Whose heads bobble best?

By Ron Kantowski

Saturday, April 4, 2009 | 2 a.m.

On Sunday about two dozen guys calling themselves Las Vegas 51s will travel from Dunedin, Fla., to Las Vegas, meaning the start of bobblehead season is just around the corner.

Actually, the 51s will hold just two bobblehead nights this season, which has to be a minor-league baseball record. On July 18, Mayor Oscar Goodman’s head will be put on a spring for like, the 98th time, when the 51s host Tacoma. Then on Aug. 15 it’ll be Cosmo, the team mascot, who will be immortalized in about 4 1/2 inches of plaster when Las Vegas entertains the dreaded Albuquerque Isotopes.

(In reality, the 51s don’t dread Albuquerque any more than they do Fresno or Sacramento. But if they did, it might make some of these games more interesting.)

When the 51s were affiliated with the Dodgers, it seems they had a lot more bobblehead nights. Somebody in the parent organization — such as Joe Torre or Brad Penny or Russell Martin — would be featured on a bobblehead and fans would line up to get them, like they do at the Budweiser stands on Dollar Beer Night.

Now, the 51s are partnering with the Toronto Blue Jays because when the game of minor league musical chairs ended, they were sort of stuck with each other.

The Dodgers are one of baseball’s most famous franchises. Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Don Drysdale, Billy Grabarkewitz ... OK, not Billy Grabarkewitz (although he did make the 1970 All-Star team). But the list goes on and on.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, are almost recognizable in Toronto. At least when hockey season ends. I mean, you can’t put Rance Mulliniks or Garth Iorg on a bobblehead doll, can you?

“They haven’t even retired anybody’s number,” sniffed a member of the 51s’ extended family.

Actually, the reason the 51s have done so many bobblehead giveaways is that another member of their extended family, ticket manager Mike Rodriguez, used to work for the Dodgers and persuaded the marketing people at Chavez Ravine to order about 2,500 extra bobbleheads on top of the 40,000 or so they would give away at Dodger Stadium whenever the parent club had bobblehead night.

The 51s don’t have that kind of relationship with the Blue Jays, at least not yet. Maybe when they get batting cages at Cashman Field.

But if you had to put somebody from Toronto’s relatively brief baseball past on a bobblehead doll, who might it be? With apologies to Rance Mulliniks (.272 average over 16 big-league seasons, 11 in Toronto) or Garth Iorg (20 career home runs in 931 games, all with the Blue Jays), here, in no particular order, is my list:

• Joe Carter: The only man to hit a walk-off home run when his team was trailing to win a World Series. So what if it was off Mitch Williams?

• Dave Stieb: 176 pitching wins, career 3.44 earned-run average. Pitched the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history, on Sept. 2, 1990, against Cleveland. Master of the “dead fish” curveball (but not responsible for the expression “Holy Mackerel!”).

• Duane Ward:Recorded an American League-high 45 saves for Toronto’s 1993 World Series champions. Plus, has lived in Las Vegas since 1988. Used to work out with the UNLV baseball team, then buy the Rebels nice travel bags when he left for spring training.

• Roberto Alomar: Like Ward, a central figure for the Jays’ World Series winners with Las Vegas ties — he once played second base for the old Stars. But then he spit on an umpire and was sued by his ex-girlfriend, who claims he had unprotected sex with her despite knowing he had AIDS, and so the bobblehead people probably won’t be calling anytime soon, even if he does have 10 Gold Gloves.

• Cito Gaston: Managed the Jays to those two World Series crowns. Plus, he’s named for a Mexican-American professional wrestler.

• Danny Ainge: More famous for basketball and going coast-to-coast against Digger Phelps and Notre Dame while playing for BYU, but also the youngest player to hit a home run for the Blue Jays (20 years, 77 days).

• SkyDome: It’s called Rogers Centre now, but how cool would it be to own a bobblehead with a retractable roof? SkyDome’s was the very first.

• The Couple Who Made Whoopee (in one of the 70 hotel rooms at SkyDome that overlook the field): Not sure if that led to a “player to be named later” but it certainly made the 7th-inning stretch more interesting.

• Reed Johnson: Although now with the Cubs (reason enough why people would line up here to get his bobblehead), he came up with and starred for the Blue Jays. Plus, he lives in Henderson.

• The Medicine Hat Blue Jay: I was going to suggest Roger Clemens, who was 41-13 in his two seasons as a Toronto starting pitcher. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about this business, it’s that kids love a cuddly bird wearing a medicine hat.

If ceramic keepsakes of elected city officials and alien mascots don’t trip your trigger, here’s something you may want to consider: In addition to 11 Budweiser Beer Nights, the 51s will hold a similar number of Blue Jays Tuesdays, during which “O Canada” will be played and discounted Canadian beer will be sold.

Cheap Labatts and Molson Golden? That’s bound to make heads bobble.