Each MLB team's most interesting giveaway this season

Each MLB team's most interesting giveaway this season

Mar 26, 2026, 08:00 AM ET Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is here, and with it comes all the things that make baseball season great — including the simple joy of the ballpark experience. Editor’s Picks 1 Related Sometimes, though, it doesn’t hurt to have an added incentive to get out to the park, which…

Mar 26, 2026, 08:00 AM ET

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is here, and with it comes all the things that make baseball season great — including the simple joy of the ballpark experience.

Sometimes, though, it doesn’t hurt to have an added incentive to get out to the park, which is where team promotions and giveaways come in. But not all giveaways are created equal. Some are simple. Others are elaborate. Some are generic. Others could be found only in a certain team’s stadium.

We set out to identify each team’s most interesting giveaway for the 2026 season. And while not every team has their full promotional calendar finalized yet, our somewhat exhaustive review produced the following selections.

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The Diamondbacks’ lone World Series title came just four seasons after the club first took the field, and fans can celebrate the 25th anniversary of that championship with a jersey from that season.

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Athletics — Nick Kurtz “Big Amish” bobblehead

Athletics first baseman Kurtz is one of the game’s rising stars, with a unique nickname to boot. Kurtz’s “Big Amish” moniker refers to his 6-foot-5 stature and the large Amish population near his hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Athletics’ bobblehead features Kurtz churning butter, a celebration he’s used in the past.

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For the third consecutive year one of the Braves’ giveaways will be a vinyl record that features music from some of ace pitcher Strider’s favorite bands. While the specific contents of the record are yet to be announced, prior editions of the giveaway included an emphasis on Atlanta-area musicians.

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Not all bobblehead giveaways need to be centered around team legends. One such example is the Orioles’ Tupac Shakur bobblehead giveaway, with the legendary artist having spent several formative years in Baltimore before moving to California in 1988.

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Boston Red Sox — Diary of a Wimpy Kid bobblehead

Also in the category of non-team bobbleheads is the Red Sox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid-themed offering to be given away on April 18. The popular book series’ author/illustrator Jeff Kinney and his wife, Julie, live and own a bookstore in Plainville, Massachusetts.

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Chicago Cubs — Wrigley Field marquee night light

You’ve heard of bobbleheads, shirts and hats being given away, but how about a night light? The Cubs’ promotional offerings include a night light in the shape of Wrigley Field’s iconic red “home of the Chicago Cubs” marquee outside the stadium’s front entrance.

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The Cubs’ crosstown rival White Sox have a giveaway that fits the unconventional category as well. On Sept. 5, the club will offer “finance bro vests” to the first 15,000 fans in attendance.

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The Reds offer a trip back to the realm of more conventional bobbleheads with a Hayes giveaway themed around the third baseman’s Gold Glove win last season, the second of his career. The bobblehead features, fittingly, Hayes wearing a golden glove.

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Many teams have Star Wars-themed giveaways on their promotional slate, but bonus points go to the Guardians for having the best wordplay in their bobblehead featuring first baseman Kyle Manzardo as The Mandalorian.

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Colorado Rockies — Colorado 150th birthday wearable flag

Back into the realm of unconventional offerings, the first 15,000 fans at the Rockies’ Aug. 1 game against the Royals can grab themselves a wearable flag as Colorado celebrates the sesquicentennial anniversary of its statehood this year.

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Though the Tigers haven’t yet announced a full slate of promotions — the team website includes offerings through only May — Detroit still has a unique giveaway slated for an April 4 matchup with the Cardinals: rugby shirts.

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What happens when you blend the distinct looks of a cowboy hat and a baseball cap? Well, you get what the Astros are giving out on May 16 against their in-state foe the Rangers: a “cowboy baseball hat” with the logo and center of a baseball cap combined with a wraparound cowboy-hat-style brim.

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The Royals are staying on theme for their July 4 holiday giveaway — a bobblehead of shortstop (and recent Team USA World Baseball Classic leadoff man) Bobby Witt Jr. wearing American flag shorts and a USA jersey, holding a bat with an eagle perched on it, standing next to a grill.

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Plenty of teams are doing SpongeBob SquarePants-themed promotions this year, but the Angels’ SpongeBob jersey takes the cake for the best of the bunch, featuring SpongeBob as a batter on the front and Patrick Star as pitcher on the back.

