WPBL Merch Wishlist: 10 Items I'd Buy Instantly
With a quick look at the swag that has already arrived
Each player who participated in the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League tryouts was given a matching hat and t-shirt. As soon as I saw the first pictures of batting practice, one question was top of mind: where can I get that shirt?
Thankfully, the league was ready to make the most of the hype and sold more than $20,000 in merchandise to fans over the first weekend. My wife and I were among them. Stephanie went with the sand-colored hooded shirt and a coordinating hat. I wanted what the players were wearing so I got the black t-shirt and red logo hat I saw on Instagram. Our caps took a bit longer to arrive than the shirts, but a little over a week ago our ensemble was finally complete.
The 65/35 polyester-cotton blend feels nice and I love how the Levelwear shirt is tagless. The shirt runs a bit large but fits well overall and the hat size adjusts nicely. Plus, it looks great! Both items are fine additions to my closet.
I’m an obsessive avid collector. I’ve spent a fair amount of money on baseball merchandise in my day – I wouldn’t be shocked if that number approached five figures in nearly 20 years of following the game1. I love my WPBL shirt and hat but this part of my personality craves for more.
What other memorabilia would I buy in a heartbeat if it became available? Here’s a quick top ten wishlist of items I’d love to see in the WPBL store:
10. Media Guide
A pretty niche first item, I’ll admit. But hey, this is my personal top ten list!
I used to collect these books. (Heck, my face was even in a few of them back when I worked for the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland A’s.) A media guide is a comprehensive publication about a sports team, complete with franchise history, player statistics, and background information on everyone in the organization. Click here to see an example of the 2025 Chicago Cubs media guide and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s player page.
The WPBL will feature dozens of baseball players many of us have never heard of before. I’d love a handy guide to get to know these new players better – where are they from, what is their baseball background, what sort of statistics are available? It would be a big undertaking to create, and most MLB teams just distribute the information digitally these days. But I used to love picking these up at the stadium store and would gladly buy one covering the new league.
9. Koozie
We’re a big koozie household. (Apparently they’re called foam “can coolers” in some parts of the country.) When friends come over for a drink, they’re greeted with a basket of vibrant, colorful choices from breweries, bars, and ballparks around the country.
I enjoy collecting them as they’re usually a very approachable price point if I want to bring a souvenir back but don’t want to break the bank. They can be a great conversation starter too – anyone who picks up the League Park koozie you see in the top right gets to hear about our unexpectedly amazing time we had visiting the historic ballpark, for example. It’d be cool to see koozies with the WPBL logo, plus one with each of the new teams’ branding.
8. Mini-Bat
Mini-bats are a ballpark staple. Like koozies, you could have just a general league logo bat, and/or one for each of the inaugural teams. They’re a big hit with kids and a cool item to get autographed.
Stephanie and I pick up one whenever we visit a new ballpark for the first time. We intend to plan our 2026 stadium trip around the WPBL season, and a new mini-bat would be a great addition to our collection.
7. Pride Gear
This seems like a no-brainer. WPBL Advisory Board chair Maybelle Blair came out in 2022. The league’s players and fanbase feature members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies alike. Offering pride gear is one very small way the WPBL can show their league is truly for everyone to enjoy. (Even bigger ways: fostering safe spaces for the queer community at games and amplifying the authentic voices of their player base.)
When you rep a team on your shirt, you show support to the players who wear that logo. Showing off that same team logo reimagined with the pride flag can be a different, deeper way to show support to those in the dugout and help reinforce a sense of belonging.
I love seeing pride gear at WNBA games. Sign me up if the WPBL follows suit.
6. Authentic Game-Used Memorabilia
As I’ve written before, one of the reasons I’m so excited to (hopefully!) travel to the first ever WPBL game is the opportunity to witness history.
I’ve seen some pretty cool baseball games in my life. I’m lucky to have been in the ballpark for postseason clinches, two no-hitters2, Opening Days, playoff games, player debuts, and more. That’s the great thing about baseball – you never quite know what you’re going to see when you head to the park.
In May 2026 there are going to be so many firsts. First strikeout, first home run, first hit, first win, first walk-off, player debuts, countless storylines, you name it.
Major League Baseball has a robust authentics program. Notable items receive a hologram sticker and sometimes make their way to auction. I’m not saying the WPBL needs a system quite like this, but I would absolutely jump at the opportunity to own a piece of history3. The Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league just auctioned off a number of game-worn jerseys from their inaugural season.
WPBL game-used lineup cards, jerseys, rosin bags, cleats, bases, baseballs – send some to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, let the players keep a bunch of items, and put the rest up for auction for the fans.
