SoCal Bobblehead News: Angels, 66ers, Blaze

As most Dodger fans patiently await the first images of any of the ten 2012 bobbleheads, the rival Anaheim Angels have done some quick work in the promotional department. They released the first picture of the Albert Pujols bobblehead that will be given away on April 17 when the team takes on the Oakland Athletics. Presented by FreeCreditScore.com, this bobblehead will be given away to all fans in attendance.


From what I can see, there's nothing special here, although I do like the Pujols homerun stare. I can't wait to pick one of these up. It may not be a Dodger, but it's still one of the best players in the game.

In other Pujols bobblehead news, the Angels Single-A affiliate Inland Empire 66ers have released their promotional schedule and they're giving away a Pujols bobble as well. As a matter of fact, they're giving away four bobbleheads altogether. Here are the four: 


Saturday, April 14 - Felix Hernandez Bobblehead

Saturday, May 12 -  Albert Pujols Bobblehead

Saturday, June 9   -  Peter Bourjos Bobblehead

Saturday, June 24 -  Bernie Bobble Belly


I'm assuming the Pujols and Bourjos bobbleheads are the same one the Angels are giving away. The Hernandez bobblehead give away is the second in two years.

The Bakersfield Blaze, Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, are giving away five bobbleheads in 2012. I've known about these for a couple months now, but was waiting to post it once it became official. Well, it hasn't been made official yet, but I did speak with the head of the Blaze's Media Relations, and he's confirmed the five bobbleheads, but the dates are still up in the air. Here are  the five bobbleheads the Blaze will be giving away:


Don Drysdale


Hideo Nomo

George Culver

Josh Hamilton 

Mystery Reds Bobblehead

Three former Dodgers. I just might make a trip or three to Bakersfield!

Dodger Bobblehead Variants

Matt Kemp gold glove

Tonight we're going to take a look at some of the variant Dodger bobbleheads that have been produced over the years. These are the bobbleheads that I know about. If there are any variants that I am missing, please comment below. 

With help from David at Bobbles Galore, and some current Ebay auctions, I'm gonna give as much info as I can and show as many pictures as possible.

                              From BobblesGalore

We'll start with the Fred McGriff Gold Bat bobblehead. In 2003, 500 McGriff bobbleheads were made with gold bats to commemorate his upcoming 500th homerun. The only problem was the Crime Dog never got to number 500, finishing his career with 493 homers. Some of these were given away to Dodger employees and many were donated to charity.You see these on Ebay every once in a while.


In 2004, Eric Gagne was honored with his second bobblehead in two years. This one was made to celebrate his 2003 NL Cy Young Award. The variation on this bobblehead was an all pewter version. I'm not sure how many were made at the time, but these were given away to some fans and also sold at the Top of the Park gift shop at Dodger Stadium.

From Ebay

2005's Cesar Izturis variant bobblehead had a gold glove. This was in honor of his 2004 Gold Glove Award. This is another one that pops up on the Bay every now and then.


A variant bobblehead I had heard about a few times but hadn't seen until recently was the 2006 Fernando Valenzuela silver base bobblehead. There were only 500 of these made.

From Ebay

The 2009 Curtain Call Manny Ramirez bobblehead was one of the more popular bobbleheads given away, but  did you know they made 99 of them in gold? I need to see this one!


In 2010 the Dodgers started holding contests on Twitter. They gave away many prizes including two bobblehead variations. The first was the Andre Ethier Silver bat bobble to commemorate his 2009 Silver Slugger Award. The other was the Matt Kemp Catch At The Wall gold glove bobblehead to commemorate his 2009 Gold Glove Award. The first time I saw one of these was on Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Greg won his on Twitter and later got it autographed. The Kemp is my personal favorite.

From BobblesGalore

From BobblesGalore

The Dodgers gave away six bobbleheads in 2011. Three of them had variants. The first was Clayton Kershaw's backwards K bobblehead. The second was Don Mattingly's "Donnie Baseball" bobblehead and the third was Duke Snider's "Duke of Flatbush" bobblehead. I'm not sure how many they produced.

From BobblesGalore

From BobblesGalore

Like I said earlier, I may be missing some variants. If anyone has additional information or pictures, feel free to comment below or email me. I would love to update this.

First Look: Clayton Kershaw Replica Cy Young Award

Well, it's not a bobblehead, but we are getting our first look at the Clayton Kershaw replica Cy Young Award plaque. Presented by Stub Hub!, this plaque will be given away to the first 30,000 fans in attendance when the Dodgers play the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, April 11.

Speaking of the Cy Young Award, Clayton was in New York City this weekend to accept the real plaque at the Baseball Writers' Association of America's annual dinner. He was also there to promote his new book "Arise" and he even got to tour the New York Stock Exchange Friday morning.

                         

Trading With Foul Bunt, Plaschke The Sweater Is Argyle and the Daily Dimwit

I've completed three trades in the last couple of weeks. Here's a recap:

The first trade I made was with William from Foul Bunt. William has a nice collection of baseballs signed by Hall of Famers. When I checked his trade list I noticed he had an extra Bruce Sutter auto, which is also certified. Besides collecting HOF balls, William is also a huge Orioles fan, so I offered up a couple of O's bobbleheads and cards. We finally worked something out, and now I have a Bruce Sutter auto in my collection. Thank you William!


