Orioles Bobblehead of the Week- Matt Wieters Baysox Figurine

So I know that this isn't exactly a bobblehead, but I keep it with my bobble collection and it's certainly in the same family.

 

The AA Bowie Baysox gave this figurine away on June 19, 2009 to celebrate Matt Wieters being named the 2008 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year. Wieters had been a member of the Baysox for the latter half of the '08 season.

 

Interestingly, Brian Matusz made his Bowie debut the night this was given away, so I was doubly motivated to go to the Baysox game. Coincidentally, the Orioles were giving away the full size Adam Jones bobblehead that same day, so I had to swing a trade to add both to my collection.

 

I thought it was pretty cool how each figurine was hand numbered out of the seemingly arbitrary number of 1260. Honestly, the face doesn't look much like Matt but the pose is pretty accurate and the paint job is fantastic.

 

I struggled a bit with this picture, but I wanted to show some of the additional detail on the base, including Wieters' signature, the Baysox logo and the company who sponsored the giveaway.

My goal of showing this figurine today is to show my support for Wiety being named the 2011 Most Valuable Oriole (MVO). Every year the Baltimore sports writers vote for the player who they think had the best overall year for the O's, and I feel like Wieters deserves the honor this season. He was the team's lone All-Star representative and has had his best year at the plate while continuing to call a great game behind it.

I highly doubt that any local writers have ever seen my blog, but, just in case, please give Matt your vote. I have a feeling that JJ Hardy will be the MVO and I can't really argue that, but Wieters is my favorite Oriole and it would be awesome if he could win the award!