Any baseball fan can tell you that nothing draws a crowd like a bobblehead night, but the Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani bobble giveaway was on another level.
A horde of Dodger fans, Ohtani fans and eBay users showed up at Dodger Stadium hours before Thursday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds to ensure they would receive one of the 40,000 dolls being delivered to the gates. Adding to the frenzy were the 1,700 dolls in special gray uniforms available at random.
Ready for Shohei Ohtani Bobblehead Night presented by Guggenheim? The first 40,000 fans will receive the item. As a special surprise, 1,700 gray road jersey dolls will be randomly mixed into the draw.
: https://t.co/36IUWLzvoH pic.twitter.com/qGiOleDLzJ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 15, 2024
The buzz surrounding Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers has reached levels rarely seen in baseball, and the line to get into any of Dodger Stadium’s several entrances might be the most tangible evidence we get:
Shohei Ohtani Bobble Night at Dodgers Stadium tonight. The doors don’t open for a couple of hours and the line is already crazy pic.twitter.com/L9HedG0AE4
-brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) May 16, 2024
The crowd also stayed, naturally there were some opportunists who took the collectible and ran away. The concourses and stands were much fuller than usual at Dodger Stadium, where fans have a reputation for not filling seats until the game is already underway.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. summed things up before the game:
“It’s exciting. Shohei certainly creates a stir. I can’t imagine what it’s like outside. It’s good. It’s great for Shohei, it’s good for the Dodgers, it’s going to be a hot topic.”
Roberts wasn’t wrong on that last point. On the eBay side, the market was strong even before the game ended. As of Thursday night, there does not appear to be a single verifiable thursday night bobblehead Available for less than $250.
The demand for the gray uniform doll is even greater. Here is one of those collectibles. It is currently selling for over $1,000 after 17 bids.
If fans and collectors were hoping the excitement would translate into a special Ohtani night, they were disappointed. Ohtani went 0 for 2 with a walk in the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss. He didn’t finish the game either, as the Dodgers gave rookie Andy Pages a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning.
This won’t be the end of Ohtani collectibles, as the Dodgers are currently scheduled to deliver a second doll, hat and jersey later this season after giving him a $700 million contract last offseason.