Desi on the 'bay

by Phil Wood

Last night the Nationals drew a Nationals Park record crowd in excess of 44,000 for the matchup with the Phillies, on a night when they were also giving away 15,000 Ian Desmond bobbleheads.

Since the giveaway was announced, I heard from a number of Nats fans who wondered why they'd give away such desirable swag on a night when they'd already be drawing a large crowd - not to mention the fact that so many of the dolls would end up crossing the Pennsylvania state line. I wondered myself, until it was pointed out that the sponsor of the giveaway has their principal headquarters in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, actually, but the Keystone State nonetheless, and the sponsor apparently gets some degree of say-so as to which game will feature their giveaway. Makes sense to me.

I also wondered aloud on the postgame radio show last night how long it would take for the Desmond bobbles to show up on eBay. Less than 24 hours later, there were several listed on the online auction site, and most by sellers in the greater Washington area. Some sellers were in eastern Pennsylvania, but most seemed to be in Northern Virginia. One seller, in fact, was offering the dolls in bulk, which makes you wonder how many tickets they'd bought.

The other interesting factoid about Desmond is that this is at least his third bobblehead; he had one at Single-A Potomac and another in Double-A Harrisburg, so it's not exactly a new experience for him.

I wonder if the club has considered doing another retro bobblehead, along the lines of the Frank Howard doll from a couple of years ago. Maybe Harmon Killebrew, Walter Johnson or Bucky Harris. They're always popular, so maybe the actual person doesn't matter.

A Robert Fick bobblehead?

No, probably not.