TTM: Adam Dunn

Did you know that Adam Dunn set a National League rookie record for the most home runs in a month by hitting 12 in August 2001?

Adam Dunn Bobblehead

A few weeks ago I was able to grab an Adam Dunn bobblehead on ebay for the price of a blaster. I've been trying to get one of these for some time but the cheapest one I found was listed at $35 and that was a little too much for my taste. The Reds gave away 20,000 of these nodders on August 10, 2002, slightly less than the 30,000 that are given away in more recent years. The Reds pummeled the Padres for a 9-0 victory that evening, in case you're interested. With the addition of Dunn, my collection of Reds bobbleheads now stands at 33!

Wily Mo Pena Bobblehead

This bobblehead was given out to fans on June 8, 2005 when the Reds took on the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. I still miss Tampa Bay being called the Devil Rays...something about Devil making a team sound dark and sinister and we all need sinister teams in major league baseball. The Reds won this game in a slug fest and it was a fitting ending as Pena himself launched a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for Cincinnati. Pena made his major league debut with the Reds on September 10, 2002 and singled in his first major league at-bat. During his stint in Cincinnati, Pena shared time in the outfield with Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns. Pena was with the Reds until the spring of 2006 when he was shipped to Boston for Bronson Arroyo. Not a bad trade for the Reds if you ask me.

2006 Reds Autographed Team Bat

Not many things are as cool to me as an autographed team baseball....but an autographed team bat is the next best thing. I picked up this Rawlings Big Stick autographed bat a few years ago for a little more than the price of a couple of blasters. Although the bat wasn't signed by Griffey and Dun, it does have some of my favorite past and present players such as: Aaron Harang, David Weathers, Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Phillips, Jason LaRue, Tom Hume, Billy Hatcher, and Jerry Narron. Although the Reds weren't a great team in 2006, for me this is a cool thing to have in my collection.

1999 Topps

Yesterday I was talking about the 2001 Topps set and mentioned 1999 in the post, so I decided to follow it up today with an analysis of the 1999 Topps set. Where 2000 Topps had a silver border, Topps decided to do a gold border the prior year. Not much text on the front of the card and the team logos are missing in action. The design reminds me of the old 1951/52 Bowman cards with their simplicity of showing as much of the picture as possible while leaving as much verbiage confined to the back of the card as possible. While I don't hate the 1999 Topps set, I'm not a big fan of the set either. My favorite card from this set would have to be the Dunn rookie card. I like the fact that he's just sitting there on the bleachers holding his bats while staring at the camera. It's almost like he stepped out of a cornfield with a bunch a dead ballplayers in Iowa or perhaps waiting to hear from Crash Davis what baseball is all about. Kinda brings a tear to you eye doesn't it.

2001 Topps

2001 Topps was an interesting year. Where there was a silver border the year before, now we have....turquoise? Not sure I follow since the 1999 Topps set had a gold border, but maybe there's some sort of patters (Gold, Silver, Turquoise....I'm not seeing it). I do like the 50 year anniversary in gold foil at the top of the cards and Topps did another great job with picking great photos to put on their cards. Finally, those team logos really stand out...maybe because of the turquoise border! So, favorite card from this set would have to be Adam Dunn. I liked this guy when he was with the Reds. Not because of his defense (which was greatly lacking) but because he had pure power when he hit the ball...something he didn't do much of in Chicago this past year, or so I hear. Watching him crush a home run in a Reds uniform, now that was something to see.