ST. LOUIS–Cardinals fans don’t have to wait long for promotional giveaways in 2023. Thursday’s season opener is also Magnet Schedule day, free for all fans 21 and older.
The first of almost 20 bobblehead giveaway days comes soon after with Saturday afternoon’s second game of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays, when the first 25,000 fans 16 and older will get a bobblehead featuring pitching versions of Yadier Molina or Albert Pujols. Both of the now-retired future Hall of Famers pitched in games last season.
Pujols will also be featured June 10, when the first 25,000 fans 16 and older will get a Pujols road Saturday jersey, while the first 10,000 kids 15 and younger will get a road gray Pujols jersey. St. Louis hosts Cincinnati that day. On Saturday, July 15, when the Cardinals host Washington, the first 25,000 fans 16 and older will get a Pujols bobblehead celebrating his 703 career home runs.
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Fans will also have a shot at a giveaway highlighting the team’s most significant offseason addition. When the Cardinals play Colorado August 5, the first 25,000 fans 16 and older will get a Willson Contreras home white jersey.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, who announced that this will be his final season before retiring, is the inspiration for several promotional giveaways. On June 11, ahead of the team’s two-game series against the Cubs in London, the first 25,000 fans 16 and older will get a bobblehead of Wainwright as a London Guard when the Cardinals face Cincinnati.
The final game of the season, an October 1 contest, also against the Reds, will feature an as yet unannounced Wainwright giveaway item.
Among the new theme nights in 2023, the June 29 matchup against Houston is Yellowstone night. Fans who purchase the special themed ticket will get a Cardinals bobblehead inspired by the Kevin Costner program. Team officials say they're still trying to lock down a handful of other promotional or theme giveaways for the season and that it's not uncommon for that to happen as late as July.
Schedule tweaks
At all levels of baseball, giveaways have often been used as a lure to get fans to the ballpark on days when the matchup on the field might not be enough to attract a big crowd.
But starting in 2023, Major League Baseball hopes to create more excitement by using a schedule where everyone plays everyone, instead of the most recent schedule approach that saw an annual rotation of interleague matchups outside of the consistent I-70 rivalry with Kansas City.
This year, the Cardinals will host the Blue Jays, Angels, Royals, Astros, Yankees, Twins and A’s.
“The Angels (series) is a great example. That may have been a five or six year rotation in the past. Now we’ll see those American League superstar type teams on an every other year basis and we are excited about the Angels being here, it is in early May, it’s in the middle of the week but I think there will be a lot of excitement for (Shohei) Ohtani and (Mike) Trout to be at the ballpark,” said Martin Coco, Marketing and Brand Execution Director for the Cardinals.