Padres Fan Buying Dodgers Gifts Spawns Ideas of GREATNESS

The Tri-tip Christmas shindig last week required the purchase of a gift on my part. The kind soul I drew for the gift exchange is a Dodger fan. I felt that this would make shopping far easier for me than to have drawn a woman on the other side of the family whom I only see once a year.

As I touched the Dodger hat at the sports collectible store I felt like I might burst into flames. This is not hyperbole. I had the uneasiest of feelings. Needle points of bright light permeated my field of vision and I did the only thing I could do in that situation. I grabbed a Padre hat too. It was brown . . .


I left the store with a gift for my father-in-law's Dodger loving brother and a Christmas gift for myself. And I felt more at ease despite the obvious accusations of seasonal selfishness that would eventually follow.

Then I journeyed to one of the last remaining bookstores on this planet we call earth; Barnes and Noble. And I looked for a book on the Dodgers. It was difficult, as once again, heat in my extremities and white light wreaked havoc with my vision. And then once again the pain of a thousand deaths subsided as I chose a book about Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, and the Dodgers. If forced to buy Dodger crap then the least I could do was buy the noble kind of Dodger crap, if there is such a thing.

No matter how much we ALL hate the Dodgers, make no mistake about it, they were the trailblazers in setting things right. Were their motivations in signing Jackie Robinson completely altruistic? Likely not. But the fact remains, that while Jackie Robinson was the first African-American in Major League Baseball, it took an organization to be the first to decide to integrate. The Dodgers deserve that honor.

SO LET'S CELEBRATE THE DODGERS THIS YEAR!!!

I've got a GREAT idea. The Padres need a NEW BOBBLEHEAD SERIES . Not a series that celebrates players who won't be with the club next year or young stars who AREN'T young stars. Something sustainable. A bobblehead series for each player with a retired number!!!

You know! Tony Gwynn, Randy Jones, Dave Winfield, Steve Garvey, Trevor Hoffman, and . . . JACKIE ROBINSON!!

Ya see, Jackie Robinson doesn't just belong to the Dodgers. He belongs to ALL of MLB! Every single team received an interest in Jackie Robinson when they decided to retire #42 across the board. SO LET'S GET IN ON THIS, PADRES!

The mock-ups have already been completed! Why should this be the only Jackie Robinson bobblehead we see!!??

 

Let's CELEBRATE JACKIE ROBINSON and THE NUMBER 42! Here's how it goes!

The Padres open the season against the DODGERS of LOS ANGELES on THURSDAY April 5th!!! The series goes from Thursday through Sunday. But we all know that the majority of Padre fans will be there on Thursday for the opener and the Dodgers will just take over the park for the other three games. So the GIVEAWAY has gotta be ON THURSDAY!!!

Celebrating the retired San Diego Padres Jersey numbers, TOM GARFINKEL PRESENTS:

That is glorious! The second greatest Padre of them all! Screw you Dodgers! JACKIE ROBINSON IS OURS!!!!!! 

OPENING DAY 2012!!!

* This post was inspired by my gift purchase and the Dodgers decision to give away a Mike Scioscia bobblehead when the Angels visit Chavez Ravine this year.

* I would like to thank @scottcolson for providing Jackie Robinson awesomeness in brown and gold. Scott is a big believer in Weezer, the San Diego Padres, and belief. Follow him on Twitter!