Houston Astros Bobblehead History

Astros Bobble Babble: Between 2001 and 2025, the Astros have distributed 198 unique bobbleheads.  They were the 14th MLB team to incorporate bobbleheads into their promotional schedule. 

• The Astros assumed a perfectly balanced approach to bobblehead giveaways as the trend developed and matured.  From 2001 to 2019, they averaged 5.2 bobbleheads per year.  Then the pandemic happened, and the Astros marketing department responded like their own wellbeing hinged upon new bobblehead releases.  Since ballparks opened back up in 2021, they have averaged a staggering 20 bobblehead releases per year.  Keep in mind that there are only 81 home games in a baseball season, so this is one bobblehead for every four games.  And sometimes there was more than one giveaway per game depending on the ticket you purchased.  Being an Astros collector went from a casual hobby to a full-time job very quickly.
• From 2001 to 2025, the ‘Stros posted a cumulative record of 2033-1889, reflecting a winning percentage of .518.  On bobblehead giveaway nights the club’s record dramatically improves to an impressive .598 (107-71); however, it is also worth noting that 69.2% of their bobbleheads have come from the past ten years, and during this same timeframe they made the playoffs eight times and the World Series four.  So maybe it’s not all bobblehead magic.
• The average attendance from 2001 to 2025 was 31,050 fans per home game. On bobblehead giveaway nights specifically, the Astros have averaged 34,428 fans in attendance.  But another note that might discredit the power of the bobblehead is that the Astros almost exclusively provide bobblehead giveaways on the weekends (81.3% have been on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), and you would expect more people to be at the ballpark on these days already.  The capacity of Daikin Park is around 41,000.
• Of the 198 Astros bobblehead giveaways, 14 of them had more than one individual represented on them.  When counted independently, there are a total of 213 Astros in bobblehead form. 
• 180 of these Astros were athletes or coaches.  Of the 180, 146 of them were on the roster at the time and 34 were legacy players.  There were also two managers, one active and one retired.
• The mix of players has been 41% infield, 26.4% outfield, 27% battery, and 5.6% utility.
• In the history of MLB stadium giveaway bobbleheads, nobody has been immortalized in bobblehead form more than Jose Altuve.  As of the end of 2025, there have been a total of 26 Altuve bobbleheads.  The next closest player is Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels with 21, and then Shohei Ohtani with 17 in both Angels and Dodgers gear.
• The other 33 Astro bobblehead giveaways were “non-players”.  This would include mascots, announcers, and characters dressed in Astro baseball attire.  Orbit, the official Astros mascot, has had an incredible twelve bobbleheads all on its own.
• As of the end of the 2025 season, the least attended Astros bobblehead giveaway was the Milo Hamilton on September 2nd, 2012 (this does not consider the Justin Verlander from April 2021 when public gatherings were still limited in size).  The highest attended was the Roger Clemens on September 23rd, 2006 (and this crowd might have been augmented a little by a failed late season push to take the National League Central division from St. Louis).
• Coca-Cola has sponsored more Astro bobbleheads than any other organization with thirty (one a collaboration with Kroger).