5. Bobbleheads
I have a secret.
My secret is I’m obsessed with bobbleheads.
The photograph below represents approximately 0.83% of my entire bobblehead collection:
The vast majority of them are in totes in the basement as I’ve collected too many to display over the years. When scheduling baseball games to go to each summer, we’ll try to go to a bobblehead day if all else is equal. I don’t expect the WPBL to do any bobblehead giveaways during their first season – I’m sure it’s not exactly cost-effective – but being able to buy a bobblehead of the league’s biggest stars would be a real treat. If individual players are not an option, you could go for generic bobbleheads of women in each team’s jersey.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is a great stop if you ever find yourself in Milwaukee. They also have a robust online store and partner with teams and organizations around the country to produce different figurines. They sell bobbles for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and a number of other female athletes past and present. I’m sure they could produce a pretty sick Kelsie Whitmore bobblehead if given the opportunity.
4. Official On-Field Baseball
If and when the league gains enough exposure, girls across the world will be dreaming of playing the Women’s Pro Baseball League. How cool would it be for them to play catch in their backyard with an official WPBL baseball, complete with the league logo, just like their idols on the field?
For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to catch a foul ball, I hope there are baseballs available for purchase. What else are we supposed to get autographs on if not an official on-field baseball?
3. Baseball Cards
Kate of @wpblnews on Instagram and I were recently chatting about how much we wanted to see WPBL baseball cards next year. (As a quick aside, you should follow Kate on your preferred social media site – @wpblnews creates impressive videos about the league and does a great job sharing all the other news, too.)
I don’t think they need to go full blind-pack trading card approach, instead just make a few team sets available for purchase. Jackie Kalafut with HJPhotoCo. Sports Photography took a bunch of great headshots of all draft-eligible players that would look pretty sweet on a baseball card. I’d happily buy the whole set. This would be another great way to get to know the players, and another vessel for fans to acquire autographs.
2. Jerseys
Another slam dunk idea, I’ll say, and one I’d be shocked if they don’t implement. Hopefully once team names are announced we’ll see t-shirts and hats with the new branding hit the online shop. I hope we see jerseys available for purchase as we get closer to the season, and I imagine we will.
1. Player Name & Number T-shirts, a.k.a. “Shirseys”
Unlike jerseys, it’s no guarantee they’ll make WPBL shirseys. Yet this is the #1 item at the top of my wishlist.
Yes, I have a ton of bobbleheads. But these player name/number t-shirts might be my true obsession. I just love wearing them! They’re less expensive than a jersey and a great way to snapshot my appreciation for a personal favorite at a particular moment in time. Half of my closet is full of t-shirts like you see above4. If I’m not in business casual wear, I’m usually in a shirsey.
Even if a team or league sells shirseys, it’s not always a guarantee you can find everyone available for order. My WNBA collection consists of Angel Reese, Marina Mabrey, Napheesa Collier, and Kiki Iriafen, but it would certainly contain a few more 2024 Chicago Sky players if they made shirts for them.
An exhaustive shirsey offering by the WPBL would do major damage to my bank account. Hopefully they sell a few players, at least. As the Futurama meme says: shut up and take my money!
Thank you for reading. I think this is my longest post to date, but as you can tell it’s a topic I am very passionate about. 🤣 I’ll fully admit there are some prohibitive logistics and overhead costs associated with stocking some of these items, but hey, it’s a wishlist after all.
What merch do you want to see? What did I miss on my top ten list? Get in touch with a comment below.
Oh, to be young again, without bills or responsibilities, when buying a bright orange authentic alternate Miami Marlins Reed Johnson #5 jersey (despite never caring much about the Marlins in my life) was something I could validate.
Shoutout to Cole Hamels and Sean Manaea.
Back in college when I was buying random Marlins jerseys I was also super into authentic memorabilia. Around this time I picked up an 8-foot banner of Reed Johnson that hung inside Wrigley Field, the jersey Reed Johnson was wearing when he was traded away from the Cubs, an autographed broken bat used in a game by Reed Johnson…
(I was really into Reed Johnson.)
Kyle Schwarber, Seiya Suzuki, Corbin Carroll, Josh Bell, Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado, Liam Hendriks, Chris Sale, Charlie Blackmon, William Contreras, Nico Hoerner, Khris Davis, Eric Thames, Justin Verlander, Luis Valbuena, Hector Rondon, Paul Konerko, Anthony Rizzo, the list goes on and on and on and on.
Love this!!! I plan to highlight noteworthy merch on my podcast "The Happy Chasers" as I find out about it.
If they put out physical media guides, I'd be in heaven. Baseball cards and player T-shirts would also be awesome. :)