I love going to baseball games. It just brightens up my summer. When the season is over, there’s one thing that helps me remember my summer of baseball games: my collection of baseball memorabilia and giveaways from games.

Many of the things in my collection were given away as promotional items at games. The ball park giveaways make great souvenirs.  I know that the giveaways are really a huge advertisement and a way to sell more game tickets, but they are still cool to get and collect.

At every stadium in the country, there are always fireworks, post-game concerts, hats, and t-shirts.  A lot of promos are for adults only (especially, for some reason, in Baltimore), but sometimes there are kid-specific giveaways that only fans under 12 get.  It’s a great way for teams to attract families to the game.  The baseball teams want kids to become passionate fans of their home team, kind of like how I am about the Nationals.

Many teams have already announced their 2014 promotions and giveaways, including the Pirates, A’s, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Giants, Blue Jays, Rockies, Braves, Phillies, Reds, Twins, Red Sox, and Cardinals.  The Nationals haven’t announced their promo items for 2014 yet, but I bet it’s coming soon.  So I’m going to give my opinion about the promotions they should give out and list some of my faves from the other teams that have already announced their 2014 ballpark promotions.

First, the most popular giveaways at Nationals Park are the bobblehead days.  I think there is a good argument that the bobbleheads in 2014 should feature Jayson Werth, Ian Desmond, and Matt Williams.  I think Werth should get a bobblehead because he really turned it on at the end of last year.  Plus, it would be cool to see his beard on a bobblehead.  Desi should get a bobblehead this year because he was a Silver Slugger for the second year in a row.  However, Werth and Desmond were featured on bobbleheads in 2011.  And maybe Matt Williams should get one to honor his first season as manager, but the Nationals just gave away Davey Johnson bobbleheads last year. So my guess for who will be on the 2014 Nationals bobbleheads are: Jordan Zimmermann (for his amazing pitching the past 2 seasons), Denard Span (for his error-less season and MLB-leading hit streak) and Tyler Clippard (for his clutch bullpen performances the past 2 years and because it would look cool with the goggles).  My dad thinks Wilson Ramos will get one this year.

I like bobbleheads best when they present the players in their uniform, in action poses.  Check out this dual Homer Bailey bobblehead the Reds are giving out to celebrate his 2 no-hitters.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a double bobblehead before! 

I saw that the Angels are giving away Albert Pujols, Jered Weaver and Mike Trout gnomes instead of bobbleheads. 

The Angels have great promotions, like this Mike Trout hat from last year.

I took at look around the MLB at which baseball teams have announced their 2014 giveaways, and here are my favorite promotions other teams are giving out:

1. Hunter Pence bobblehead, riding on a scooter like he does to and from AT& T Park (SFG)  

2. Sergio Romo Superhero Socks (SFG)

3. NL Champions Ring (STL)

4. Hawaiian shirt (LAA)

5: Babe Ruth Bobblehead (LAD)

6: Fleece Blanket (LAD)

7: Replica ’64 WS Ring (STL)

8: “Autographed” Baseball (LAD)

9: Yasiel Puig Fathead (LAD)

10:  Homer Bailey Dual No-Hitter bobblehead (CIN)

I saw some other promotions from around the league that are kind of lame.  The Mets are giving away Rainbow Loom rubber bands in Mets colors at one game.  The Dodgers are giving away Hello Kitty mini bobbles and the Giants are giving away a Hello Kitty doll; although my three year old sister would probably like that.  The Dodgers, however, have some of the best promos this year of any team, even though they are giving away a kind of stupid inflatable chair.  It’s hard to get excited about a chair.

Here are some suggestions for promo items the Nats should give away.:

Lots of teams give away jerseys, and the Nats should give out a replica jersey for all fans with Harper’s name and number on the back.

They should also give water bottles.  They did that a couple of years ago.  They were very popular and we still use ours almost every day.

Maybe on June 17 (closest home game to Father’s Day), they should give away a tie.

It would be great to get a lunch box or cooler bag.  I take my lunch to school in a Buster Posey cooler bag that the Giants sold at Safeway in the Bay Area

Some of the games early in the year and late in the year get cold, so they can giveaway fleece blankets.

Two things I would love to see, which some teams give out, are team baseball card sets (like the Blue Jays are doing) and Fatheads (like the Dodgers).  How cool would it be to get an Ian Desmond Fathead?

Finally, Instead of the scarf they gave out last year, in 2014 the Nationals should end the season with a knit hat with a Jayson Werth beard attached to it, like the Mariners gave away last season.  That’d keep your chin warm in January 2015!

Let’s keep an eye out for the 2014 Nationals Promotion Schedule.  Share your ideas with me on Twitter @MattsBats, and I will tweet out some of the good ideas I hear from you!

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