Grading the 2023 White Sox Promotional Giveaways

The White Sox kicked off our Thursday with some exciting news. While they didn’t make another signing or trade for anyone just yet, they probably did the next best thing and unveiled their initial promotional schedule for the 2023 season. After taking a look at all the items, our crew decided that we wanted to rank each of them and determine the best – and the worst – of this year’s selection of giveaways.

Overall, outside of just a few items, our team was fairly split on their enjoyment of each of the items. The following Sox On 35th members contributed to each item’s rating on a scale of 1-10:

• Joe Binder
• Jordan Lazowski
• Nicole Reitz
• Nik Gaur
• Michael Suareo
• Noah Phalen
• Thatcher Zalewski
• Duke Coughlin
• Brandon Anderson
• Joe Ruffalo
• Brian Barry
• Nico Andrade
• Matt Cotner

Let’s get to it!

1993 AL West Division Champs Crewneck

Saturday, April 15 vs. Orioles | First 15,000 Fans

This was definitely one of the more popular items amongst our crew. With a pretty clean retro look, this crewneck is a great way to start off the season. The actual comfort level of the item remains to be seen, but the classic look with the still-current logo is a great combination that 15,000 lucky fans will be lucky to get.

Grade: 8.55/10. The highest grade our team gave here was 9.3. The lowest was 6.5. Not a bad start

White Sox Hockey Jersey

Saturday, April 29 vs. Rays | First 20,000 Fans

After last year’s hockey jerseys that seemed great, but ended up getting mixed reviews, the White Sox are clearly hoping their 1983 logo can give them a bounce back. The style takes after the team’s current Spring Training jerseys in that it’s the Batterman logo but with black as the primary body color instead. Overall, it’s a solid look without blowing anyone away.

Grade: 6.11/10. The highest grade our team gave was 8.5. The lowest was 4.5. Certainly some mixed reviews with a much lower ceiling than the crewneck.

Eloy Jimenez “Hi Mom!” Talking Bobblehead

Saturday, May 13 vs. Astros | First 20,000 Fans

This by far is our crew’s favorite promotional item from this initial list. Using the fan-favorite player’s favorite catchphrase for a bobblehead is genius, and the swag and style are unmatched by any other item.

Grade: 9.22/10. The lowest grade given here was an 8. That’s how you know you made a great promotional item.

White Sox Bucket Hat

Saturday, June 3 vs. Tigers | First 10,000 Fans 21+

Ah, bucket hats – one of the most divisive items of clothing. Our team responded in kind with their grading, though it ended up more good than bad. From our very own Duke Coughlin: “The cringe factor of the bucket hat might win me over.”

Grade: 7.65/10. They did a pretty good job with the hat, and the scoreboard in the background is a cool style. There’s just something off about it, which is probably why our grades ranged from 9.99 to 4.0. Hey, it’s hard to please everyone!

White Sox Hawaiian Shirt

Saturday, June 10 vs. Marlins | First 20,000 Fans

The yearly Hawaiian shirt by Beggars’ Pizza actually looks pretty awesome this year. It’s a true Hawaiian shirt with a different feel than the ones from past years – in a good way. How you feel about these types of shirts will likely determine how much you end up liking it – but it’s a fun one, that’s for sure.

Grade: 7.35/10. Grades ranged from 9.3 to 4. Much like most of these items, our page was pretty split on their enjoyment of this.

White Sox Basketball Jersey

Saturday, June 24 vs. Red Sox | First 20,000 Fans

If there was one thing most of our page was able to agree on, it was that the basketball jersey left a lot to be desired. It has cool elements, but overall, is a pretty bland design that falls far from the previous basketball jersey that Yasmani Grandal fell in love with. Perhaps it was because its predecessor was so great, but it feels like this one missed the mark.

Grade: 5.55/10. The highest grade given was 7.1, so at least some of our crew enjoyed it.

Luis Robert Bobblehead

Saturday, July 8 vs. Cardinals | First 20,000 Fans

Finishing in third among our crew, the Luis Robert bobblehead felt criminally underrated by our Nik Gaur: “How am I the only one who gave the Robert bobblehead above a 9.0?” Much like with Eloy’s bobblehead, the swag and style are incredible, and it doesn’t hurt that the Southside jersey is a great look for a bobblehead.

Grade: 8.43/10. Our Noah Phalen snuck in a 9.0/10 after Nik made his comment, so we might have to consider if his vote was swayed by Nik’s passion. Regardless, this is one of the best items this year.

White Sox Football Jersey

Saturday, August 12 vs. Brewers | First 10,000 Fans 21+

It appears the Chicago Raiders are coming to town with this jersey, and there was a staggering difference here between our top score (8.9) and our lowest score (0.5 – not a typo). Duke Coughlin very much hated this jersey, and the general belief was that there was no significance to the inclusion of the football jersey, leading it to feel out of place.

Grade: 5.68/10. It escaped the lowest grade thanks to the basketball jersey – but not by much.

Los White Sox Soccer Jersey

 Saturday, September 2 vs. Royals | First 20,000 Fans

A yearly staple at this point, the grade for the soccer jersey might be suffering from the fact that fans have just seen it way too much. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a cool design, but there have been better ones to compare it to – which is never a great thing for a promotional giveaway. It’s like “The Shirt” at Notre Dame (for those who get the reference) as an item that’s become a yearly thing, there is always something to compare it to.

Grade: 6.63/10. Highest grade: 8.5. Lowest grade: 4.0. Overall, most of the grades fell in the solid 6.0-7.0 range.

Irish Jersey

Saturday, September 16 vs. Twins | First 10,000 Fans 21+

Our Jordan Lazowski said it best on this one: “Your scores for the Southside Irish jerseys are disturbingly low folks.” The impassioned Lazowski considered this the most unique shirt/jersey giveaway this season and responded by giving it his highest grade. That being said, much of the rest of the page disagreed with him, using “mid” to describe it at least a few times.

Grade: 6.67/10. Duke mentioned that “The Irish jersey looks like an ideal Beer Pong uniform,” which, given his grade of 9.5/10, leads us to believe this is a compliment. The rest of the scorers, clearly, did not agree with him or Jordan.

Here are the final rankings for the items:

• Eloy Jimenez “Hi Mom!” Talking Bobblehead: 9.22/10
• 1993 AL West Division Champs Crewneck: 8.55/10
• Luis Robert Bobblehead: 8.43/10
• White Sox Bucket Hat: 7.65/10
• White Sox Hawaiian Shirt: 7.35/10
• Irish Jersey: 6.67/10
• Los White Sox Soccer Jersey: 6.63/10
• White Sox Hockey Jersey: 6.11/10
• White Sox Football Jersey: 5.68/10
• White Sox Basketball Jersey: 5.55/10

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with our crew’s rankings? Let us know in the comments!

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