MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- Until recently, Robert Leroy Head hadn't give his name much thought.
Then a promotional package came in the mail from the Portland (Ore.) Beavers baseball team. In it was a small collector doll with an oversized head that bounced cheerfully around on springs.
"This came out of the clear blue sky. All of these years I did not realize that I was a bobblehead," said Bob L. Head, of Maquoketa.
Head, 68, had been contacted by the team as part of a nationwide search for the true "Bob L. Head," the latest of the team's ongoing bobblehead promotional stunts.
Having honored a variety of sports legends with bobblehead likenesses amidst the figurine's recent burst of popularity, Beavers officials decided to contact more than 20 Bob, Robert and Roberto Heads nationwide, all with a middle initial of "L" and ask them to apply to be the official "Bob L. Head."
"It's a hero-for-the-day kind of a deal. We're just taking an ordinary person and making them into a superstar for the day," said Chris Metz, assistant general manager for the Beavers,
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The winner, who will be chosen by votes tallied on the teams' Web site, will receive an all-expense paid vacation to Portland, throw the first pitch in the Saturday, Aug. 18, game against the Las Vegas 51s and have his own bobblehead likeness given away to the first 2,000 fans in attendance.
While winning sounded appealing, Head decided to send in an application because the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
A devoted family man, baseball fan and ordained hospice chaplain in the Catholic Church, Head is also a self-described "happy-go-lucky" guy who lives for a good joke. He and his family decided he is the perfect bobblehead representative.
He wrote to the promoters explaining his life story; "country boy, to business owner, to clergy," and described how his name has often sparked teasing even outside of the connection with the popular figurines.
"Over the years, I have taken a lot of guff about my name, it would be great fun to turn the tables, and an honor to be part of bobblehead history," Head wrote to the promotion's organizers.
As the contest kicked off, other Bob L. Heads began applying and organizers eventually narrowed down the pool to three finalists, including Bob Head, of Maquoketa, another in Evansville, Ind., and another in Vallejo, Calif.
"It came down to who had the best essays and who showed the most enthusiasm. These three clearly distanced themselves from the pack," Metz said.
Maquoketa's Head and his family are starting to rally family and friends to vote for him in the contest, which begins Wednesday. The winner will be chosen at the beginning of next month.
"The whole town of Maquoketa's getting pretty excited. They want to see their Bob Head win this," Head said.
His wife, children and grandchildren will all accompany him to Portland if he wins and Head said the experience has been about more than a bobblehead figurine for the family.
"It's really motivated us, I think, in the right direction," he said. "This isn't anything I dreamed up, this is something that came to me. Life does surprise you sometimes."
