Mat Latos Bobblehead

One of the nice things about a player leaving the team is that if that player has a bobblehead, it instantly becomes more reasonable to purchase. Last week I purchased my first bobblehead in over a year. Mat apparently didn't have any kind words for the organization when he was shipped to Miami in the off-season and I'm a little bummed that he won't be sporting a Cincinnati uniform since he was a decent pitcher for the Reds. With the impending loss of Cueto and Chapman at the end of the year, I shudder to think what might become of the Reds starting rotation and bullpen. The Reds had 30,000 of these bobbleheads to pass out on June 5, 2013 against the Rockies (although not that many fans showed up for the game). This is my first bobblehead where the sponsor is Toyota. I am excited for a few of the bobblehead releases the Reds have scheduled for this year...my favorite being the Nasty Boys bobblehead featuring Dibble, Myers and Charlton

1960 Cincinnati Reds Scorecard

My latest round of buying on eBay netted me this amazing 1960 scorecard. It's been neatly scored detailing the match up between the Reds and Pirates on August 21 of that year.  I have always been enamored in the 50s and 60s when players such as Clemente, Snider, Mays, and Aaron played the game and this scorecard provides a snippet into those days of old. Although the Reds won this game, I like the fact that Clemente did hit a home run in the game. On a side note, I've found that these scorecards make a nice backdrop on the bookshelf that holds my Reds bobbleheads. There are five more scorecards that I would like to get from the 50s and 60s to add to my collection and once I have those I'll make sure to share a pic. 

Danny Graves Bobblehead

There was a time when the dominant closer for the Reds didn't have the last name of "Chapman". This closer was a lights out kinda guy who you could call up from the bullpen with the game on the line as you nursed a one-run lead with the tying run at the plate and not worry about blowing the save. That is until he started having issues with getting guys out (after some solid seasons of success), the fans lose confidence in him and start to boo as he jogs out from the bullpen, and finally said closer gives the one finger salute to the fans thus ending his stay in the Queen City. I was always a fan of Danny Graves due to the fact that being the closer has to be the toughest job of any ballplayer. You're either the hero or the goat and there's a very fine line separating the two.
This past week I was able to cross off another bobblehead from my wantlist, bringing my collection of nodders to 29. The Reds gave out 10,000 of these nodders on August 17, 2001 as they took on Milwaukee. Needless to say, Cincinnati lost that game 5-1 with their only run being a Griffey RBI in the bottom of the fifth. It's interesting to note that Jose Rijo pitched the last two innings of the game for the Reds and didn't surrender any runs to the Brewers.

Another Goal Put to Bed!

For the past few months I've been neglecting my card collecting goals for the year by opting to chase after some bobbleheads and a World Series ticket that I had always wanted. This week, however, I decided to take a break from the nodders and chase after some vintage Topps cards that I had been eying for a while but just never pulled the trigger on. I'm very happy to announce that I have now completed my 1954 Topps Redlegs team set. One of the last remaining cards in the set was this Ted Kluszewski card. I was also able to grab my first 1953 Topps Reds cards in the process (which I will be posting about next week). Not everything was rainbows and unicorns this week as I found out that I had missed a card from my 2011 Topps Reds team set. Card #198 is MIA and has been added to my wantlist. The regular version of this card is Buster Posey, but I'm not after that one. Nope, instead I found out that there's a short print 198 that's none other than a Johnny Bench parallel. These short print parallels will be the death of my collecting!

Homer Bailey Bobblehead

I was fortunate enough to purchase this nodder a few weeks ago just before Homer Bailey threw his second no-hitter. I like that the sponsor for this promotion was Kahn's (I guess they do more than baseball cards). There were 30,000 of these handed out to fans on July 31, 2010 when the Reds faced Atlanta. Cincinnati ultimately won the game 5-2. This marks the 28th addition to my Reds bobblehead collection. 

Pete Harnisch Bobblehead

A few weeks ago I added another bobblehead to my ever increasing collection of Cincinnati Reds nodders. I was excited to grab this for a decent price since this was the second bobblehead the organization released....way back in 2001. There were 10,000 of these handed out on June 15th in a game that saw the good guys lose to the Colorado Rockies in a 8-4 smack down with home runs given up to Ron Gant and Todd Helton. Regardless, I'm not going to complain about a game that was played almost twelve years ago given how terrible the Reds were back at that time.

Marty and Thom Bobblehead

Yet another bobblehead to add to my collection of Reds nodders. I was on the fence about whether or not I should pick this one up since I had the Marty and Joe bobblehead, but I decided to bite the bullet and grab this one from eBay for less than $8 shipped. I do think it's cool that father and son broadcast games for the Reds and while I have Marty's autograph, I'm still lacking Thom's. This bobblehead was given out on August 22, 2007 when the Reds faced the Braves. Cincinnati won the game 4-2 with the help of a Josh Hamilton (when he was with the Reds) dinger. I'm still upset with the Hamilton Volquez trade so I won't go there.

Austin Kearns Bobblehead

A recent addition to my Reds bobblehead collection. I was able to pick up this Austin Kearns bobblehead last week on eBay for less than $8 shipped. There were 30,000 of these little nodders given out July 19, 2003 when the Reds took on the Houston Astros. Cincinnati lost that game 9-8, but Jason LaRue did hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th in a comeback that almost resulted in a win. I like the blue base but the portly body is not very desirable.

I just bought me a ballpark!

Well, a little replica of one anyway. One of the things I miss about living in Cincinnati is the fact that whenever there's a giveaway at the ballpark, the only way for me to pick it up is to either get a ticket to the game and drive four hours down I-71 or go to ebay and buy it from someone else. Option one I only use sparingly if it's a game I really want to see since I limit myself to going to watch a game at a ballpark only a couple of times a year. I was very happy to finally snag this on ebay over the weekend since I've always wanted to add this to my memorabilia collection. I still have a few bobbleheads and a seat from Crosley Field to pick up, but after that, it's strictly cards from that point forward. Stadium giveaways are so sweet!