Bobblehead Collection Update 2017

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shows the 2017 additions to his bobblehead collection.

Reds 2018 Season Outlook

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone previews the 2018 season of the Cincinnati Reds.

Reds Recap 2017

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone recaps the 2017 season of the Cincinnati Reds. 

Adam Duvall Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds Adam Duvall bobblehead.

Bobblehead Page Update

#Bobblehead Page Update @ https://t.co/f6kg2Fon2e with a new #Reds Bobblehead#bobbleheadaddicts #bobblehof #letsgoreds #ATOBTTR #mlb pic.twitter.com/Ix3SJqVXyK

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) June 6, 2017

Cincinnati Reds 2017 Season Outlook

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone previews the 2017 season of the Cincinnati Reds.

The 2017 Reds Bobbleheads Are…

The Cincinnati Reds have finally announced what bobbleheads they will be giving out during the 2017 season. For the most part, the lineup of nodders is pretty solid. New players are being featured, but the team has once again decided to showcase a certain first baseman. In this post, I will share my thoughts on the bobbleheads that the Reds plan to give out in 2017. Please note that I am only sharing my thoughts on the standard stadium giveaway bobbleheads and not the special package bobbleheads.

The first bobblehead the Reds will be giving out is of Adam Duvall. This was a no brainer. Duvall was the breakout star of the team last season. He competed in both the homerun derby and the all-star game and really made a name for himself at the plate. The Reds have already posted a picture of the bobblehead on their twitter account, and it looks great. I will definitely try to go to the ballpark on May 20 to pick up this bobblehead.

The second bobblehead of the year will feature pitcher Anthony DeSclafani. This is another great choice as DeSclafani has been a very solid member of the pitching rotation for the last few years. He usually has very good starts and is almost guaranteed to have the Reds in position to pull out a win. His bobblehead will be given out on June 3, the same day a special ticket package Iron Man bobblehead will be featured. If you play your cards right, you could go to the game and walk away with two bobbleheads.

Third on the list is Billy Hamilton. This will be the third bobblehead the Reds have given out of Hamilton in the last four years. I do not plan on going to the July 15 game to get it as I have the Hamilton bobble that the team gave out in 2014. The previous two nodders featured Hamilton stealing a base. Based on his emergence as a defensive stud last year, I think the Reds will have this bobblehead showcase Hamilton in the midst of an incredible catch in centerfield.

Fourth is a bobblehead of Raisel Iglesias. The heir apparent to Aroldis Chapman stepped into the closer role last year and did a pretty good job overall. While there is room for improvement, he was definitely the best bullpen pitcher for the Reds in 2016. His work last year was deserving of a bobblehead, and I plan on heading to the stadium on August 5 to get it.

The fifth bobblehead of the 2017 season is of pitcher Homer Bailey. Reds Country has mixed feelings about Bailey. He was spectacular in 2012 and in 2013 and earned a hefty contract based on his performances on the mound. Since he signed the new contract, he has seemingly barely pitched for the Reds as injuries have shortened his season for the past three years. This has many people claiming the Reds wasted a ton of money on the pitcher. Despite this, the team will be giving out a Bailey bobblehead on August 26.

Sixth on the list of bobbleheads is a Reds “Past and Present” triple bobblehead that will be given out on September 16. It will feature three first basemen representing three different eras of the team. The first basemen chosen for this nodder are Tony Perez, Sean Casey, and Joey Votto. I have lost count on how many times the Reds have featured Votto as a bobblehead. This will be the second time Perez will be featured and the third time Casey will be showcased. The concept for this bobblehead seems pretty cool, and I will probably try to add it to my collection.

The seventh and final bobblehead the Reds will give out in 2017 will feature somebody voted on by the fans. According to the Reds promotional schedule, a poll will be held in April with the winner of the poll being featured as the final bobblehead of 2017. I hope players and coaches who have not had bobbleheads are featured in this poll. If Lou Piniella is a choice, he has my vote. This game will be on September 23 and will be during the 1975 Cincinnati Reds World Series Championship replica ring package weekend. I plan on getting the ring, and the bobblehead would be a nice little bonus.

Those are the bobbleheads that the Reds plan to give out to fans in 2017. It is a mix of new and repeat players that makes for a solid lineup overall. I plan on getting a few of these nodders for my collection, and hopefully I can get the tickets to these games soon. More information on the bobbleheads as well as the other promotions the Reds have planned can be found here. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the unboxing videos!

