Yes, you read that right! The Reds Hall of Fame and Museum will be offering a Marge Schott bobblehead as their August collectable giveaway. Marge’s nodder comes complete with Schottzie (Schottzie I, we presume) and a 1990 World Series trophy. Sweet!
The fifth in a series of six in-season collectible gifts from the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum will be a Marge Schott Bobblehead, featuring Marge, Schottzie, and the 1990 World Series Trophy. The limited edition bobblehead is part of the ongoing tribute to the 1990 Championship season and the 1990 exhibit. Beginning August 1, the first 4,500 full-price paying guests to the museum during August on any Friday, Saturday, or Sunday will receive the bobblehead as a gift.
NOTE: There is a limit of one bobblehead per person per day.
We were lucky enough to have been given a sneak peek of the Marge bobblehead, and it’s rather epic. Really, it’s a lot of bobble. We’ll get you a visual as soon as we can… stay tuned!
Make sure you get down the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum and get yourself one – with only 4,500, they’ll be going quickly. Plus, make sure you go through the museum – it’s the best team Hall of Fame and Museum in baseball, bar none.
UPDATE: Photo of the Marge bobblehead up on RedsMuseum.org now!
OMGReds headed up north to Miller Park this week to catch a few games while the Reds were in Milwaukee (or, “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the Good Land.” Thanks Alice Cooper!) The Brewers aren’t having the best season so far, but they still drew crowds around 35,000 for both of the games we saw. And, Brewers fans really know how to rock the pre-game tailgate!
Anyone else notice that a Braves fan (or at least a dude wearing a Heyward shersy) had Votto’s huge 8th inning homer to tie the game bounce off his hands?
Also:
• Apparently with the lack of run support the Reds have given Mike Leake (particularly earlier in the season) we’re not only going to keep him from winning the National League Rookie of the Year award but we’re also going to help Jason Heyward win it. In three games against the Reds, that’s the second time he’s beaten us (you may recall he beat us with a walk-off double May 19 in Atlanta.)
• Was I the only one pulling hair out knowing ahead of time exactly what Jay Bruce was going to do against the lefty reliever in the 8th. Gotta pinch-hit for him there.
• Anyone else almost shart a little when Brooks Conrad – who memorably victimized Coco Cordero earlier this season – almost did it again? Great catch by Heisey. I know this seems really knee-jerkish and I fully realize that Heisey has had his share of struggles against lefties too but I can’t help but think I’d like to see Heisey in the starting lineup a little more often and Bruce in there a little less often … he just needs more rest than he’s getting.
I also love Pearl Jam’s State of Love and Trust. The vid above is from the 2010 Pearl Jam show in Columbus, Ohio. Bronson Arroyo gives Mr. Vedder a custom Reds BP jersey and requests SOLAT. Still a little bummed I missed that show.
The fans had the choice, and they made it. Homer Bailey is your 2010 Fans Choice Bobblehead, beating out a smattering of other Reds that had yet to be honored with a ceramic likeness: Orlando Cabrera, Francisco Cordero, Johnny Cuteo, Chris Dickerson, Ramon Hernandez, Arthur Rhodes and Drew Stubbs.
Homer’s Bobblehead will be given to the first 30,000 fans in attendance on Saturday, July 31st. If you haven’t heard already, the start time for that game has been changed to 4:10 PM. So, adjust your plans accordingly.
We’ll admit, we never got our act together to give an official OMGreds endorsment for this year’s Fans Choice Bobblehead, so we really can’t say too much about what the fans decided. Buuuuuuuuuut, we would LOVE to know how close the voting was. Did Homer run away with it? Did Arthur get as much love as folkssayhedid? Did Drew make a Dent? Did Lando even make a run for it? And by run, we mean the Kessel Run and if he made it under 12 parsecs.
What do ya’ll think?
Also, if you haven’t heard, tickets for the Reds/Braves series this weekend are going pretty quickly. Just standing room only tickets for Saturday’s game were available on Wednesday afternoon. Those will certainly be snatched up before the weekend gets here, so act quickly.
