Bobbleheads have been a staple of stadium giveaways for a long time. Lately, teams have expanded on the idea of a traditional bobblehead celebrating a player and added themes (like putting players in the “Star Wars” universe). But now it seems like many teams, especially baseball teams, are moving toward giveaways that go right in the ground: garden gnomes.
Though not all MLB teams have released their 2016 promotional schedules yet, most of the ones that are available include a gnome giveaway.
According to Stadium Giveaway Exchange, the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates all have garden gnome giveaways scheduled for the 2016 baseball season. That’s already five planned, and only eight teams have announced their promotional schedules. Out of all of the teams that announced their giveaways, only the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Brewers haven’t included gnomes.
Last year alone there were 14 gnome-themed giveaways in the MLB. With 22 more teams yet to announce schedules, 2016 could be the year of the garden gnome at MLB ballparks.