Go Redlegs!

2016: Goodbye and Good Riddance

With the new year approaching, I thought I would take a retrospective look at 2016 for this week’s post. A lot of people I know here in the Cincinnati area are saying that 2016 sucked, and I have to agree. Aside from a few highlights such as the debut of FC Cincinnati, Adam Duvall’s breakout year with the Cincinnati Reds, and Dean Ambrose winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career, 2016 was an awful year. While I remember 2015 as being a fun and solid year overall, 2016 is a year I would love to forget. It all started in January…

My beloved Cincinnati Bengals rode a 12-4 record into the postseason where they faced their AFC North rival and the most hated football team in the Queen City: the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two teams met in the first round of the playoffs in a rematch that was 10 years in the making. Despite the Bengals playing without starting quarterback Andy Dalton, the team managed to grab the lead late in the fourth quarter. An interception by Vontaze Burfict seemingly ended a playoff win draught that plagued the franchise and the city for 25 years. Then the implosion happened. All the Bengals had to do was run out the clock, but Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball and the Steelers recovered. The defense committed two nonsensical and costly penalties, which put the Steelers in field goal range. The kick was good, and the Bengals were once again bounced from the playoffs in the first round in the most heartbreaking fashion.

Fast forward to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. March Madness was in full swing and the tourney was producing some heart-stopping moments. The University of Cincinnati became a victim of one of those heart-stopping moments. After falling in the American Athletic Conference tournament in quadruple overtime thriller to the University of Connecticut, the Bearcats fell in the first round of March Madness to St. Joe’s in another exciting game. With the Bearcats down two points, Ocatvius Ellis appeared to have tied the game with a slam-dunk as time expired. Replay showed that the ball was still in the hands of Ellis as time ran out on the clock. The bucket did not count, and the Bearcats lost 78-76.

The University of Xavier Musketeers also suffered a heartbreaking loss to end their season. After arguably their best regular season in school history, the Musketeers secured a two seed in March Madness and looked to make a big splash in the tournament. Unfortunately that would not happen. The Musketeers battled the Wisconsin Badgers in the second round of the tournament. The game was tied at 63-63, and the Badgers inbounded the ball. Bronson Koenig threw up a shot from behind the arc that fell through the net as the buzzer sounded. The Musketeers lost and were denied a trip to the Sweet 16.

After March Madness came baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds were pitiful to watch. I understand that it was a rebuilding year, but I personally didn’t think they would be as awful as they were. The team finished with a record of 68-94 and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. Players were seemingly getting injured everyday, the performances on the field were generally poor, and the season just left a bad taste in the moths of Reds fans.

For as bad as the Reds were, there was a tremendous bright spot during the summer for Queen City sports. Cincinnati’s United Soccer Leauge team began to make a lot of noise on and off the pitch, and soccer fever reached record highs in the city. However, FC Cincinnati was not immune to disappointment. Despite setting numerous attendance records and qualifying for the playoffs, the team fell in the first round of the postseason in front of a record setting home crowd at Nippert Stadium. While not as heartbreaking as the Bengals playoff loss, it was still sad to see such an amazing debut season end with defeat.

Once the soccer season and the baseball season were finished, attention focused back to the Bengals. Almost everybody expected them to compete for the division title and once again be a top team in the NFL. That was not the case. The team has had a very disappointing 2016 season that makes the playoff loss from January even tougher for Who Dey Nation to swallow. Star players such as A.J. Green, Giovani Bernard, and Tyler Eifert having their seasons end prematurely due to injury was like rubbing salt in the wound. The team will finish third in the AFC North and will have a lot of work to do in the offseason if they hope to make the playoffs next year. It is fitting that a year that started with disappointment from the Bengals ends with the Bengals once again disappointing the city.

2016 was a rough one for Cincinnati sports. The Reds have fallen from being division champs to basement dwellers, FC Cincinnati, the UC Bearcats, and the Xavier Musketeers suffered heartbreaking postseason losses, and the Bengals started and ended 2016 with disappointment. I have personally hated 2016 and cannot wait for the fresh year to start. Hopefully it is a much better year for the city of Cincinnati, and its sports teams.

2017 Cincinati Reds Bobblehead Predictions Part 1

With Redsfest just around the corner, I thought it would be an appopriate time to share my predictions for the 2017 series of Cincinnati Reds bobbleheads. One post will cover the line of nodders that the team will give away to fans during the season, and another post I will write will discuss the bobbleheads I think the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum will give out during 2017. Please note that these are just my predictions and not an actual list of bobbleheads the Reds are producing. Let’s start with the bobbles that I think the team will hand out to fans this upcoming season.

