This comic bookish Adrian Gonzalez figure must have snuck by me last season. To my knowledge it really wasn’t promoted that much….although this was during the time when I stopped watching Padres games because the team appeared to have given up and weren’t even trying, so maybe it was promoted a bunch and I just didn’t see it. I came across this item at Christmas on the Prado. The Madres had a booth set up in front of the San Diego Hall of Champions and were selling some stuff. I stopped and chatted for a while with the nice ladies. They do a lot for the community and love their Padres so go check out their site and see what they are up to. The item was given away on June 6th last season when the Padres played the Diamondbacks. They were down 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th when they unleashed 6 runs off of relievers Leo Rosales, Daniel Schlereth & Clay Zavada. Padres go on to win 6-4.

*EDIT: .400 in ’94 user Tim shared this photo with us and clarified that the figure was given away during the whole “Vote for Adrian” push. Thanks Tim!

Well I guess the sting of Khalil being traded has worn off for most people by now so I guess I can safely post this without causing some people to tear up. Here is the wonderful sprawled out, diving catch, hair flowing (and perky butt according to jbox) Khalil Greene figurine that was given away at a game on April 8th, 2005. It is another one of the things that was done right by the Padres marketers back in the day…..oh how I yearn for those days once again. Nowadays all we get is breakfast. They got it right by not giving him a bobblehead but by capturing what most fans remember him the most for….making a spectacular diving catch….that and the expressionless face that they captured here so well. Funny how in that game Khalil made an error that essentially cost the Padres the game though. Brian Lawrence pitched solid going 7 innings, giving up only 2 ER, striking out 5 & walking only 2. Ryan Klesko hit a homer & Brian Giles actually hit a triple. But despite all that the errors by Khalil & Sean Burroughs in the 8th were to much to overcome. The Padres lost to the Pirates 3-2. This item has a COA #00001 of 44,000…..yet I highly doubt I got the first one so I assume they put that card with every figurine given away.

Ah yes the Russian Nesting Dolls. I remember hearing that “these are the new wave of the future, goodbye bobbleheads”. Yet after the flurry of Babooshkah giveaways in the 2003 & 2004 seasons, that saw the likes of George Brett, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, Ichiro & the very cool Oakland A’s one of Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, Tim Hudson & Ramon Hernandez, to name a few, there haven’t been any that I know of. I thought they were actually pretty cool though. The face actually looks like Tony (unlike some other promotions) and the different unis through the years are a nice touch. The game itself featured Ollie Perez striking out 11 batters and walking only 1 but still got the loss. Jaret Wright, Luther Hackman, Joe Roa, Mike Mathews & Scott Linebrink also pitched in this game. What significance does this have? None really I just thought it was funny that Wright, Hackman, Roa & Mathews all pitched in the same game for us. No wonder why this team lost 98 games that year. The Padres lost to the Reds 9-5. This has a COA of #29718 of 41000.

OK so you know how I said the Trevor Hoffman clock was the worst likeness ever of a player in stadium giveaway history? Well I lied. This is hands down the worst. It’s almost like they didn’t even try on this one. Home Depot & the “Mighty” 1090 you should be ashamed of yourselves for slapping your logos on this. I hear that Tony was actually browsing eBay recently and came across this figure. The next day he went in for gastric bypass surgery….that’s how unflattering this figurine is. Anyways this was given out during Tony Gwynn Weekend in 2004 and the following day his number was retired by the team. The Padres went on to beat the Rockies that night 7-6 on a 3 run homer by Phil Nevin in the 7th. It has a COA #30426 of 46000.