This past Sunday I had the opportunity to meet NL Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw. While at the Kershaw appearance, I met up with Greg from Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Over the last few weeks we had been working on a trade for one of my three Rubby De La Rosa autographs and we were finally able to complete it that day.Well, actually Greg brought his end of the trade up to the Kershaw appearance and I mailed my part of the trade to him. Anyway, I got a 2008 Allen & Ginter Matt Kemp jersey card and a 2008 Upper Deck Ramon Troncoso auto in return. Thanks for the trade Greg and I can't wait for the next Kershaw appearance.

The final trade I made was with Sam from The Daily Dimwit. Sam has had the honor of being the first to do a couple of things on Dodgerbobble.com. He won my first bobblehead contest  and he was the first follower on my Dodgerbobble Trade Bait page. Sam saw a David  Matranga auto/jersey card on the trade bait page and asked me if I'd take a 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces Andy LaRoche auto for it. My only LaRoche autograph is a dual auto card with Rafael Furcal, so I was happy to get a card with just his signature on it. Thank you Sam. Hopefully you'll have another first on Dodgerbobble.com some day.

Angels Announce 2012 Promotional Schedule, Pujols Gets A Bobblehead

The Anaheim Angels released their 2012 promotional schedule today and it includes two bobbleheads. Way back on December 7, I mentioned that the Angels released their promotional schedule to their season ticket holders, and it included a Mark Trumbo bobblehead on April 17. Well now they've changed  Trumbo to Albert Pujols. From the moment they signed Albert, I had a feeling they'd do this. I love the idea and I can't wait to get one. 


The other bobblehead  the Angels are giving away is Peter Bourjos on May 16. Bourjos was the winner of the bobblehead fan voting, getting 56% of the vote. He was going up against Howie Kendrick(39%) and Jordan Walden(3%).


Here is the official press release :

The Angels Wednesday announced the release of the 2012 promotional schedule which begins with a matchup vs. the Kansas City Royals on Opening Day, April 6th. The schedule features 48 dates throughout the season, including popular events such as Big Bang Fridays and Family Sundays. Highlights on the schedule include:

• Albert Pujols Bobblehead - April 17th vs. Oakland Athletics

• Rally Monkey Beanie - May 1st vs. Minnesota Twins

• Cowboy Hat - June 2nd vs. Texas Rangers

• Kids Albert Pujols Jersey - July 7th vs. Baltimore Orioles

• 10th Anniversary World Series Ring Figurine - August 14th vs. Cleveland Indians

For a complete listing, please see attached document or visit angels.com/promotions.In addition, the Angels have released additional Club Level Season Seats for the 2012 season. Season Seat Holders in the Club Level can view exciting Angels Baseball games from their own private level with padded, spacious seating arrangements and exclusive concourse surroundings. Guests of the Club Level also have exclusive access to the Knothole Club and in-seat service. To reserve packages, visit angels.com.

You can see the entire 2012 Angels promotional schedule here.

2010 Bowman Platinum Josh Lindblom Autograph

One of the bright spots in the Dodger bullpen last year was Josh Lindblom. The righty put up some decent numbers in 27 appearances, going 1-0 with a 2.73 era and a 1.045 whip while striking out 28. I think he's earned himself a spot in the 'pen next year.


I got to thinking about Josh while in line for Clayton Kershaw's autograph yesterday. Like Clayton, Josh has his own charity, The Josh Lindblom Foundation, which helps children and families in need. 


Well tonight I thought I'd show one of my Josh Lindblom autographs. This is his 2010 Bowman Platinum Blue Refractor and  it's numbered 1/99. I'd have to go through my collection, but I think this is my only card that's numbered 1 of anything. Besides that, I really like this card 'cause it's Dodger blue!     

You can check out Josh's website here and you can also follow him on Twitter here.

Player Appearance: Clayton Kershaw

2011 National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and his wife Ellen made an appearance today at the Ralphs market in Porter Ranch. It was one of many stops on their tour promoting the book "Arise"  which they co-wrote. Clayton and Ellen were scheduled to meet fans and sign the book from 1-3 pm. They were there to sign the book only. No outside memorabilia was allowed. 


I arrived at Ralphs at 10:00 am and I purchased a couple of books. With the Ralphs Reward card the book came to $10.79 plus tax, with 5% of the proceeds going to Kersh's charity, Kershaw's Challenge. After getting in line, the event promoters handed everyone a list of guidelines which basically said we couldn't pose for pictures or get outside memorabilia signed. 

At around 12:45, Clayton and Ellen arrived. I was so excited when they got there. They began signing right away and they were even posing for pictures! Both Clayton and Ellen are very nice and down-to-earth, chatting with everyone.


I'd say there were about 100 people in line and once they all got their books signed, a group of us thought we'd take a chance at getting some other items signed, but we were rejected by Clayton himself. Fail! I guess it never hurts to try, right?

Anyway, Thanks to Clayton and Ellen and thanks to Ralphs Market for holding this event. Also, thanks to Roberto at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy for all the information, it was nice seeing you and everyone else today.