Rays turn Kevin Kiermaier’s home run robbery into bobblehead
If you’re looking for the next great bobblehead to add to your collection, the Tampa Bay Rays have produced a prime target.
On April 16, the Rays will be giving away a Kevin Kiermaier bobblehead depicting his incredible home run robbery of Manny Machado last season at Camden Yards.
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Sound familiar?
It should. Mike Trout once made an eerily similar play at Camden Yards during his rookie season, and that too was turned into a bobblehead by the Los Angeles Angels.
There’s just something about that ballpark that lends itself to memorable home run robberies (probably the low fences from the left field line to the right field wall) and makes it look good on a bobblehead.
There’s a pretty cool twist here too. Kiermaier is shown wearing a Platinum Glove, which is a nod to his award as the best all-around defensive player in MLB last season.
It’s safe to say Kiermaier’s memorable grab played a role in winning that award. In fact, we ranked it the No. 3 catch in MLB during the entire 2015 season. It was so good, only the Blue Jays combination of Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar could top it.
Even without that catch, Kiermaier’s highlight reel was still full. Just don’t tell that to pitcher Chris Archer. He was the man who served up the pitch that Machado crushed and Kiermaier brought back, and he feels like Kiermaier owes him a favor.
That’s not how this works, Chris. Kevin Kiermaier took away from someone else to give back to you. That sounds like free dinners for Kiermaier for at least a week, then you can negotiate the bobblehead deal.
Then again, if they make a bobblehead of Archer’s reaction to Kiermaier’s catch, that would be an even trade.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