At first, the news was a bit of a shock and I thought to myself “Holy crapiod! No opening day on a Monday?” Then… “Oh, we’ll open the season three days later than the rest of baseball??” Then… “Oh, wait, whaaaat?”
Then reason set in.
Imagine. Opening Day on a Friday… Wow. It’s almost too much fun. After months of waiting for our Reds to start it back up again, then the final week of buildup… jet from work/school early on Friday and head down to the ballpark to kick off the season with our boys. It could be epic. Actually, it will be epic. While this does get your average fan excited, Mo Egger has a good point though about um… certain fans:
Though can you imagine how brutal Opening Day Guy is gonna be with no job to go to the next day?
Can’t disagree with that… but whatever, we’ll be there having a great time too.
Now, back to the news from the Major League Baseball perspective. While April weather is going to be hit or miss, even if you move Opening Day a few days back and forth, the same could be said on the other end in October. It’s no guarantee that ending a World Series before November 1st will rule out inclement weather. I found this to be the best part of the USA Today story:
So if we’re playing Game 7 of the World Series on Oct. 28, and it’s snowed out, don’t blame baseball.
However that works out, let’s just hope our Redlegs are playing October baseball for years to come.
Once again, Welsh is the man. Not afraid to point out that among Jim Bowden’s first moves as general manager of the Reds was to leave Trevor Hoffman unprotected, allowing the Marlins to acquire him via the 1992 expansion draft.
hahahahaha … thanks, Jim, for making sure Hoffman didn’t get any of those 596 saves as a Red.
Three other thoughts:
When is the last time the top 4 hitters in any lineup collected 15 hits in one game? Wow. (The Twins, who won 19-1 Monday night, had 13 hits from their first 4.) Jeff Piecoro said during Reds Live post-game that it was the first time since 1989 the Reds had three different players collect four or more hits.
Jay Bruce has struck out at least once in all but two games he has started in July. He has 11 multi-strikeout games since June 13. He’s driven in 4 runs this month (he did get one tonight); scored 6 runs, walked 4 times and hasn’t homered in July; and he got off to a fast start on the basepaths this season – with 5 stolen bases by May 22 – but he hasn’t stolen one since. Maybe the kid needs a little more rest than he’s getting.
Votto, meanwhile, has 7 multi-hit games this month. And he’s reached base in all but one game (July 19) he’s started since April 24. And here’s the OMGReds.com exclusive Votto-stat of the day … Votto has had seven 4-hit games in his career, and 5 of them have happened on the road. In five different cities: Milwaukee, St. Louis (6/1/10), Pittsburgh (9/23/09), Toronto (6/25/09) and Chicago (4/23/09).
The fellas over at Whack Reds had us on their latest episode of Whack Reds Radio talking Reds baseball, the impending trade deadline, 1990, bobbleheads and of course, our man, Sam LeCure. Take a listen:
A big thanks to the Whack for having us on. We’re big fans. Make sure you check ‘em out and follow on Twitter. They have mad ups.
I don’t know about you, but every year around Baseball Hall of Fame induction time, I get a little giddy. No matter who is going into the Hall of Fame any given year, I’m excited to hear some speeches and see some grown men tear up a little. Year after year, I yearn to make that trip to Cooperstown and take in an enshrinment in person but alas, it has yet to be in the cards. There’ll be a year where I make it up for an induction, but in the mean time, there’s an event that might just fill that void.
The Green Diamond Gallery in Montgomery is hosting the “2010 Hall of Fame Lunch”, featuring the ENTIRE 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee class – Andre Dawson, Whitey Herzog and Doug Harvey. WOW. Not sure about you, but that’s right up our alley. Here’s a the rundown:
DATE: August 12, 2010 TIME: 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. WHERE: Montgomery Inn COST: $150 per person, $1,500 per table (10 seats) MORE INFO: Call Green Diamond Gallery at (513) 984-4192, download flyer (.pdf).
984-4192? Ah, we see what you did there!!
This is a great chance to listen to all three inductees speak as well as ask them a few questions during a 15-20 minute Q&A session.
