Here we have a replica 1969 jersey that was given away during the 2009 season. I’ll be honest, personally I’m not really a big fan of the “replica jerseys”. They are very cheaply made and like all the t-shirts that are given away, are about 10 sizes to big for me. With that said, apparently the fans think otherwise since…it was the 3rd biggest giveaway draw of the 2009 season (41,665)….and it was against the Pirates…..and Shawn Hill & Zach Duke were on the mound. Yeah sounds like a very exciting matchup, doesn’t it? The Padres pitchers that night were Hill, Josh Geer, Eulogio de la Cruz & Luis Perdomo. Meaning the 10-1 loss won’t shock anyone.
I’m not 100% sure what the story is on these wooden coins. Were they stadium giveaways? Were they like the Jack in the Box taco giveaway of today, where people have to look under 3 square pans to find the magic free pizza coupon thus giving the whole ballpark free pizza? Why were they Square Pan Pizza coins and not McDonalds (uhhh hello? Ray Kroc!!)? Well here’s what I do know…. if you went into a Square Pan Pizza with one of these tokens, you’d get 2 free slices of pizza (Expires 10/2/80). I have 2 of them and took a picture of the front and back of the coins. I’ve thought of every way to get me some free pizza, but with Square Pan Pizza no longer around and an expiration date that goes back about 30 years, things aren’t looking good.
I just realized I haven’t posted a towel (You’re a towel!) in quite a while. So I now give you….a towel from the 1986 season. Apparently Padre hitters were complete a-holes back then and enjoyed hitting balls into delicious Coca-Cola beverages. Not cool guys. I’m not 100% sure it was a giveaway but I assume it was (the huge Coca-Cola logo plastered on it might have given it away). Plus towel giveaways in San Diego are mandatory I think.
This is the 3rd of 5 Padres bobbleheads given away this season, outfielder Kyle Blanks. Unfortunately for Blanks he was MIA on his bobblehead night, but unlike the Indians Victor Martinez Bobblehead night (who was traded from the Indians to the Red Sox), Blanks was on the DL at the time. It drew 28,138 (which is the 2nd lowest draw on the 2010 bobblehead giveaways). The Padres took on the Orioles with Kevin Millwood and his 5.12 ERA & 1-8 record and yet he out dueled Padres starter Clayton Richard. Tony Gwynn Jr. went 2 for 4 with a double and even gunned down Corey Patterson on a play at the plate. But the Padres lose 5-4.
Here is the 2nd of 5 in the 2010 Padres bobblehead set, 3rd baseman Chase Headley. If you recall, in my last post I questioned his bobblehead worthy-ness. Regardless, it’s still a pretty cool bobblehead. It was given away at the game on May 29th this season when the Padres took on the Washington Nationals. Attendance is what you’d expect from a Strasburg-less Nationals team to draw….25,956. Much like the last bobblehead game, Nick Hundley provided all the offense the Padres needed by going 2 for 3 with a home run, a triple and 3 RBI’s. Bobblehead honoree Headley went 1 for 3. Padres starter Mat Latos went 6 innings, striking out 8 and giving up 2 runs and then handed it off to the dreaded trio of Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams & Heath Bell, who went scoreless the rest of the way. Padres win 4-2.
With the Clayton Richard bobblehead night fast approaching (it’s this Saturday 7/31/10 GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!) I figured I’d fire off the other 3 bobbleheads that have been given away this season. First we’ll start with the first one of the group…David Eckstein. I have to admit, ever since the Dave Winfield, Randy Jones & Chicken ones of 2003, it’s been all downhill for the Padres and bobbleheads in years past (mini, race car, Adrian wearing lipstick) but this year they finally got it right with the set. Semi-realistic (as realistic as bobbleheads can get) and were pretty solid. I have a couple minor complaints though. One would be the flimsy background cards (that when the set is complete and pushed together form a shot of Petco Park). The cards cheapen the whole thing. Why couldn’t they have just done a mini background that’s a part of the bobblehead like the Reds did? The other is the selection of players. Before the season Eckstein, Kyle Blanks and Everth Cabrera were no brainers. Eckstein the fan favorite and Blanks and Cabrera who were young (IE: under control for a long time) and destined for big seasons this year after what they did last season. Chase Headley & Clayton Richard were big question marks though. If they were expecting to deal Adrian Gonzalez mid-season then why couldn’t they have given his away first. He’s the biggest name on the team yet no bobblehead? The excuse was that he had one last year (a horrible one, mind you), but I don’t buy it. Of course Heath Bell was in the same boat as Adrian yet there was no excuse given for his omission. Richard, while showing signs of promise last year, didn’t exactly earn a bobblehead. Why not the newly signed Garland or the young flame thrower Latos? Oh well enough of my complaining…..these bobbleheads still are great.
The game drew a respectable 31,324 to see the Padres take on the Diamondbacks. Kevin Correia pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 8 in the process. Then the bullpen of Cesar Ramos, Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams & Tim Stauffer shut down the D-Backs the rest of the way. Nick Hundley provided all the offense the Padres needed by going 3 for 4 with a home run and 3 rbis. The man of the hour, David Eckstein, went 1 for 4 with a stolen base and was hit by a pitch. Padres win 5-0.
