This is my spin on the trip I wrote about in the I-5 Dream Road Trip Guide back in June. Two bobbleheads, two stadiums, one freeway, six days.
The Bobbleheads
Stop 1: San Diego — Trevor Hoffman Bobblehead
Wednesday, July 8 · Petco Park
Trevor Hoffman. 601 career saves. First-ballot Hall of Famer. The greatest closer in Padres history. Trevor Hoffman was in attendance for the game, the bobblehead is solid, i like the stats on the back "2018 NBHOF & 601 CAREER SAVES"
Bobblehead Score: 4 / 5
BONUS ALERT: Since we had extra bobbleheads I was going to give one away but there were 40,000 bobbleheads and attendance was only 39,423 so instead I took to a Sand Diego Padres Giveaways & Them Items Buy/Sell/Trade Facebook page and connected with someone who wanted to trade one of their Tony Gwynn Bobbleheads for a Hoffman bobblehead so I made the trade.
Tony Gwynn. 15-time All Star, .338 carreer batting average, playing all 20 of his seasons with the San Diego Padres. This bobblhead was originally given out last year on 4/29/2025. Just like the Hoffman bobblehead it has some context on the back "1982 Rookie Season"
Bobblehead Score: 4 / 5
Stop 2: Los Angeles — Son Heung-min Bobblehead
Saturday, July 11 · Dodger Stadium
Tottenham captain, South Korea national team legend, in Dodger blue. Cross-sport crossover bobbleheads tend to draw a different audience than standard player bobbles. (Full review after the game.)
Bobblehead Score: [X] / 5
The Experience
(Trip overview goes here — driving, hotels, food, the games, vibes.)
Stop 1 — San Diego (July 8): This was a vacation so I spent a few days relaxing at the beach in San Diego while continuing my quest to find the best fish tacos in SoCal. We were staying up near Pacific Beach so to get to the game we parked at the Old Town Transit Station and took the trolley to the Gas Lamp Quarter. The game started at 7:10 and gates opened at 5:40 so we ate at Stone Brewing beforehand and only grabbed some ice cream in mini helmets, popcorn, and drinks at the game. The timing on this was no coincidence not only was there a bobblehead but I wanted to see my team, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Padres in San Diego. Unfortunately the Padres won 10 to 4 but it was a good game. Unfortunately the Dbacks bullpen continues to struggle, giving up 6 of the 10 runs. Lowlight and highlight of the game was when Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was ejected from the game in the bottom of the 5th arguing over a balk by Cabrera that advanced runners to 2nd and 3rd.
(July 9–10): We spent the rest of the week in San Diego relaxing on the beach.
Stop 2 — Los Angeles (July 11):
We hit the road from San Diego to LA in the morning, it's been a few years since I've been to Dodger Stadium so I wanted to get there extra early. Strictly business only stopping once to top off on gas because we were heading home to Arizona right after the game.
Experience Score: [X] / 5 (one score for the whole trip)
The Verdict
Overall Score: [X] / 10
Formula: average of the two bobblehead scores + experience score
(2-3 sentences on whether the trip was worth it. The best moment. Would I do it again.)
Got a giveaway experience you want to share? Drop a line at mike@bobbleguide.com.