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minor enterprise
Bobble Hard, America. Bobble Proud
Time to check in on the world of minor league baseball promotions with Rick Chandler's Minor Enterprise!
Ever wonder why you've never seen a Vladimir Putin bobblehead doll? The Russians wouldn't know what to make of such a thing. Ach! I touch it, and head bounces in unseemly manner! (Smashes it with shoe). We are not amused by foolish spring toy! No, the bobblehead is a truly American idea, representing a rich tradition handed down by the founding fathers. The bobblehead doll is America.
No one understands this better than minor league baseball, which rolls out not one, not two, but four great bobble promotions over the next five days. Leading off is the great, scruffy John Kruk, who, in addition to being a former Phillie, once played for the Las Vegas Stars. Kruk will be honored tonight by the Las Vegas 51s, as the team is now called, who will give out his bobble likeness to the first 2,500 fans who show up for their game with the Tucson Sidewinders. Before he was a Baseball Tonight superstar, Kruk played for the Stars from 1984-86, winning the Pacific Coast League batting title in '85. The man himself will be in attendance, and will be demanding polish sausages, no doubt. You know where the snack bar is.
From sunny Las Vegas we take you to Sioux Falls, S.D., where another TV legend, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, will be bobbleized on Saturday by the Sioux Falls Canaries (Independent American Association). Brokaw was born in Webster, S.D., and married a former Miss South Dakota, and you can honor him by attending the game between the Canaries and the St. Paul Saints. And don't forget that Saturday is Aerospace Appreciation Night for the Lancaster JetHawks (Class-A California League), who will be honoring that great moon pedestrian, Buzz Aldrin, in a game against the Stockton Ports. Dr. Aldrin will take part in a pair of special ceremonies on the field before and during the game, and the first 1,000 fans will receive a bobblehead doll featuring Aldrin in the flight suit he wore when he became one of the first two men to walk on the moon (that is, if you don't believe that the entire thing was faked).
Also, the Auburn Doubledays (Class-A New York-Penn League) will rock hard on Tuesday, Aug. 28, with Johan Santana bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans at their game with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The great Minnesota Twin played for Auburn in 1997 and '98. A different kind of bobble promotion occurred on Aug. 19, as the Florence Freedom (Independent Frontier League) handed out bobbletowers to the first 1,000 fans who showed up and claimed a voucher. Believed to be the first bobble depiction of a stationary landmark, the toy represents the famous Florence, Kentucky water tower on which the words "Florence, Y'All" are painted. A full report on that event after the jump.
A tribute to Gene Simmons of KISS, the triumphant return of Mariner Moose, and I forget to mention Alzheimer's Awareness Night, all after the jump.
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john kruk's deflatable hair
Someone Please Help Lift Up Kruk's Hair
The heroic folks at The Sports Hernia have been documenting the various incarnations of John Kruk's hair this year, from the Barry Melrose to the "perm jailbreak."
They point out now, however, that Krukie's hair appears to be depressed. Perhaps he's starting to feel guilty about never calling Harold Reynolds?
Kruk's Hair Stuck In A Monstrous Slump [The Sports Hernia]
we're shocked ... shocked!
John Kruk, Straying Off Message
Anyone who has watched "Baseball Tonight" in the last few years, when it has transformed from an entertainingly wonky baseball fan's fever dream into yet another chapter in ESPN's ongoing "People Screaming At Each Other" novel, suspects that the "panelists" often make ridiculous claims on air just to have some sort of effect, whether or not they actually believe them. This is, after all, how the network breads its butter these days. More »
ronaldinho
Identifying Some Of The Unattractive Men In Sports
The consensus seems to be that FC Barcelona's Ronaldinho is a beautiful athlete to watch ... as long as you don't allow your gaze to venture above his neck. It's great to watch him, but you might not want to really look at him. Sort of the opposite of Sue Bird. More »
baseball
Athlete Run-In: John Kruk, Hero Of The People
Today's final athlete run-in story, to be honest with you, might be our very favorite so far. We might hate the guy on "Baseball Tonight," but there was a reason he was beloved (before his job was to talk for a living) not only in Philadelphia, but around the baseball world. More »
espn
Mark Shapiro's Many Missteps
As we continue to glance backward at ESPN alpha dog Mark Shapiro's tenure, we take a look back at some of the more serious missteps during his reign. More »
espn
We Hope You Like Joe Morgan
Bad news for those who are driven to murderous rage by the voice of ESPN analyst Joe Morgan: ESPN and Major League Baseball have extended their broacast agreement through 2013. Sunday Night Baseball with Morgan and Jon "Hey, Don't Look At Me, I Don't Know What The Hell He's Talking About Either" Miller continues, and a Monday Night Baseball franchise will include a "live, on-location batting practice special," which hopefully John Kruk will not be invited to. (Oh, just tell him Darren Daulton's somewhere other than the stadium; they'll be too busy making out to notice.) More »
john kruk
Baseball Tonight Hijinks
We've become pretty addicted to Fire Joe Morgan, a hideously designed but riotously funny daily rip on ESPN's baseball coverage. Today's rant is on something we noticed as well: The awful, brain-dead banter about the AL Cy Young between analysts John Kruk and Harold Reynolds and anchor Karl Ravech on the GMC Diamond Cutters feature on SportsCenter this morning. The highlights: More »
