Old Time Family Baseball

In 2011, the Tampa Bay Rays averaged next to last in attendance with under 19,000 per game. That’s unfortunate for a team that always seems to pull it together in recent years under Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon, including an incredible run this past September. But player development and playoff pushes aren’t all the Rays are good at – the team has put forth some very creative promotions (including Joe Maddon banks, Super Sam Fuld capes, and Evan Longoria cereal bowls), and a number of bobbleheads. Four players were lucky enough to have their likeness turned into a wobbler during the 2011 season. As part of Baseblog’s Bobblehead Days series, let’s take a look at how those players fared on their special day and their pre and post-promotion splits.

June 19th – B.J. Upton (CF) Game Stats: 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 SB, K The Rays’ center fielder got on base three out of four times and stole two bags on his bobblehead day, helping his team beat the then-Florida Marlins, 2 to 1. Before June 19th, Upton was batting .216 over 67 games, with 8 homers and 31 RBIs. That line improved over the next 85 games to .262 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs. Additionally, the outfielder’s on base percentage improved almost 50 points after the promotion. 26,761 people came to the June 19th game, almost 8,000 more than the Rays’ season average.

July 17th – Johnny Damon (DH) 1-for-6, 3 K, SB 21,504 fans showed up for their DH’s bobblehead day, five thousand less than his outfield counterpart but still above the Rays’ average. Although Damon’s bobblehead features a muscular “show me your guns”-type pose with his jersey’s sleeves ripped off, the 38-year-old showed no such power on the day of his promotion. His one hit was a single. Damon’s Rays fell to his former team, the Boston Red Sox that day, losing 1 to 0. Although Upton increased his stats after his promotion, Johnny Damon’s pre/post-bobblehead splits are a little different. In the 85 games before his promotion, Damon hit 9 home runs and posted a .277 batting average. Afterwards, his batting average dropped to .241, but his on-base percentage, slugging percentage (and thus, OPS) barely faltered .325+.425=.750 before, .330+.414=.743 after.

August 21st – David Price (SP) Game Stats: Did not play Part of the initial intrigue of looking at bobblehead days was to see if certain promotions affected the playing time of bench or slumping players. (Craig Counsell was in the starting lineup on his last bobblehead day, despite going 0-for-forty-something shortly beforehand). With starting pitchers, it’s a little different. They’re on their rotation and it’s unlikely a manager would try to synchronize that with giveaways. Thus, James Shield started on August 21st in front of 17,226 fans, not David Price. And technically, Price’s superhero figurine isn’t even a bobblehead! It’s still pretty neat, though, and the Rays won 8 to 7 against the Seattle Mariners that day.

September 25th – Ben “Zorilla” Zobrist Game Stats: 2-for-3, HR, R, RBI, BB, K, SB Ben Zobrist and the Rays entered a crucial six game homestand to finish the regular season against the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays, crouching just barely within striking distance of the playoffs. On the third game the team ran a “Zorilla” bobblehead promotion in which 18,093 showed up. They won that day and then swept the Yankees to make it to the playoffs on Game 162. It was an incredible day for those teams who fought their way in and fans alike. After going 1-for-8 in the first two games of that final homestand, Zobrist went into Zorilla Mode and hit .357 (5-for-17) with 2 home runs and got on base half the time. The sample size is admittedly small, but Zobrist’s bat (and an OPS of 1.357) helped contribute to the rally that got the Rays into the playoffs. So, do Rays fans have this gorilla-armed figurine to thank for more games in October? Probably not, but the coincidence is quite nice.

Rays Bobblehead Days Summary As a team, the Rays were 3-1 on days they gave away these cool little figurines. Players who saw action on their special day went 4-for-11 with a HR, R, RBI, 3 BB, 4 SB, and 5 K. For the first of four productive days and his bobblehead home run, the BPW (Best Performing Wobbler) Award goes to Ben Zobrist. Johnny Damon’s unproductive July game gets him the Beheaded Award. Remember fans: Support your Rays, and go to their bobblehead games! They’re incredibly more unique than most of the other giveaways out there, so cherish them.

 Justin Jabs is the owner and writer of Baseblog, which follows the NL Central and other interesting topics in baseball. You can follow Baseblog on Twitter @baseblogjj, on Facebook, or on Tumblr. Users who follow Baseblog’s social media in January and February will be entered to win some Sports Illustrated. A big thanks to OTFB and Michael for this opportunity, hope you enjoyed!

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