A hitch in the delivery of Mariano Rivera bobblehead dolls resulted in a chaotic scene at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
The New York Yankees are playing their final home series of the season this week, and they decided to continue honoring their legendary closer, who is retiring after the year, by giving away a bobblehead doll in his likeness to the first 18,000 fans through the gates. Bobblehead giveaways are typically very popular, but when you factor in that this was the last Rivera giveaway before the Hall of Famer retires, and that there was a limited amount of dolls, this was a highly-sought after item.
Fans began lining up outside the stadium hoping to be among the lucky 18,000:
In a sea of Yankees fans..all because of Mariano Rivera bobblehead day #Insane pic.twitter.com/WnB1IaaAgo
— Kevin Rozell (@Zellyanks) September 24, 2013
Unfortunately, the bobbleheads weren’t in the stadium because there were two issues transporting the dolls from Seattle to New Jersey.
According to ESPN New York, a train issue in Chicago caused a delay on Monday. Then, a truck that was scheduled to make the final delivery to the Bronx on Tuesday had a hydraulic problem, causing a further delay.
The Yankees initially kept fans waiting outside the gates while they decided what they would do:
Bobblehead panic starting to set in at Yankee Stadium. Gates not open yet. pic.twitter.com/WjrfzALq9W
— Amanda Rykoff (@amandarykoff) September 24, 2013
The Yankees were scrambling for a solution and decided to give a voucher to the first 18,000 fans:
This is the voucher that was handed out to fans for the Mariano bobblehead. pic.twitter.com/B06IffcQ4N
— Mark Feinsand (@FeinsandNYDN) September 24, 2013
After the bobbleheads finally arrived, the Yankees made an announcement over the PA system in the third inning that the dolls were available for pickup. As you could imagine, it was a mad rush to get the souvenirs:
Just look @ this sea of humanity to get Rivera Bobblehead. #YANKEES pic.twitter.com/RjzA5c0j1P
— Jeff Rothman (@amazingjr87) September 25, 2013
@JoeandEvan line for Mariano Bobblehead goes all the way to the top of Yankee Stadium. @Deadspin pic.twitter.com/nNsPm7wSE5
— Drew (@_SwarlesBarkley) September 25, 2013
Can you imagine that? Everyone rushing to be among the 18,000 fans to receive the bobblehead and they’re forced to wait. We’re betting George Costanza played a role in this (Stole that line from Sweet Howie T).
Photo: Twitter/YES Network
