The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled a limited-edition bobblehead featuring the St. Louis Cardinals Rally Cat. On August 9th, 2017, the Rally Cat ran onto the outfield at Busch Stadium. Moments after Cardinals’ grounds crew member Lucas Hackmann captured the cat, Yadier Molina hit a grand slam to take the lead and eventually win the game. The cat, who bit Hackmann while being escorted off the field, became known as the Rally Cat for its role in igniting the Cardinals’ rally.
The limited edition bobbleheads, which are individually numbered to only 360, just arrived and ship now. The bobbleheads are $40 each with a flat rate shipping charge of $8 per order.
This isn’t the first field intruder for the Cardinals to be immortalized in bobblehead form. Following the Cardinals 2011 World Series title, officially licensed bobbleheads featuring the Rally Squirrel were produced. Those bobbleheads are now very difficult to find, commanding a minimum of $100 each when they pop up on eBay.
“As soon as we heard about the Rally Squirrel we knew it would make for a fun bobblehead,” said Phil Sklar, Co-Founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. “We’re familiar with the celebrity sports animals and we wanted to give fans to have their very own Rally Cat, albeit in bobblehead form.”
Although the Cardinals didn’t end up keeping the Rally Cat, its instant celebrity status shined the light on animal welfare issues. In addition, the Cardinals hosted a Rally Cat Appreciate Day on August 9th, 2017, and a portion of each ticket was donated by the Cardinals to Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation and St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum donated Rally Cat bobbleheads to the St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach and to Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation to help support the important missions of both organizations.