San Francisco Giants Bobblehead History

Giants Bobble Babble: On May 9th, 1999, the San Francisco Giants provided their fans a Willie Mays bobblehead at the gates.  Bobbleheads had been around for decades at that point, but never before as a stadium giveaway.  This was the very first MLB bobblehead giveaway, and the catalyst for what would quickly become a ballpark staple at every field in the league.  But the Giants did not just sit back and congratulate themselves for being the first.  They also have done the most by a wide margin.  By the end of the 2025 season, they had provided their fans with a total of 320 unique bobbleheads to take home.  There have been nights when there were multiple detached events slated at the park, each featuring its own bobblehead.  It almost feels as if the Giants have multiple marketing teams each overseeing their own independent schedule, completely unaware of what the other groups are doing.  The pace of their promotional schedule is blistering and maddening to follow.

• From 1999 to 2025, the G-Men posted a cumulative record of 2219-2050, reflecting a winning percentage of .520.  On bobblehead giveaway nights they improved dramatically to .602 (130-86).  The Giants have won more games on bobblehead nights than almost two-thirds of league have bobbleheads in total.
• The average attendance during this timeframe was 41,449 fans per home game. On bobblehead giveaway nights specifically, the Giants averaged 38,346 fans in attendance.  But consider that bobbleheads have been a seemingly daily occurrence over the past fifteen years, so this particular giveaway may not drive ticket sales like it does at other ballparks.  Oracle Park (previously Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park) holds just over 41,000 fans, so they are already nearing capacity every night anyway.  And Candlestick Park (their home in 1999) held over 60,000.
• The Giants definitely favor weekends for bobblehead giveaways, but they haven’t completely forgotten about the power of weekday games.  60.5% of their bobblehead events happened on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, while 39.5% were on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Saturdays are their preferred day of the week with 28.4% of the bobblehead action happening on that day.
• Of the 320 Giants bobblehead giveaways, 193 were featuring members of the Giants organization.  This includes players, coaches, announcers, and executives.  142 of them were active at the time of the release, and 51 were legacy players.
• The mix of players has been 31% infield, 24.6% outfield, 42.7% battery, and 1.8% utility. 
• The Giants have released bobbleheads of their mascot, Lou Seal, a staggering 27 times over the years.  Note that the MLB player with the highest current bobblehead count is Jose Altuve with the Astros, and Lou Seal has even surpassed him.  The team has also done a release of the Crazy Crab, the infamous “anti-mascot” of their 1984 season. 
• The other 99 Giants bobbleheads are apparently the result of a random proper noun generator.  Charlie Brown, The Joker, the Rally Rabbi, Manny Pacquiao, E-40, Rob Schneider, all of the Chinese Zodiac animals (some twice), Godzilla, Rosie the Riveter, Frank Sinatra, Chewbacca, Grateful Dead Uncle Sam, Kristi Yamaguchi, Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun, the Hulkbuster, and Chumlee (holding a Chumlee bobblehead!?) just to name a few.  Their list of “others” is stupefying.
• As of the end of the 2025 season, the least attended Giants bobblehead giveaway was, ironically, the very first one.  The Willie Mays giveaway in 1999 was for only 15,795 fans.  The highest attended was the Barry Zito on June 30th, 2007.
• Chevron and Chevron Extra Mile have sponsored more Giant bobbleheads than any other organization with a combined 21.