One of the few bright spots on last year's team was Adam Duvall. The left fielder made his way to the Reds by way of a trade with the San Francisco Giants in 2015, and he had his first full season as a member of the Redlegs last year. He quickly burst on the scene with great defense in the outfield and an impressive bat at the plate. He also represented the Reds in the 2016 Home Run Derby and in the MLB All-Star Game. Based on his fantastic Reds debut last year, I think it's a no brainer that he will be featured as a bobblehead in 2017.

Another possible candidate to be featured as a bobblehead is Reds pitcher Raisel Iglesias. Although he spent some time on the disabled list because of injuries last year, he managed to bounce back and pick up right where he left off in 2015 albeit from the bullpen instead of the starting rotation. He seemingly became the heir apparent to Aroldis Chapman as Iglesias was largely used as a closer. Due to his solid 2015 and 2016 campaigns, I could definitely see the Reds featuring the young pitcher as a nodder for the upcoming season.

Speaking of young pitches, Brandon Finnegan is another potential player to be featured as a bobblehead. With this team undergoing a reconstruction period, Finnegan was without a shadow of a doubt the most consistent young pitcher in the starting rotation. He flirted with a no hitter and was always reliable whenever he took to the mound. Finnegan is a guy the Reds can build a starting rotation around, and I believe he deserves to be immortalized as a bobblehead.

The most exciting player on the Reds roster last year was Billy Hamilton. While he is known for struggling at the plate, his speed and defensive prowess have made him a favorite player among Reds fans. His reckless abandon in center field added many impressive catches to his defensive highlight reel and cemented him as one of MLB's premier outfielders. Even though he has already had two bobbleheads given out by the Reds in the past, I do not doubt that the team will go back to the Billy Hamilton well once again when you consider the lack of established stars the team has.

The fifth and final bobblehead I predict the Reds will give out is a Star Wars themed nodder. Last season, the team gave a bobblehead of Mr. Redlegs flying an X-Wing, and it was really cool and easily one of the best nodders the Reds have ever given out to fans. With Star Wars themed bobbleheads being a growing trend among MLB teams, I expect the Reds to give out another Star Wars themed bobble. My guess is a bobblehead of Gapper that looks like Chewbacca.

Those are my predictions for the five bobbleheads the Cincinnati Reds will give out to fans. Should my predictions prove to be true, I would attend every bobblehead game except the Billy Hamilton one as I already have a nodder of Hamilton in my collection. These are only predictions though, and no official bobblehead giveaway has been announced by the team at the time that I wrote this. Until then, us Reds fans can only speculate and guess what kinds of bobbleheads the team has planned for 2017.

Go Redlegs!

Reds Recap 2016

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone recaps the 2016 season of the Cincinnati Reds.

Duvall the All-Star

In a year that has Reds fan down in the dumps, one player has given Reds Country something to cheer about as he continues to grow and progress as a major leaguer. That player is Adam Duvall, and he is the lone Reds All-Star for 2016.

The Reds acquired Duvall from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for former Reds pitcher and fan favorite Mike Leake. As of now, it appears that the Reds got the better end of the deal as Leake and the Giants failed to make the playoffs last year while Duvall has continued to establish himself as one of the cornerstones of the future of the Reds.

As I write this post, Duvall currently has 22 homers and 59 RBIs. He is emerging as the next offensive powerhouse for the Reds and is garnering more fans every time he knocks a ball out of the park.  

I could not be happier for Duvall as he truly deserves this great opportunity to represent the Redlegs at the 2016 All-Star game. Of course I would love to see more Reds at the All-Star game, but aside from Jay Bruce and Zack Cozart, Duvall is really the only guy who deserves a spot on the National League roster. He is performing exceptionally well this season, and I hope he continues to get better and better. Congrats Duvall, and good luck at the All-Star game!

Go Redlegs!

Ken Griffey Jr. Double Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes an SGA Cincinnati Reds / Seattle Mariners double bobblehead of Ken Griffey Jr.

Autograph Page Update

Autograph Page Update @ https://t.co/oiRAWLHwPZ With 2 New #Reds Signatures#SEAvsCIN #MLB #ATOBTTR #NBA #NHL #NFL pic.twitter.com/Gv281DYSim

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) May 20, 2016