The Holiday Gift Guide

Something for the baseball fans in your life

Welcome to Warning Track Power, a weekly newsletter of baseball stories and analysis grounded in front office and scouting experiences and the personalities encountered along the way.

Holiday gift-buying season is here, and Warning Track Power has ideas for baseball fans.

Best of all, even Steve Cohen can find someone willing to take his money. So while I can’t offer Steven Matz’s left-handed services, Mets fans can procure the next best thing…

Card Belts

Last year, while most of the country was elbow-deep in sourdough starters, one Texas Rangers fan wondered what he could do with his collection of old baseball cards. And then he invented a product that none of us knew we needed.

During the loneliest days of social distancing, when pants and deodorants became artifacts of an ancient civilization, one man was betting on humanity.

In labs around the world, scientists were developing vaccines. Meanwhile, our hero Will was making belts out of baseball cards with his bare hands.

Only the eternal optimism that lives within a baseball fan could inspire an item that required society’s return to garments with belt loops. And only a genius would fashion the likes of the “1980s All Mustaches” belt and the Cecil Fielder belt (not available in Cecil’s size).

Custom orders are available, so think about which Gold Glovers you want defending your waistline.

While the Mets may not assemble the starting rotation of Steve Cohen’s dreams, this Doc Gooden belt can help keep some pants on at Citi Field. And that’s a step in the right direction.

cardbelts.com, $50-$75 per belt

Parra Shark

I’m not sure that Gerardo Parra has ever seen Spaceballs, but he definitely understands that merchandising is where the real money is made. The Gold Glove outfielder (custom belt, anyone?) was embraced by Nationals fans after he unveiled “Baby Shark” as his walk-up music, and the song is forever attached to the team’s magical 2019 season.

Lest anyone forget, the Baby Shark logo lives on the inside of their World Series rings.

So why stop there?

Parra and his wife, Tania, developed the PS88 Bluetooth Speaker because they wanted to spread joy through music. I can attest that when Parra was in charge of the music after a D-backs victory in 2011, the dance party began.

It was important to Tania and Gerardo that the speakers — available in black, blue, and red — were waterproof and held a solid charge. With 10 hours of play time, the Parra Shark product will even outlast a Yankees/Red Sox game.

parrashark.com, $130 (currently $50 off for Black Friday)

The Wax Pack

I haven’t had the chance to read as many books as I would’ve liked to this year. Fortunately, I made time for The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife by Brad Balukjian.

The book’s premise is simultaneously clever, simple, and brilliant; the author opens a pack of Topps baseball cards from 1986 and makes it his mission to track down each of the 14 players represented. (He pulled a checklist from the 15-card pack.)

While I didn’t always connect with the personal story that paralleled Balukjian’s pursuit of the “Wax Packers,” I loved living vicariously through his cross-country travels and ultimate encounters with the former big leaguers.

Balukjian’s pack includes Carlton Fisk, Rick Sutcliffe, Garry Templeton, and my former Padres colleague Randy Ready.

This is a great book for anyone who has ever ripped open a back of cards and wanted a little bit more than the stats on the back. I’m still envious that I didn’t come up with this idea first!

The Wax Pack, prices vary

23 Wines

I spoke to Greg Vaughn this past summer, prior to trying any of his wines. As much as I enjoyed our conversation about winemaking, baseball, and community, I was even happier after tasting his Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The former slugger makes very approachable wines.

Since then, 23 Wines has released a rosé, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and a second Chardonnay.

Perfect for the Brewers fan, Padres fan, or wine drinker looking for a label with raised seams, Vaughn’s growing library of bottles should be present when representatives from MLB and the Players Association next meet to negotiate the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

23wines.com, bottles starting from $25

Square Scorebook

From 7-2 Double Play comes Square Scorebook, a 60-game spiral-bound tableau, perfect for recording the play-by-play and color all season long. I ordered mine in the kraft cover option at the start of last season, and then waited patiently until I could finally use it.

Created by a fan who has run out of room on a generic scorecard before, Square allows for plenty of space for double switches, expanded rosters, and any other notes that appear relevant in the moment.

72doubleplay.com, $30

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Have a Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Thank you for reading Warning Track Power. Subscribe now to have WTP delivered to your inbox every week. And if you’ve read a baseball book this year that you recommend, please share it in the comment section below.