Cincinnati Reds 150th Anniversary Johnny Bench Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds 150th Anniversary Johnny Bench bobblehead.

Cincinnati Reds 150th Anniversary Tony Perez Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds 150th Anniversary Tony Perez bobblehead. 

Yasiel Puig Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds Yasiel Puig bobblehead.

Gus Bell Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Gus Bell bobblehead. 

2019 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Bobblehead Preview

The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is a great way to learn about the history of professional baseball's oldest franchise. With the team celebrating its 150th anniversary season this year along with the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum building undergoing a renovation this offseason, 2019 will be a year in which visiting the Reds Hall of Fame at least once is a must. Need another reason to check it out this year? The Reds Hall of Fame will be giving out a total of six bobbleheads with five of them being distributed on Saturdays and Sundays with price of admission from May through September.

The first bobblehead announced by the Reds Hall of Fame is if George Wright. George is the brother of Harry, the man credited with establishing the Cincinnati Red Stockings as the world's first professional baseball team in 1869. George played shortstop for the Red Stockings and was awarded the Clipper Medal in 1868 for being selected as baseball's best shortstop. He is a member of both the Reds Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and his bobblehead is exclusively being given out to 2019 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum members. I believe this will be the first bobblehead to feature Wright.

The series of Reds Hall of Fame bobblehead giveaways officially kicks off in May with a 100th anniversary celebration of the Reds' first World Series Championship when a bobblehead of Pat Moran will be given to fans. Moran was the manager of the Reds from 1919-1923 and guided the team to their first ever World Series Championship in 1919. As far as I know, this will be the first Reds bobblehead of Moran.

The second bobblehead will be given away in June and will celebrate the 75th anniversary Joe Nuxhall making his major league debut at the age of 15. Nuxhall was a fan favorite if Reds Country both on the field and in the radio booth as the longtime broadcast partner of Marty Brennaman. With Marty retiring at the end of the season, this bobblehead of "the Ol' Left-hander" should be a popular one with fans. This will be the third giveaway bobblehead of Nuxhall as the Reds gave out a dual bobble of Marty and Joe in 2003 and a bobblehead of Nuxhall as a player in 2004.

The July bobblehead will be the third of the series and will feature Gus Bell. He played for the Reds from 1953-61 and was a four time All-Star. He was later inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1964. Bell is the father of Buddy who was a former big leaguer who played for the Reds from 1985-88, and is the grandfather of current Reds manager David. This is the first Reds bobblehead of Gus that will be distributed to fans.

Vada Pinson is the fourth bobblehead of the series and will be given away in August. He played for the Redlegs from 1958-68 and helped the team capture the National League Championship Series in 1961. He was also named to the National League All-Star team in 1959 and in 1960 and won a Gold Glove Award in 1961. Pinson was inducted into he Reds Hall of Fame in 1977 and will have his first Reds bobblehead distributed this year.

The Reds Hall of Fame and Museum's final bobblehead giveaway of 2019 will happen in August, and in my opinion, they saved the best for last. The fifth bobblehead of the series is of Reds legend Ted Kluszewski. Known as "Big Klu," and for cutting the sleeves of his uniform because they were too tight around his massive arms, Kluszewski belted 279 homers and drove in 1,028 runs. He also helped lead the Big Red Machine to back to back World Series Championships as the team's hitting coach. Without a shadow of a doubt, the 1962 Reds Hall of Fame inductee is one of the most popular Reds players of all time and will finally be immortalized as a bobblehead for the first time ever this year.

Those are all the bobbleheads scheduled to be given out by the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019. The lineup is loaded with Reds legends and aside from Nuxhall, features guys who have never been immortalized as Reds bobbles. I am very excited for the "Big Klu" bobblehead and cannot wait to get my hands on it. If you are a Reds fan, a bobblehead fan, or both, make you sure you visit the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum this season to add these bobbleheads to your collection.

And Then There Was One

After a season with two skippers and weeks of speculation following interviews with 12 candidates, the Cincinnati Reds have named David Bell as the club’s 63^rdmanager. The Redlegs signed Bell to a three-year contract that will run through the 2021 season and includes a club option for 2022. As I write this, he is scheduled to be formerly introduced as the team’s next manager on Monday at 11 a.m. 

Bell was named as one of three finalists for the position along Joe Girardi and Brad Ausmus. Girardi was the favorite to secure the job before he withdrew his name on Friday. Bell grew up in the Queen City as his grandfather Gus and his father Buddy both played for the Reds with Buddy currently serving as a senior adviser for the team. David played baseball for Moeller High School, the same school that featured future Reds players and hall of famers Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr., and played in the big leagues for 12 years as a second and third baseman. 

The Redlegs hired a manager in Bell who brings with him experience in developing and coaching players. Aside from serving as the San Francisco Giants’ vice president of player development for the 2018 season, Bell was also a manager in the Reds’ farm system from 2009-11 at the Double-A level with the Carolina Mudcats and at the Triple-A level with the Lousiville Bats in 2012. He was also the third base coach for the Chicago Cubs in 2013 and was the St. Louis Cardinals’ bench coach from 2014-17. Bell will attempt to reverse the fortunes of a Redlegs team that has not reached the playoffs since 2013 and has had more than 90 losses in each of the last four seasons.

I am excited to see what David Bell can do as the new manager of the Reds. The last four seasons have been tough to bear for Reds Country as the team continuously finished in the basement of the National League Central. Hopefully his combination of managerial experience and player development will enable the Reds to rise from the ashes and compete with the best in Major League Baseball once again.

Go Redlegs!