This time of year, the two most endearing expressions have to be “I love you” (especially as we celebrate Valentine’s Day today) and “pitchers and catchers report for spring training.” Thanks to two amazing bobblehead promotions, we feel inclined to unite the sentiments, as an MLB squad and a minor league club announced plans to honor not on-field superstars, but a pair of regular folks with ties to the teams.
With the advent of exhibition games soon upon us, clubs have begun to release promotional schedules. And while said dates will predominantly honor the athletes who thrill ticket buyers, the Atlanta Braves and the Louisville Bats have chosen to inject a bit of novelty into their giveaway ideas. Their ingenuity has us pondering summer visits to Georgia and Kentucky.
The Braves, who will look to defend their National League East title come the regular season, have benefited from the gregarious nature of usher Walter Banks for more than 50 years. So the organization is hitting a home run in the gratitude department by honoring him with a bobblehead, releasing a video yesterday capturing Banks’ reaction to the item reveal. For most of his time with the franchise, Banks has seen some pretty good baseball, especially since 1991, when, after seven-straight losing seasons, the Braves advanced to the World Series, losing in seven games to the Minnesota Twins. No matter how the team performs this year, fans will be delighted on July 5, as that date will find them lauding him, via the collectible, for his service.
Look how awesome this is:
Watch Walter Banks learn for the first time that we’ve created a bobblehead in his honor! pic.twitter.com/IzTvzF5rC1
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) February 14, 2019
Exactly four weeks later, the Bats, who serve as the Triple-A affiliate for the Cincinnati Reds, will honor their own unsung hero, Elizabeth Kizito. As the face behind an eponymous cookie business that has been a partner to the diamond denizens’ operations for years, the businesswoman will receive the bobblehead treatment on Aug. 2, with 2,000 fortunate fans to reap the benefit of arriving early.
For 20 seasons, she's brought an infectious smile & delicious cookies to the ballpark. We're double chocolate chipper to announce our Kizito "Cookie Lady" bobblehead!
We'll be dishing these out Friday, August 2. 🍪 #20atSlugger pic.twitter.com/o0xCsvm0fS
— Louisville Bats (@LouisvilleBats) February 7, 2019
The announcement of the “Cookie Lady” bobblehead left the Bats feeling “double chocolate chipper” and dovetails nicely with the Braves’ news to remind us that while bobbleheads figure to continue to be big items for sports teams—particularly baseball—to distribute, the tokens need not always pay tribute to those who earn their living by making awe-inspiring plays.
Banks and Kizito have proven that they are vital complements to the on-field products that have fans wishing for postseason play, and we commend the Braves and the Bats for recognizing their longevity through the bobbleheads. Now, how much will July and August airfare to Atlanta and Louisville run us?
