'Mayor of Ding Dong City' arrives Sunday, so let's take a look at the 12 best Brewers player bobbleheads thus far

On Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers will present to all fans a Travis Shaw bobblehead, or perhaps more appropriately, a "Mayor of Ding Dong City" bobblehead.

Shaw, the Brewers' third baseman who also arrived last year with that unusual nickname, is portrayed holding a bat but clearly stumping for his candidacy, with a sharp jacket and podium gracing a clever logo of the fictional homer-happy village.

It's a pretty sweet bobblehead.

The Brewers have been active in the bobblehead giveaway department, a practice dating back to the early years at Miller Park. Which bobbles are the best? Here's a look at one man's choices. For simplicity sake, we'll restrict the discussion to all-fan giveaways at Miller Park, taking some of those specialty-ticket package bobbles off the table. Largely because I don't have any of those.

Apologies to Bob Uecker bobbleheads -- I couldn't choose between the "back row" bobble and the Bob Uecker adorned in old Braves gear, so I decided to cheat and only list Brewers players to give myself an out.

12. GEORGE SCOTT -- April 21, 2013

I had to admit embarrassment while playing at a bar-trivia championship round a few years ago. The question: which Brewers player holds the franchise record for most Gold Gloves? Everybody looked at me, the resident Brewers expert, and I had to admit defeat: “I don’t know. Maybe Robin Yount?”

Ouch. We got it wrong. Not long after, the Brewers released the George Scott bobblehead, with a stack of Gold Gloves showcasing that his five are the most in franchise history. It’s not a question I’ll get wrong again.

The first baseman isn’t often regarded as one of the greats in Brewers history, largely because his tenure with the team predates the squads of the early 1980s. He also hit .283 with 115 home runs for the Brewers between the years 1972-1976. If nothing else, the bobblehead is a great Brewers history lesson from the pre-Molitor/Yount era.

11. CARLOS GOMEZ -- April 27, 2014

Speaking of Gold Gloves, the Brewers have landed only one since 1982, and that went to playmaking outfielder Carlos Gomez in 2013. This bobblehead is the perfect illustration of how Brewers fans will likely remember Gomez, ranging to make a play before crashing into the center field fence. Gomez’s energy, speed and ability to make incredible defensive plays are all encapsulated in that idea.

The bobblehead paints his glove in gold to commemorate his achievement. Joey Votto probably doesn’t have this one on his shelf.

10. ROLLIE FINGERS -- July 16, 2005

This one might resonate in my mind largely because I was stuck for a considerable amount of time on Blue Mound Road trying to access the stadium (it was only the second-largest crowd of the year, turns out). It was a popular get at the time, with the trademarked handlebar moustache making Fingers one of the most distinct bobbleheads in the first wave of player offerings, at a time when the artistic precision wasn’t as pinpoint as today with faces and proportions.

The 1981 Cy Young and MVP spent only four seasons at Milwaukee in the final stages of his career, but he left an impression. He’s still a very popular figure in this town, and his number has been retired by the club.

9. PAUL MOLITOR -- June 28, 2015

Molitor was the subject of an earlier Brewers bobblehead giveaway, but there’s an added novelty here portraying the Hall of Famer fully extended as he slides into a base. Only one other Brewers bobblehead – Rickie Weeks – portrayed the player in anything other than a largely upright position.

Molitor’s No. 4 graces the interior facing of Miller Park as a retired number, but fans may still forget he also stole 500 bases in his career, making him one of just five players in Major League history to collect 3,000 hits, a .300 lifetime batting average and 500 swipes. He also put together a 39-game hitting streak in 1987 that many Brewers fans remember well – and no player has exceeded that mark since.

8. GREG VAUGHN -- June 26, 2016

I know this uniform conjures negative memories from many Brewers fans, since it was worn during a decidedly lethargic era of Milwaukee baseball. But this bobblehead is just plain cool.

Maybe it’s the novelty of seeing something other than the ball-in-glove or modern logo on a bobblehead uniform, or it’s the note-perfect Vaughn sunglasses, but this is possibly one of the most underrated bobbleheads in Brewers lore.