Having played soccer since I was 6 years old I became fully aware of the “soccer-style scarf” years ago. Apparently with everyone Stateside being bit by the World Cup bug this year, they also became aware of the scarves and it in turn made this one of the hottest giveaways this season. I’ve spotted scarves on ebay that have been sold for over 40 bucks a piece. But here’s the thing….the game itself only drew 30,019 (11th highest drawing home attendance so far). It’s a very cool item and surprisingly very well made for a giveaway.
The game itself pitted the Padres vs the Mariners and Wade LeBlanc vs Cliff Lee. Adrian Gonzalez hit a 2 run shot in the first inning and finished the night 2 for 3. LeBlanc out dueled Lee by throwing 6 innings of 1 run ball. Oscar Salazar put the icing on the cake in the 8th inning with a 3 run homer. Padres win 7-1.
.400 in ’94 reader Tim submitted a couple items…..everyone else must have missed the memo apparently. First up is a wall clock that was given away on August 23rd…….in, you guessed it….2003. It shows good ‘ol Qualcomm/Jack Murphy/San Diego Stadium in all it’s packed glory. To top things off there’s a familiar signature on there. The game was actually quite a really good pitcher’s duel between the Padres Adam Eaton and the Expos Javier Vazquez. Eaton went 7.1 IP, striking out 5, while giving up no runs. Vazquez went 9 innings, striking out 10 and also giving up no runs. Jay Witasick & Mike Mathews shut down the Expos the rest of the way and in the bottom of the 10th with Rocky Biddle taking over for Vazquez and 2 outs Gary Bennett singles, Gary Mathews Jr singles, Sean Burroughs is hit by a pitch & then Mark Kotsay walks with the bases loaded. Padres win 1-0 in 10 innings.
Next up is the Rockstar mini bobblehead set that was given away during the 2006 season. It featured then-Padres manager Bruce Bochy, pitcher Jake Peavy & shortstop Khalil Greene. They were given away on August 18th in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Woody Williams had a strong game on the mound pitching into the 8th. But the stars were on offense as Mike Cameron went 2 for 4 with a double & a 2 run shot in the 7th. Dave Roberts, Geoff Blum & Josh Barfield each collected 2 hits a piece as well. After this game the Diamondbacks & Padres were tied for 2nd place in the NL West, both sporting 61-61 records. The Padres would go 27-13 the rest of the way winning the NL West. The Diamondbacks on the other hand would go 15-25 the rest of the way to finish in 4th. The Padres won this game 8-2.
If you have any items that you’d like to submit for this site shoot me an e-mail!
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This is now the 7th awesome item from the 2003 season that I have listed here on this blog. After looking at some of the 2010 giveaways at the Fan Fest Saturday, I was let down a bit. Yes the bobbleheads look cool & the throwback floppy hat will surely draw some fans, but other than that it’s the usual boring stuff. Look at the Giants they have skateboards & snuggies for god sakes! We have a cheap “replica jersey” with the Padres logo on the belly button & a plain ‘ol slinky. Anyways enough complaining, it still IS a lot better than things have been the past couple of seasons. Here we have an Ozzie Smith Action card. I tried my best to capture the entire play in photos. I think the thing that made the 2003 giveaways is that almost everything was throwback brown & yellow. The Winfield, RJ & Chicken bobbleheads, the floppy hat, Gwynn Russian Nesting Dolls, the mini Qualcomm & now this card, were all throwbacks in one way or another. Ozzie Smith was drafted by the Padres in the 4th round of the 1977 draft. He made his major league debut in 1978 & would go on to play 4 seasons with the Padres until he was traded to the Cardinals for the 1982 season. I’m not quite sure what he did after that though. This was given away on May 17th in a game against the Braves. Carlton Loewer started for the Padres in his 5th to last game ever. It was actually a close game too until Luther Hackman & Mike Bynum came in and gave up 8 runs. X Nady & Ryan Klesko were the 2 bright spots on offense. Another interesting note….Shane Victorino played in this game and would go on to play in only 3 more games with the Padres before being shipped back to the Dodgers. Oh yeah Padres lose 12-2.
So as some of you may have noticed there has been very little non-link related posts on RJ’s Fro lately. Don’t worry that will all be changing next week. We’ve got a lot of things planned already. A HUGE interview, FRIARfest, our first ever Fro/Counter-Fro, giveaways and we are planning on making the trip to Spring Training. I forgot to mention I was on vacation last week. But while on vacation I came across numerous antique stores and found some Padres stuff and this was one of those items. It was a pin given away for Tim Flannery “FLAN” Appreciation Night. Tim Flannery was a Padre fan favorite for years. Not only did he play in San Diego from ’79 to ’89, but he also coached & was a radio voice after his playing career was over. This pin was given away on September 30th, 1989 and despite it being his appreciation night, he sat the bench the whole game. In fact he sat the bench the whole following game too (which was the last game of the season & his career). But he DID play the day before on September 29th. He had 2 plate appearances and went 0-2 with a foul ball flyout & a ground out to SS in his final AB against the Giants Mike LaCoss before being pulled for Bip Roberts the rest of the game. The game in which the pin was given away (on September 30th) saw the Padres beat the Giants 11-5 with Mark “Mud” Grant coming on in relief and throwing 5 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 6.
Bonus item: 
Here is a card from the 1990 Classic Baseball set titled NL Hit Kings. This final series was also the series in which Tony Gwynn and Will Clark were fighting it out for the NL batting title. Will went into the series batting .333 & Tony went into it batting .332. Tony went 7 for 13 in the series & Will went 4 for 12 in the series. Tony finishes at .336 & Will finishes at .333. Hello NL batting title #4.
