigan Wolverines helmet made this stadium giveaway a touch down with bobblehead collectors everywhere!
4) Joe Biden Bobblehead
- Wilmington Blue Rocks
Political Bobbleheads are nothing new – and were all the rage in 2009. I’ve lost count how many Barack Obama Bobblehead
SGA’s there have been at various hockey and baseball games – so it was a breath of fresh air when the Blue Rocks honored the Vice President with this attractive looking bobble on July 30th of this year.
Still, one of our favorite Minor League Baseball logos (How can you deny the charm of that tough looking, but sweet little Blue Rock?) congratulations goes to the Wilmington franchise on yet another solid bobble head lineup, and promotional giveaways in 2009.
5) Brett Gardner Bobblehead
– Trenton Thunder
The Double-A Trenton Thunder captured a player’s style of play with their release of the World Series victorious New York Yankees Brett Gardner Bobbleheadthis year. Two bobble springs mounted on the base of the Thunder bobble head are attached to the under belly of a smiling & sliding Gardner .
The June 17th 2009 SGA featured the stolen base threat with his arms stretching out into a head first slide with his cleats in the air. Rather than taking the easy way out by posing the former Trenton speedster’s bobblehead in a more traditional standing position – the franchise created this handsome looking SGA - that in turn has landed them a Bobblies Award for Best MiLB Stadium Giveaways in 2009
6) George Foster Bobblehead
– Florence Freedom
Well, it’s about freaking time!
Hello? Reds? Hello?! This guy played ten seasons for the Big Red Machine, and hit 52 homeruns, and 149 RBI’s back in 1977 in the pre-roid era!
George Foster finally gets a Stadium Giveaway Bobblehead!
Am I the only one that feels it is an absolute travesty that the Cincinnati Reds have yet to honor George Foster with his own SGA date, but they have given out Bronson Arroyo Bobbleheads? Jeesh!
So, kudos goes to the Florence Freedom for this George Foster Bobblehead!
The mere fact that the Freedom Minor League team had bobble makers Destroyer design one of Major League Baseballs most menacing hitters with mutton chops made it a lock that I was going to include the 2009 George Foster Bobbleheadin our MiLB Bobblies Awards!
7) Bobby Jenks Bobblehead
- Arkansas Travellers
Despite a bit of a strange, almost grayish skin tone - I like the pumped fist pose of this bobblehead, and have always admired what Bobby Jenks brings to the table! (Apparently, a very big knife and fork!) Badabump!
But seriously – the MLB Mets K-Rod Bobble shared a similar pose & I think we’ll have to give the Frankie Rodriguez bobble
some consideration when we list our 2009 MLB Bobblies in a few weeks!
8) Matt Wieters Bobblehead
– Frederick Keys
The Baltimore Orioles future stud started out a bit Alex Gordon like. But Wieter’s came on in the 2nd half of the 2009 season, proving more worthy of all the Pre 2009 Fantasy season hype. Don’t sleep on landing yourself a Comfort Inn sponsored Matt Wieter’s Bobble head – this future All-Star is the real deal!
9) Brett Lawrie Bobblehead
- Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
This 2009 SGA of the Milwaukee Brewers First Round Draft Pick Brett Lawrie was handed out during a late season Timber Rattler home game. And, Although nothing jumps out as being amazing about this bobblehead – as a fellow Canadian I feel a need to continue to give props to solid Canuck prospects who I feel have a good chance of one day becoming real special Major Leaguers!
For that reason – I have given the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers their 2nd Bobblie Award for offering up this Nodder from the North! If given the chance, one day Brett Lawrie should make Milwaukee Brewers fans forget the Rickie Weeks era ever existed!
10) Chet Lemon Bobblehead
– Great Lakes Loons
This one is another personal selection. Growing up just west of Windsor Ontario, I was a diehard Detroit Tigers fan, who would often cross the Ambassador Bridge to catch a game at the now demolished (*sniff sniff*) beloved Tiger Stadium.
On August 10th the Great lakes Loons honored one of several of my childhood heroes – Chester Earl Lemon. Watching Chet hustle in the outfield for nearly a decade made him a fan favorite in Detroit , and so I could not possibly leave one of the Tigers All-time coolest players off this list of fantastic 2009 Bobbleheads! Incidentally – did you know the Texas Rangers drafted Chet’s son Marcus Lemon, and he is now playing for the Frisco RoughRiders?
11) Matt LaPorta Bobblehead
– Akron Aeros
Holding his Distillata bottle of water in his left hand made this prized Cleveland Indians prospect just too sweet to leave off our list of Bobblies! Anyone who reads Bobblehead Daze, or Waiversharks blogs with any kind of regularity knows that I am a big Spinal Tap fan who likes to push our Top Ten lists to the limit - so why wouldn’t this one go up to eleven Nigel?
Since I was not able to attend this game I snatched one of these up from eBay, and eagerly anticipate the big guy’s sophomore season with the Tribe in 2010!
Well, that about does it for the Minor League Bobbleheads!
Sure, there are countless numbers of fantastic bobbles that we didn’t list!
Some notable cut offs were the Stockton Ports Trevor Cahill/Brett Anderson Dual Bobble and the Stockton Ports Chris Carter Bobblehead given out May 22nd (Note: I’d like to get a hold of one of these if anyone would like to trade/sell me one of theirs? Please send me an email: scott@waiversharks.com)
The Quad Cities River Bandits 2009 Bobblehead Giveaways were all very good! They included an Obama Bobble
, a Hillary Clinton Bobblehead
, as well as a former St. Louis Cardinals, now Oakland A’s star prospect Brett Wallace Bobble
, and a Pete Kozma Bobble
.
Both player Bobbleheads came complete with sweet looking Corn Field back drops!
The Tulsa Drillers Triple Bobblehead Series honored previous Tulsa Drillers players of decades past. The Drillers featured three triple bobbleheads:
and my personal favorite, a
Any one of these unique Triple Bobbleheads could/should have made our Bobblies Awards! But, don’t despair Tulsa fans - like the saying goes, there’s always next year!
We hope you enjoyed our 2009 MiLB Bobblies Awards & Don’t forget to check back with us soon, as we’ll have our 2009 MLB Bobblehead SGA Awards posted soon!
Not sure what to buy for that special Minor League Baseball fan you know?