Proceeds from the event will help launch the Character and Courage Foundation. The Character and Courage Foundation enriches, through baseball, the lives of youth who are physically handicapped, diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses, or living in impoverished areas. For more information, visit www.characterandcourage.org.
After the all the Reds Hall of Fame excitement recently, I’m totally up for some more baseball greats to roll into town.
The Red Jackets are here! Members of the Reds Hall of Fame line up at the end of the Gala.
UPDATE: We’ve posted a photo gallery with images of Sunday night’s festivities, and we’ve added videos that you’ll get to at the end of the post …
Pardon us in advance if we go a little overboard with our coverage of the 2010 Reds Hall of Fame induction gala, but you’d be pretty fired up too if you had just been in the same (big) room with the entire current Reds roster (minus the ill Scott Rolen) in addition to the likes of Johnny Bench, Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, Lee May, George Foster, Jack Billingham, Hal Morris, Tom Browning and all three Nasty Boys. Oh, AND Chris Sabo and Pedro Borbon.
Sparky addresses the crowd via video message
VERY cool event, thanks to a very impressive effort by the Reds Hall of Fame. Everything about it was well executed and exactly what piques your interest, gets your adrenaline pumping and tugs at your heartstrings (thanks, Sparky) if you’re a Reds fan. Michael Anderson from the Reds mentioned that Hilton, Head, SC-based producer Philip Myers – a professional entertainer who specializes in corporate and commercial entertainment who the Reds have worked with for past induction galas as well as the Civil Rights Game – was involved with the production, particularly with the music, which at times throughout the evening made me feel like I was in ‘Far and Away’ (obscure reference 1 of 1).
BP waves to the crowd
All of the current players and a bunch of former Reds who were on hand were introduced at the beginning of the event. It was fun to see how the players reacted as each guy walked up to the stage and acknowledged the crowd in his own way. Couldn’t really get good shots with the camera, but I do know Eric Davis’ walk/acknowledgement had Arthur Rhodes and Coco Cordero just about ROFL, and Volquez was cracking up at just about everyone.
There was a really memorable segment where Bench, Foster, Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Gary Nolan shared their favorite memories from the 1975 World Series. Bench made it clear he’s a fan of the 2010 Reds:
We’ve seen it on the field so far this year. When guys have been hurt, somebody’s picked them up. And that’s the way it was in our year (1975). Never forget that there’s 25 players and they’re all gonna contribute. … Our great success came because of all of the great support players, the role players that came out and did their job. They knew what their job was, and when they had to do it, they did it. And I’m just as happy for them; that’s why all 25 players were World Champions, and that’s why we all got rings. So thanks to all of those people.
In another segment of the event, it was very cool the way the 25th anniversary of 4,192 was acknowledged. (Sabo later said he thought Pete was going to come out during this segment.)
Norm, Marty & Dibs
And the 20th anniversary of the 1990 title featured what Marty said is believed to be (still awaiting confirmation or denial from Charlton, Dibble or Myers, none of whom acknowledged it) the first reunion of the Nasty Boys in 20 years. (Dibble, who is part of the Nationals’ broadcast team, is in town for the upcoming Reds-Nats series, but apparently it was a pleasant surprise that he was able to make it in time for the reunion.)
During his induction speech, Borbon explained that he considers Cincinnati the best baseball city in the country. (St. Louis can put that in its pipe and smoke it.)
Chris Sabo
And Marty declared, “The two people I’ve known who are totally without ego … are Joe Nuxhall … and Chris Sabo.”
Three memorable quotes from Sabo’s speech (which actually referred to Pete Rose for a good two minutes or so):
I’d like to thank all of my former teammates, especially with the ’90 team for coming here … it was a fun team. I might not have shown it when I played, but I loved playing with all of you guys. Great teammates. We might not hang out off the field, but we had a good time on the field.
He’s not here, but I actually owe a lot to Pete Rose. He’s one of the few guys who believed in me when I was in the minor leagues, when people thought I was crap. He actually gave me a chance. And thankfully, Buddy Bell got hurt and I got a chance.
I’m just glad you guys all came out. I’m also glad this weekend’s ending and I can go home and have a couple of beers.
