Ben Zobrist gets a big surprise on his own bobblehead night

The past year has been a big one for Ben Zobrist. He helped the Chicago Cubs win their first World Series in 108 years. He was the World Series MVP. And now, the Cubs have given Zobrist his very own bobblehead. It even has a removable hat!

As great as the bobblehead is, it’s not nearly as great as the surprise that the Cubs and Zobrist’s own family pulled off.

See, Zobrist had volunteered to catch the ceremonial first pitch on his own bobblehead night. And that must have seemed like the perfect opportunity to give him a very meaningful surprise. When Zobrist walked out to meet the person who would be throwing out the first pitch, he saw someone he didn’t expect: his father, Tom. Everyone in Zobrist’s family had managed to keep it a secret from him, and his wife, Julianna, caught their hug from field level.

Ben and his father had never gotten to do a father-son ceremonial first pitch together, but that was about to be rectified. They got into position, Tom went into his wind-up, and then he fired a floating strike right to home plate.

The best part? The strike call that Ben gave his dad after he caught the ball. Actually, the best part is that Tom didn’t throw the ball over his son’s head. While CSNChicago’s Kelly Crull was talking about the first pitch on the Cubs broadcast, she said that Tom used to make Ben go get the ball anytime he’d throw it over his head. Tom told Kelly that he hoped Ben wouldn’t make him do the same thing. Looking at the accuracy of that pitch, I’d say there was pretty much no chance that would have happened.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher