Bobblehead Monday #1

 

Bobblehead #1

Name: Tom Olson

Position: Pitcher

Team: Chicago Cubs

Description: 7.5 inches tall; wearing Cubs’ home uniform and in middle of pitching motion.

Relevance: This bobblehead is portrayed in my likeness!

How Acquired: Birthday gift from my artistic sister last year.

Other Notes: I’ve been slowly accumulating bobbleheads for a little more than a decade, looking to add ones that depict my favorite players or one to commemorate a trip to a new stadium.  There are literally less than a handful of bobbleheads in my collection that have little-to-no personal value to me. The bobbleheads on my shelves have been hand selected and in some cases hand painted.  This bobblehead means the most to me and receives the #1 ranking in my Top 30 Bobblehead Countdown.

Why? 

1) My sister went the length to purchase a Brad Radke bobblehead and repaint him to look like me.  She did a wonderful job on the details, right down to the eye color, to the high socks I used to pitch with, and the stubble that I like to sport on weekends.

2) When I first learned about Major League Baseball I made two quick decisions: I wanted to play baseball for a living and I was going to be a Cubs fan.  Huh, how’s that working out for me nearly thirty years later?  Funny how life works, especially when you set major life goals when your six years old.  Doesn’t matter.  I’m as diehard as a Cubs fan as you’ll find and I still want to be employed by MLB, but perhaps in the front office.  I know, I know, keep dreaming.

3) This bobblehead takes me back to time of ripping packs of baseball cards with my sister, dad, and even my mom (for a time); when I couldn’t wait for the next Saturday/Sunday morning road trip to another baseball card show; playing hot box and homerun derby with the neighborhood kids; and where I remember my dad walking through the door after work holding the company’s unclaimed tickets to the Peoria Chiefs game that evening. 

Baseball has always been such a huge part of the fabric of my life, and in one simple bobblehead, that is all captured.