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The back-to-back World Series winners have plenty of notable players and moments to commemorate, but perhaps their best offering is a combination of player and wordplay. Against the Guardians on March 31, the Dodgers will give out bobbleheads depicting video game character Yoshi wearing the jersey of pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

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Flanigan’s is a South Florida chain of seafood restaurants with easily recognizable green cups, and the Marlins are paying homage to the local brand with a giveaway to the first 10,000 fans in attendance on June 20 against the Giants.

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The best ballpark giveaways are the ones that don’t just end up in a closet but get real usage once fans leave the stadium. The Brewers have a strong offering on that front with their most unique promotion this year: a set of bar dice.

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The Twins will hand out team-branded fishing lures to the first 10,000 fans through the gates at a May 2 game against the Blue Jays.

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New York Mets — Bobby Valentine disguise

The Mets on May 29 will offer a giveaway that pays homage to a uniquely memorable moment in team history: manager Bobby Valentine returning to the dugout in glasses and a fake mustache after being ejected from a June 1999 game. The first 10,000 fans will receive a getup similar to Valentine’s famous disguise.

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The Yankees have honored their fictional “assistant to the traveling secretary,” George Costanza, with bobbleheads before, and this year the team is keeping the tradition going Aug. 27. The 2026 Costanza bobblehead will be themed around a “Seinfeld” episode in which Costanza gets famed former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner — voiced by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David — hooked on calzones at a local restaurant.

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The Phillies’ bombastic mascot, Phillie Phanatic, offers the team no shortage of fun giveaway opportunities, with the team’s giveaway for April 12 against the Diamondbacks a bobblehead featuring the mascot in colonial attire in a nod to Philadelphia’s history.

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A tiki mug giveaway? Why not? The Pirates will hand out tiki mugs adorned with the club’s “P” emblem to the first 20,000 fans at a June 12 matchup with the Marlins as part of a broader promotional weekend of beach-themed giveaways entitled “Bucco Luau Weekend.”

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In addition to the usual offerings of different jerseys and shirts in the ballpark giveaway fashion aisle, the Padres are also adding team-branded ponchos to the mix, available to the first 40,000 fans in attendance on July 28.

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The Giants are paying homage to one of the titans of the baseball video game world this season: Pablo Sanchez, whose eye-popping stats made him a legend of the “Backyard Baseball” series. San Francisco is honoring the fictional star with a bobblehead July 26 as part of Backyard Sports Night.

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Bobbleheads are a staple of ballpark giveaways, but the Mariners are putting a slight twist on things with one of their offerings for this year: a replica statue. Honoring franchise legend Ichiro Suzuki, the promotion also includes a bonus with 20 fans receiving a replica statue autographed by the Hall of Fame right fielder.

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The Cardinals are getting involved in the sphere of non-player bobbleheads, offering a Joe and Jack Buck joint bobblehead on Aug. 7. Jack Buck was the team’s longtime play-by-play announcer, and his son, Joe, is in the “Monday Night Football” booth for ESPN.

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In the category of non-player bobblehead is the Rays’ most interesting option: A bobblehead of “flappy boi,” a smiling stingray featured in a meme often used on team social media accounts alongside a chyron graphic that says “local stingray in great mood.”

Texas Rangers — Nolan Ryan bloody lip Jersey

Joining the Mets in the promotional lane of recognizing memorable but slightly niche moments in team history are the Rangers, who are giving away Nolan Ryan jerseys — but not just any Ryan jerseys. The jerseys in question contain a mock blood stain, honoring the legendary pitcher’s 1990 performance when he pitched until the eighth inning even after his lip had been gashed open. The Rangers’ manager for that game? None other than Bobby Valentine.

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Blue Jays star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might have been destined to make fans cheer in the big leagues, and Toronto is throwing back to an iconic photo of Guerrero with his Hall of Fame father at a Montreal Expos game in 2002 with a bobblehead of the then-3-year-old Guerrero tipping his cap.

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Synergy between a city’s sports teams can be a valuable asset, and that’s what the Nationals are going for with their bobblehead depicting iconic Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin in the Washington Harbour fountain after the Capitals won the 2018 Stanley Cup.

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