Los Angeles is certainly known for its traffic, and the city will undoubtedly see an uptick in gridlock around Dodger Stadium on Thursday night — though the team is certainly looking to smooth that out.
The reigning World Series champs are offering a Shohei Ohtani 50/50 bobblehead to celebrate his 2024 campaign when he became the first player in history to eclipse 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season.
Ohtani bobbleheads have caused borderline hysteria in the 818, with lines thousands deep outside the stadium.
Several Ohtani bobbleheads from Thursday’s game are already listed on eBay for more than $150, despite no one actually even having them in their possession yet.
The madness began last season when the Dodgers offered a bobblehead of Ohtani and his dog, Decoy, and fans began lining up 10 hours before the first pitch.
This season, the team has certainly adapted.
For other players, bobbleheads are offered to the first 40,000 fans in attendance, as was the case for the Mookie Betts bobblehead night Tuesday. But for Ohtani, every fan in attendance will receive one.
“You've seen the frenzy that was created last year,” said Lon Rosen, the Dodgers chief marketing officer and executive vice president. “We want to try to, as much as we can, avoid the frenzy, but also to take care of the fans that are so supportive of us.”
L.A. is offering three Ohtani bobbleheads this season across four games, more than any other player on the team, with this being the second of the calendar. There will be another 50/50 bobblehead in August, and another Ohtani bobblehead in September for which a design is not listed on the site.
In a political climate filled with tariffs that threaten stadium promotions moving forward, the Dodgers have no plans to change their abundant and exuberant bobblehead schedule.
“We're marching forward with our bobblehead program,” Rosen said. “We announced them before the tariffs, and we've now seen an adjustment on the tariffs. But we're not scaling back on our bobblehead promotional business.”
“The bobblehead phenomenon is very unique to the Dodgers. It's not like this for any other team, because I speak to many teams across the country, not just baseball teams, but other teams. You know, bobbleheads have been sort of a staple here Dodger Stadium for many, many years. In the last 12 years, we've sort of upped the game a bit. And, obviously, we do it because the fans want them”
Just to give an example, the Dodgers, who offer 40,000 bobbleheads for non-Ohtani players, are second in Major League Baseball in Forbes’ franchise valuations, behind the New York Yankees.
Still to come this year are two Aaron Judge bobbleheads, one Superman edition in June and an MVP version in August.
Each of those bobbleheads will be given to the first 18,000 fans in attendance. Combined, they will be about 18,000 short of what the Dodgers will give out for the average Ohtani bobblehead.
And it’s not just beloved by Dodgers fans and collectors, but by the players themselves.
“(I’ve) never seen one that's not excited,” Rosen. “They're all excited. It’s an honor to them.”
Ohtani is especially easy to work with, according to Rosen, and loves being involved in the process.
“It makes my job a bit easier,” Rosen said. “Besides being a spectacular player, he's just a really good person.”
What really makes his job easy is when a player has a terrific night on their bobblehead night, the way Ohtani did.
In early April, thousands lined up hours in advance, despite assurances from the Dodgers there would be enough bobbleheads for everyone, for the first Ohtani bobble of 2025, featuring his first NL MVP Award.
That night, the Dodgers faced a 5-0 deficit to the Atlanta Braves, before storming back to tie it at 5-5.
In the bottom of the ninth with the score still knotted, Ohtani blasted a walk-off home run to deep center to help the Dodgers maintain their unbeaten record.
“We planned it that way, “ Rosen joked. Yeah, right.”
“But that’s the beauty of Shohei.”
Meghan Payton is a reporter for cllct, and Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer.