Okay, so the Phillies aren’t giving Carlos Ruiz bobble heads to the first one million fans in attendance at Tuesday’s game against the Marlins. However, they will be giving away the one millionth bobble head since the team began the promotion in 2001, a milestone the franchise will proudly celebrate over the next week.
Starting today until June 5, all 27 bobble heads in the line will be on display at the Phillies Authentic Shop (behind Section 133), including the storied 2004 collection of Randy Wolf and Mike Lieberthal, per A team press release. And if you happen to be attending the June 4 ballgame that features the second Chooch giveaway, one random fan could wind up with lucky No. 1,000,000.
The prize: among other things, a gold-painted Ruiz bobble head autographed by the catcher himself. Want.
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The Phillies included a list of all the figures they’ve given away since the promotions began, which we’ve included below. There have been some bumps in the road, such as the Hunter Pence giveaway after he was traded from the team, or the infamous Roy Halladay where his glove was on the wrong hand. And of course, the dirty little secret with these things is they never look like the person they are supposed to. They are general fun items though that are usually a big draw for Citizens Bank Park.
2001
May 20 – Pat Burrell
September 27 – Larry Bowa
News
2002
May 5 – Phillie Phanatic Bobbing Belly
June 23 – Jimmy Rollins
August 18 – Harry Kalas & Richie Ashburn
2003
June 22 – Steve Carlton
September 1 – Mike Schmidt
September 27 – Phil & Phillis
2004
August 17 – Randy Wolf
August 29 – Mike Lieberthal
2006
May 26 – Chase Utley
July 26 – Ryan Howard
2007
April 29 – Phillie Phanatic Birthday
May 16 – Ryan Howard NL MVP
July 25 – Cole Hamels
2008
April 30 – Jamie Moyer NL East Champions
June 4 – Jimmy Rollins NL MVP
August 20 – Chase Utley (Alternate Jersey)
2009
April 28 – Charlie Manuel World Series Champions
August 19 – Brad Lidge
2010
May 18 – Roy Halladay
August 24 – Carlos Ruiz (catching)
2011
May 24 – Roy Oswalt
August 16 – Placido Polanco
2012
June 4 – Cliff Lee
August 21 – Hunter Pence
2013
June 4 – Carlos Ruiz (hitting)
August 21 – Cole Hamels #2
What are some of your favorites (or least favorites) in the collections? The Harry Kalas/Richie Ashburn combo is a personal favorite of mine, but I’m not sure anything beats an original – in this case, Pat The Bat.