Vaughn launched 169 home runs wearing a Brewers uniform in nearly eight seasons with the team, making a pair of All-Star teams along the way. His overall numbers won’t place him in any discussion of the best Brewers ever, but he was a linchpin of early 90s Brewers baseball, hitting a number of taters into “Vaughn’s Valley” at County Stadium.

7. ERIC THAMES -- April 22, 2018

Speaking of bobbleheads that exude cool, the Eric Thames offering from earlier this year exemplifies how far the art of bobblehead creation has come. The specificity in the arm tattoos and the beard are details that wouldn’t have been as well crafted during the first generation of bobbleheads.

Thames has become an easy player to love, thanks to his fun-loving personality, his penchant for power and, if we’re being honest, his relative cost-efficiency given the deal he accepted with the Brewers after playing in South Korea. The Korean home-run song for Eric Thames is one of the great marvels of 2017-18 Brewers baseball.

6. KHRIS DAVIS -- July 19, 2015

The National Guard sponsored this giveaway, putting Davis in some sleek camouflage threads. The diminutive outfielder took some lumps for his throwing arm, but he was always a quality hitter, and he’s taken his power to another level since leaving the Brewers (closing in on 100 career home runs in the two-plus years since leaving the organization).

The bobblehead really nails Davis’s facial features, in addition to adding the uncommon uniform look.

5. RYAN BRAUN -- May 3, 2009

Braun has been the subject of multiple bobbleheads, but nothing is sweeter than this portrayal of his memorable home run in the 2008 season finale, an eighth-inning blast that gave the Brewers a 3-1 win and clinched their first playoff appearance in 26 years. With his arm raised as he rounds the bases, the bobblehead presents a scoreboard in the background to leave no doubt as to which moment is being captured in this presentation.

4. ROB DEER -- April 12, 2015

Braun doesn't get the only great home run captured with a bobblehead. Rob Deer, a Brewers' favorite in the late 80s and early 90s despite his high strikeout rate, may be best known for his home run on Easter Sunday in 1987 that tied the game in the ninth and ultimately led to the Brewers 12th straight win to start the season. If it weren’t for Braun’s game winner in 2008, it might be regarded as the biggest regular-season moment in Brewers history (yes, more so than Juan Nieves’ no-hitter).

Deer also has his arm raised in the bobblehead, a nod to that memorable moment at County Stadium. Deer was known for his power (137 homers in five years) and remains a popular ex-Brewer to this day.

3. DERRICK TURNBOW -- May 13, 2006

Perhaps no bobblehead is more greatly tied to the game in which it was distributed.

Turnbow’s arrival as a rock star from relative obscurity stems from his 39 saves in 2005 and his All-Star first-half in 2006. The bobblehead gave fans “real” hair to capture his familiar mop. When Turnbow came into an 8-8 game against the New York Mets on his own bobblehead day, the stadium crowd of 41,150 went wild.  

But Turnbow surrendered a leadoff homer to Paul Lo Duca and a couple more baserunners before escaping, and the Mets won to give Turnbow his first loss of the year. His first blown save came one night later, and even though Turnbow didn’t completely implode immediately thereafter, it was perhaps the beginning of the end. He was removed from the closer’s role before the end of the year and never got fully back on track. He played his last Major League game in 2008.

2. CC SABATHIA -- August 29, 2010

Few moments resonate as much as the 2008 regular-season finale, when workhorse CC Sabathia completed his fairy-tale season with a complete-game performance in a win over the Cubs that put the Brewers into the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

Sabathia induced the game-ending groundout, then let out a scream that is captured in the bobblehead portrayal, complete with a photograph in the background that showcases the moment. Nobody will soon forget the role Sabathia played for that 2008 team, when he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA after his midseason trade to Milwaukee.

1. ROBIN YOUNT -- May 28, 2017

It’s similar to the Travis Shaw bobblehead in that it incorporates a nontraditional baseball prop – in this case, a motorcycle. Yount has been portrayed in several bobbleheads, but nothing is cooler than The Kid atop his red motorcycle, adorned in shades and a leather jacket.

The bobblehead nods to a moment in 1982 when Yount famously rode his motorcycle around the warning track at County Stadium following the World Series to celebrate the team's American League pennant.

The portrayal is a perfect recreation of that moment.