Baseball Gift Giving: Your Suggestions

So, I find myself with three baseball-loving people to buy gifts for in particular this year, my father, my brother, and my nephew (my brother’s 4-year-old son). Since the Yankees have just won the World Series, there’s NO END of World Series tchotchke I can buy them. Or at least, for my dad and brother, whereas my nephew declared this summer that he is a Red Sox fan. Yes, the young one has decided he must strike his own baseball-fan identity. My brother is a saint for treating his son with absolute tolerance and openness over this declaration, although that didn’t mean he didn’t lay on the pro-yankee stance pretty thick when we went to the Stadium in August. (Actually, it was my father who laid it on the thickest… and by the end of the day my nephew had actually decided to buy a yankees hat for himself, although that didn’t mean he gave up on the Red Sox either…)

Anyway, I know the likelihood of all members of the family giving each other the World Series DVD and such are high. I want to avoid duplicating.

So, what are your suggestions for gifts for each age group, dear readers? baseball-related, but not necessarily Yankees or World Series related. What are you getting for your loved ones? (Hoping of course that they don’t read this blog so they won’t see…)

Comment below please! (A name and email are required to comment, but they don’t have to be real.)

(P.S. There are also plenty of baseball-loving women in my family. But I tend to find other common enthusiasms with them to share, whereas baseball is the big one for the guys.)

16 responses to “Baseball Gift Giving: Your Suggestions”

  1. Cardinal70 Avatar

    Books are always great. For a Yankee fan, the Munson biography that came out this summer by Marty Appel might hit the spot.

    For the nephew, shirts are good, of course. Being a Cardinal fan, we have a couple of stuffed Fredbirds that my son enjoys.

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      Oooh, I’ve been meaning to read that Munson bio myself. Now I have to make sure it hasn’t been gotten already for someone though… Great idea.

  2. JP Avatar

    You pesky Yankees and Red Sox fans!
    Does your dad or brother have a massive head? The guys who you can’t see the tv if they are in the way? I review new Oriolesextra large hats every day.

    Hat of the Day. Everyday.

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      Hat of the Day! I love it. And yes, they have massive heads… but only in the “we just won the World Series” swelled-head kind of way…

  3. John Z Avatar
    John Z

    I’m a LITTLE biased here, but a membership in the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) (http://www.sabr.org) is a lovely gift, as are any of our BioProject books (http://astore.amazon.com/sabrwebsite-20).

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      You know, that is a good one for my brother. I got him to come over to the SABR convention when it was in Denver and he was living there.

      Will SABR send him a gift card, or do I have to make that myself?

  4. Rob Avatar

    This is fairly self-serving… but… I started a Boston sports fan t-shirt company last year called Bottom Line Apparel. We have some cool tees that make great gifts for Sox fans… http://www.blshirts.com.

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      I have some of the Bottom Line shirts! And self-serving is fine. Maybe I will find something for my nephew there that won’t drive my brother up a wall…

  5. jill Avatar
    jill

    how old is your nephew? would he appreciate the book stephen king co-wrote about the 2004 sox season?

    http://www.amazon.com/Faithful-Diehard-Boston-Chronicle-Historic/dp/0743267524

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      He’s going to be five in April, so Faithful is probably out of his reading range… But didn’t King to a children’s book with a Red Sox theme? The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon? Oh, but it might be scary. I’ll have to read it in the store and check. (I spent my childhood with “I’m too scared to sleep” insomnia so I’m sensitive about giving anything scary.)

  6. sue Avatar
    sue

    How about tickets for the family to a minor/independent league baseball game (or a gift certificate good for that)? Minor/independent league parks are both kid-friendly and affordable.

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      That’s a great idea for my brother’s family. They are in New Jersey and I could even send them to the Staten Island Yankees, who have a really lovely waterfront ballpark and not one but three mascots! (A trio of “holy cows” named Scooter, Red, and Huckleberry)

  7. Ian Avatar

    How about VIP experience tickets to the Baseball Hall of Fame?

    http://community.baseballhall.org/Page.aspx?pid=393

    It can be a little pricey (around $400 per person) but you get a personalized baseball bat!

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      Hmm! That’s out of my personal price range, but that is the sort of thing a group of people could get together on to get some special person.

      We’ve long said our next for-sure trip to Cooperstown will be for Jeter’s induction. Maybe I’ll be flusher by then…

  8. dfan Avatar

    I am likely getting my dad As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires. Lots of great reviews, an interesting topic, and the preview chapter I read was well written.

    1. Cecilia Tan Avatar

      I have a copy o f that book on my desk! I met the author at the SABR convention in DC where I heard him speak and read from the book. I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but I have really enjoyed what I’ve read so far.

      That Munson bio is looking appropriate for my dad, too.

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