The Best Major League Baseball Giveaways of 2019

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

The signs of a new baseball season are numerous and beautiful: the sun shining over a crowded ballpark; the smell of grass and dirt from the freshly groomed field; the hometown team taking the field for the first time that year; fanny packs and bobbleheads handed out at the gate. With tens of thousands of seats to fill over 81 games hosted, Major League Baseball teams tend to come up with creative theme nights and giveaways to keep their fans entertained and coming back. These range from the traditional to the wacky and are always a blast to check out every year.
 
I looked around the league at every single giveaway that each of the 30 teams have planned. Here are my picks for every team’s best giveaway item in 2019! Also, stay tuned for a bonus article on all of the nerdy theme nights and giveaways teams are doing this season, including Star Wars Nights, superhero days, Game of Thrones events, and more!
 
Angels
With a Christmas in July celebration on the 28th, the Angels are giving out stockings and making sure that fans are prepared well in advance to hang them with care when Ol’ Saint Nick pays a visit.
 
Astros
The ‘Stros recently unveiled a new team Hall of Fame Alley exhibit in their ballpark. On August 4th, they’ll give away replica statues of the Astros’ Hall of Fame jacket, as seen in the exhibit.
 
Athletics
One thing I really appreciate about the A’s is the number of Heritage Nights they hold to celebrate the wide variety of cultural groups in the bay area. On June 20th, the team will give away Oakland Larks caps to honor the city’s Negro League baseball history on African-American Heritage Night. The A’s are also hosting Chinese, Filipino, Greek, Italian, Indian, Irish, Jewish, Japanese, Korean, Latino, Mexican, Native American, Pacific Islander and Portuguese Heritage Nights in 2019.
 
Blue Jays
They’re kicking off spooky season in Toronto with a Zombie Night on Friday the 13th in September. Fans will walk home with a Blue Jays zombie.
 
Braves
Bobblehead giveaways featuring two players on one base aren’t uncommon, but Atlanta is going full Two-Face mode. On June 11th, they’ll hand out a ‘Swanberson’ bobblehead, combining both Dansby Swanson and Charlie Culberson into a single player split down the middle, with each half wearing a different uniform. As if the duo didn’t look too alike before, they’ll be hard to separate now.
 
Brewers
The Brew Crew will celebrate their defending NL MVP, Christian Yelich, with a bobblehead on June 9th. The full design of the bobble hasn’t been unveiled yet, but the silhouette makes it look like it could be quite interesting…
 
Cardinals
The Cards are my pick for Team of the Year as far as giveaways go, thanks to the number, variety, and quality in their offerings. One must-have is the Yadier Molina/Roberto Clemente dual-bobblehead given out on May 10th to celebrate both the game’s rich history of Puerto Rican players and Molina receiving the MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award. The bobble is extremely well executed and is a touching tribute to both players that it features.
(Honorable Mention: April 19th’s Boy Band Night, with a t-shirt that resembles the Cardinals’ version of a straight-from-the-90s album cover, is sure to be a smash hit.)
 
Cubs
Slide cents into your savings in style with the Cubbies’ Javy Baez sliding coin bank on June 20th. The second baseman will make sure your loose change gets where it needs to go.
 
Diamondbacks
Forget a snow globe! The D-Backs will be kicking up a dust storm in their desert home with a ‘haboob globe’ giveaway on August 3rd.
 
Dodgers
The Dodgers will deck fans out in legendary gear with a Jackie Robinson jersey on April 15th and a Sandy Koufax jersey on May 30th.
 
Giants
On July 20th, the Giants will San-Francisco-treat their fans not to Rice-a-Roni, but to a replica team cable car.
(Honorable Mention: The Giants match the division rival Diamondbacks with a locally-accurate snow globe giveaway of their own: a ‘fog globe’ on August 10th.)
 
Indians
Cleveland is hosting the 2019 All-Star Game, but unfortunately, they aren’t doing too many ASG-related giveaways. Fans will get red and white All-Star Game tote bags on June 24th and 25th, respectively.
 
Mariners
The Mariners’ have an awesome Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie of the Year bobblehead (May 18th) and a ‘Turn Back the Clock’ Seattle Pilots game (June 22nd) lined up. But my winner is the ‘Edgar Martinez Drive’ replica street sign giveaway on August 11th. The sign should make for unique decor for Seattleites honoring their newest HOFer.
 
