Big League Stew’s Father’s Day 2016 gift guide
Sunday, June 19 is Father’s Day. It’s just six days away, so it’s coming up quickly. If you had forgotten until just this moment, never fear! There’s still time pick up a card and order a thoughtful gift for your dad, granddad, or important father figure. Baseball gifts can be a minefield — there are so many choices, even if you’re looking for something from just one team. Let Big League Stew help you make the best gift choice this Father’s Day with our gift guide.
Dare to be different
Yeah, you could get your dad a player T-shirt or a regular hat, but it’s just as easy to get a Father’s Day gift that feels different and special. Instead of something you could pick up at your local drug store, there are a lot of distinctive, dad-eriffic options to choose from. Smathers & Branson have a line of needlepoint accessories for all 30 teams, including coasters, wallets, belts, and flasks. If the dad in your life is a dad who might need to tote diapers and bottles and those kinds of things, Diaper Dude has you covered with their official MLB collection of diaper bags, bottle holders, and pacifier carriers.
Hey, did you know that MLB has official socks? They do, and they’re awesome. You can find them at Stance.com, and there all kinds. They have regular team socks, socks featuring baseball legends like Tony Gwynn, Lou Gehrig, and Jackie Robinson, and socks commemorating the great stadiums our game, both current and past. (Stance even has MLB boxers!)
Go vintage
The MLB.com shop has a lot of normal, boring stuff, but don’t let that distract you from their throwback options, which can be pretty great. You don’t have to choose between throwback jersey designs or players of the past — they have both! They’ve got a sharp White Sox Carlton Fisk throwback, a colorful Astros jersey with — who else? — Nolan Ryan’s name on the back. You can help your dad celebrate the anniversary of the Mets’ 1986 World Series victory with this Lenny Dykstra jersey, or give your dad one of the greatest throwback looks with this 1978 San Diego Padres Dave Winfield jersey. And they have lots, lots more.
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Or, of course, you could choose to go the actual vintage route. Etsy (yes, that Etsy) always has an eclectic selection of vintage baseball items for sale. They have clocks, books, baseball cards, T-shirts, watches, mugs, hats, and more, more, and more. Name a baseball thing, and you can most likely find it in Etsy’s vintage baseball section. You might not expect Etsy sellers to stock a lot of baseball games, but this is an area where they excel. Your choices span the decades, from a tin toy game produced in the 1920s, to a vintage “action” game from the 1950s, and even several early handheld electronic baseball games from the 1970s and 80s.
Throw his brain a curveball
There is no shortage of baseball books out there, and there is one for every kind of dad. If you or your dad have ever played baseball or softball (or if he just really loves baseball), then Jeff Passan’s book “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” is absolutely for him. If you think your dad would want to see what happens when two baseball writers/analysts are given a baseball team to run themselves, then you should get him “The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball” by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller. Lovers of Los Angeles sports should absolutely consider “The Steamer: Bud Furillo and the Golden Age of L.A. Sports.” For little baseball fans looking for a book they can share with their dads, “Goodnight Baseball” is the perfect choice.
Experience something together
Barring bad weather, there will be 15 MLB games on Father’s Day, and if your dad or grandfather loves baseball, then taking him — or the whole family — to a game is a winning idea. A bunch of teams are doing Father’s Day giveaways or post-game activities. The Mets and the Baltimore Orioles are giving away Father’s Day hats, the Philadelphia Phillies are giving away a Hawaiian shirt, the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, and St. Louis Cardinals are giving away socks, the Kansas City Royals are doing a BBQ spatula, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are gifting stylish boxers. The Miami Marlins and Oakland Athletics are both holding post-game catch sessions with the dads and kids in attendance. But if a major league stadium isn’t close by, check out the minor league affiliates in your area. Minor league baseball games are always a great time — the stadiums are more intimate, you can see the action better, and you’re watching the baseball stars of the future!
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
