San Diego Padres Bobblehead History

Padres Bobble Talk: Between 2001 and 2025, the San Diego Padres hosted 79 bobblehead giveaway events, featuring a total of 81 unique bobbleheads.  The Padres were the 22nd MLB team to incorporate bobbleheads into their promotional schedule.

• From 2001 to 2025, the Friars have a cumulative win-loss record of 1902-2047, generating a winning percentage of .482.  On bobblehead giveaway nights the club’s records slightly drops to .480 winning percentage (36-39). They do not appear to be very inspired by this particular promotion.
• The average attendance at each home game during this same timeframe was 30,280 fans. On bobblehead giveaway nights specifically, the Padres averaged 36,921 fans in attendance. The capacity of Petco Park is approximately 40,000.
• Of the 81 Padre bobbleheads, 51 of them were athletes or coaches (with two variants).  Of the 51, 47 of them were on the roster at the time, one was a manager, and only three were legacy players.
• Of the 51 athlete bobbleheads, 40 were position players and eleven were pitchers.
• The Friars have leaned heavily into the “non-player” bobblehead arena over the years with nearly a third of their giveaways coming from outside brands.  Examples include Marvel, Peanuts, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Hello Kitty, The Sandlot, Scooby-Doo and the San Diego Zoo.  They even built one for a “Zombie Night” in 2016.
• The Padres have bobbleheads for both an official mascot, the Swingin’ Friar, and an unofficial mascot, the San Diego Chicken.
• The Pads spread their bobblehead giveaways throughout the week more than most teams do.  The majority of them are still given out on the weekends (25% on Friday, 22.4% on Saturday, and 13.2% on Sunday), but Monday through Thursday get a little love as well.  Mondays are actually their biggest weekday with 11.8%, Tuesdays and Thursdays are tied at 10.5%, and Wednesdays sneak in there with 6.6%.  It’s nice to see the wealth distributed a little bit. 
• As of the end of the 2025 season, the least attended Padre bobblehead giveaway was the David Eckstein SGA on April 7th, 2010.  The highest attended was the Tony Gwynn offering on April 29th, 2025.
• The Sycuan Casino has sponsored more Padre bobbleheads than any other organization with seven.