Cincinnati Reds Bobblehead History

Reds Bobble Babble: Between 2001 and 2026, the Cincinnati Reds hosted 193 bobblehead giveaway events, featuring a total of 199 distinctive bobbleheads.  The Reds Hall of Fame has contributed an additional 79 bobbleheads to the mix, for an almost unbelievable total of 278 unique bobbleheads. The Reds were the 17th MLB team to incorporate bobbleheads into their promotional schedule. 

• From 2001 to 2025, The Redlegs posted a cumulative record of 1,859-2,089, reflecting a winning percentage of .471.  On bobblehead giveaway nights the club has recorded an uninspired winning percentage of .477 (71-78).
• The average attendance during this timeframe was 26,195 fans per home game. On bobblehead giveaway nights specifically, the Reds have averaged 30,697 fans in attendance.
• Of the 278 Reds bobbleheads, 210 of them were athletes or coaches.  Of the 210, 107 of them were active on the roster at the time, and 103 were legacy players. This ratio is uniquely elevated due to the fact that their Hall of Fame exclusively distributes legacy players.
• Of the Red Stocking athlete bobbleheads, 42.7% of them have been infielders, 23.5% were outfielders, and 33.8% of them made up the battery.  Of the infielders, 37.9% played first base, 16.1% were at second base, and the remaining 46% were split evenly between third base and shortstop.
• Joey Votto leads the pack by occurring eleven times as a Red bobblehead, Johnny Bench is second with ten, and Barry Larkin rounds out the podium with seven appearances.
• The other 43 bobbleheads stadium giveaways were “non-players”.  This would include mascots and characters dressed in Reds or baseball attire. Regularly occurring examples include Star Wars characters, Marvel heroes, Margaritaville avatars, Cincinnati Zoo animals, and Grateful Dead icons.
• On the topic of mascots, the Reds are in the unprecedented position of having four official mascots, and all four of them have appeared in bobblehead form multiple times throughout the years. There have been a variety of bobbleheads for Gapper, Rosie Red, and Mr. Red, but Mr. Redlegs dominates the field by reappearing almost a dozen times.
• Of the non-HOF bobblehead giveaways, 63.8% were handed out ahead of a game and 23.1% were an element of a special ticket package. The rest were included as part of a kids club membership, a Reds Community Fund donation, a one-off event, or the purchase of a ticket package (generally a holiday bundle or a “Pick-6”).
• If you want to get a bobblehead at the Great American Ballpark, you probably need to be in town for the weekend. 75.6% of all of the Reds’ bobblehead SGAs were on either a Friday, Saturday, or a Sunday with over half happening on a Saturday.
• The Reds have also treated their in fans in Arizona to six different Spring Training bobbleheads over the years (2010, 2015-2019).
• As of the end of the 2025 season, the highest attended Reds bobblehead giveaway was the Billy Hamilton offering on July 12th, 2014 with 42,789 fans in attendance (this game was over four hours long!) The least attended Reds bobblehead giveaway was the “Jedi Joey” Votto Star Wars figure on May 7th, 2022 with only 9,267 fans. 
• Pepsi has sponsored the highest number of Red bobbleheads 19 total. Note that this does not consider Dinsmore, who has sponsored nearly every one of the Reds Hall of Fame bobbleheads.
• The Reds have hosted a bobblehead giveaway with every team in Major League Baseball as an opponent EXCEPT the New York Yankees.
• The St. Louis Cardinals have been their most common bobblehead night opponent with 22 matchups.