Marlins
With a new take on the rally towel, the Marlins are giving away ‘jersey swirlers’ on June 9th. The swirler is essentially a mini jersey on a spinnable stick. Miami introduced new colors, logos, and unis this year, so this will be a great way to show them off.
 
Mets
The Mets are getting the WrestleMania party started by giving Todd Frazier the pro wrestling treatment for their WWE Day bobblehead giveaway on April 6th, the day before the big event.
 
Nationals
Washington’s racing presidents are beloved across the nation. Kids at the August 18th game will receive a squeezable toy featuring the fan favorite, the people’s champion, the loveable losing racer, Teddy Roosevelt.
 
Orioles
MLB celebrations of one of the greatest baseball movies, A League of Their Own, have unfortunately been few and far between. Baltimore is filling that void with a movie night on May 11th, complete with a ‘There’s No Crying in Baseball’ t-shirt. As a bonus, fans who buy a movie night package will also receive a Rockford Peaches hat.
 
Padres
San Diego has put together a beautiful series of giveaways featuring the old Swingin’ Friar logo: a 50th anniversary bobblehead on March 30th; a poncho that looks like the Friar’s on April 20th; a kids’ Easter egg on April 21st; a cap on June 1st; and a beach towel on June 8th. The Padres are going back to brown uniforms in the 2020 season. Based on the set of giveaways here, it seems as though the team may be planning to more prominently feature the beloved Friar in their new uni sets. Yes, please.
 
Phillies
Coming June 7th is a fun and heartwarming tale of the Phillie Phanatic! Kid’s 14 and under will receive The Phillie Phanatic’s Hero, a children’s book chronicling the adventures of the beloved green mascot.
 
Pirates
It’s always really special to see long-time team announcers get their recognition. Pittsburgh’s Steve Blass has been a mainstay for the organization for 60 years, signing as a player with the club in 1960 and then joining the team’s broadcast booth in 1983, with other roles in between. He’s retiring at the end of the 2019 season, but before he does, the Pirates are sending him off with a bobblehead night on September 28th. The bobble features two figures: Blass as a pitcher and Blass as an announcer, microphone in hand.
 
Rangers
The Rangers are saying goodbye to Globe Life Park after 25 years. They’ll pay their respects to the old digs with a slew of giveaways highlighting great moments in ballpark history. Some of the most notable keepsakes are a 2010 AL pennant scoreboard replica on September 28th and a ‘Final Game’ t-shirt on September 29th.
 
Rays
Defending Cy Young champ, Blake Snell, goes by the nickname Zilla. Or ‘Cy Zilla’ now. Snell gets the Godzilla treatment with his bobblehead on April 30th, depicting him towering over a city skyline.
 
Red Sox
The defending champs are in full World Series mode for their giveaways. Their first of the year is a commemorative 2018 World Series ring on April 11th.
 
Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are celebrating a century and a half of baseball with their 150 Series Super Saturday bobblehead giveaways. The bobbles feature a variety of players from Reds history standing in front of a ‘wall’ with a connectable image when all are collected.
 
Rockies
The Rockies promotional schedule was limited at the time of this writing. The most promising giveaway listed thus far is the Kyle Freeland t-shirt on June 29th. Freeland was born and raised in Denver, so it should make for a cool celebration of the hometown kid!
 
Royals
Kansas City has one of the greatest scoreboard designs in the MLB. The Royals’ faithful can take home a CrownVision replica photo frame on May 12th.
 
Tigers
Detroit is celebrating the milestone 100th anniversary of its Negro League team, the Detroit Stars, with a jersey giveaway on August 10th.
 
Twins
After spending his entire career in Minnesota, Joe Mauer hung it up after 15 years last season. The Twins will celebrate Mauer throughout 2019 and will retire his number 7 on June 15th. The team will give out a series of awesome bobbleheads: Mauer in his high school team’s jersey (May 24th); making his Major League debut (July 19th); with his MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger awards from 2009 (August 24th); and playing his final game (September 7th).
 
White Sox
In a cross-sport giveaway, Chicago is giving away a ‘Los White Sox’ soccer jersey for its May 5th game.
 
Yankees
With its creative and quintessentially ‘New York’ front pages, the New York Daily News is an integral part of Yankees coverage. The paper celebrates its 100th birthday this year and will hand out 100th anniversary commemorative Yankees posters on June 26th.