8/15 Edit: Updated with new baseballs, better photos, and more links to purchase!

Baseball is BACK! Once again, we have returned to normalcy after a very strange 2022 that featured a lot of last minute surprises after the lockout. I hereby formally present our 2023 Commemorative Baseball Preview. A little late, I will be the first to admit, life’s been busy! I hope this season finds everyone well, and that everyone has a great season of collecting, ballhawking, or whatever floats your boat.

2023 will be surely a great season for commemoratives, and in this article I will be outlining everything that will be made and used this year, as I hear it. As usual, I will update this article throughout the season with more baseballs, details, and pictures, especially as I get non rendering, in the flesh photos and on field game used baseball photos. Since we always get surprises, I know there will be multiple updates, and I will have some speculation (clearly noted, of course) to project at least a few of these surprises.

A general statement to start, once again, MLB has decided to forego league wide commemoratives for 2023, which is a depart from what I heard the goal was in 2022. This is obviously extremely upsetting for us all. I really had faith we would return to Spring Training, Opening Day, as well as a holiday/league wide celebration or two. This will be another year WITHOUT, these baseballs being used on field. The only league run commemoratives will be for international series, the All Star Game, and the World Series. I hope to find some info about the future of these baseballs sometime this season. As a note, I have added the WBC baseball (the qualifying baseball was used in 2022) at the bottom of the article, since it is an exhibition/not an official MLB game.

Without further ado, I present the commemorative baseballs of 2023!

Overview

2023 Rays 25th Anniversary – In 2023 the Tampa Bay Rays will celebrate their 25th anniversary with a clean simple commemorative baseball used in all home games. There really is not much to this smaller sized logo, it has the 25, as well as the Rays star logo, but no years just like the last commemorative they did for their 20th anniversary. This one features a Devil Ray as a nod to their past as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Overall, a bit lackluster, but it is surely better than nothing. Also, boo, trademark symbol! You can currently find these baseballs on eBay, here, from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 Diamondbacks 25th Anniversary – In 2023 the Arizona Diamondbacks will celebrate their 25th anniversary by using this incredible commemorative baseball for all home games. This is an absolutely gorgeous logo! It has 25th Anniversary, the years, the outline of the state of Arizona, the Diamondbacks Primary snakehead A logo, and overall is a really slick design with a nice shape. Also featured is “Arizona Born” at the top, which is a unique nice touch, as well as the cactus and the sun rays in the background. My only concern about this ball is that the minor details will get lost in printing, as we can see a very thin outline in multiple places and that usually translates poorly to the Rawlings stamping process. But it seems that it looks really nice, and came out quite well! This could be a tough one to find game used in perfect condition though. You can currently find these baseballs on eBay, here, from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 Rockies 30th Anniversary – For the first home series of 2023, the Colorado Rockies will be celebrating their 30th Anniversary with this commemorative baseball. The Rockies made a grave mistake on this one, choosing to use it for the first series of the season exclusively, only four games. This is absolutely a sad departure from years past, as the Rockies were one of the best teams for using full season commemoratives. I expressed to the team my displeasure with this, and how collectors really will suffer from the change. Hopefully they re-consider for next time. For the logo itself, even though it is basic I do like it a lot. I have long been a fan of the Rockies alternate “Colorado” logo with the Rockies and the baseball. Dates, Colorado Rockies wordmark, as well as a big 30 in jersey number font, it hits the basic elements I like about a commemorative logo. You can currently find these baseballs on eBay, here, from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 Marlins 30th Anniversary – This season the Marlins will be celebrating their 30th Anniversary with this great commemorative and by wearing throwback jerseys for Friday home games this season. They will wear the throwback jersey and use this ball for every Friday home game except for Lou Gehrig Day and Roberto Clemente Day. This logo is super ink heavy! Looks great, I am so glad they got it done in time for the season. This ball will end up being used for 11 games total. As for the logo itself, two stars for each World Series championship, the old Marlins wordmark and the new Marlins fish logo, as well as the dates and a big 30 in their jersey number font, it is really nice! You can now get these here, on eBay from a Rawlings dealer.

The photo is one that I was able to snag myself!

2023 Astros City Connect – I was told last season that the Houston Astros would continue to use their City Connect logo baseball for the games that they wear their jerseys, which is every Monday at home. I had some indication that they were considering changing up the logo, but they ended up sticking with this. I was told they may run out at some point this season, though (seems to not be the case). You can find the pictured version from last season, and possibly this season, on eBay here, from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 Mexico City Series – On April 29th and 30th at Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium in Mexico City, the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres will face off in the 2023 Mexico City Series. As I previously reported, it would be the wordmark, MLB logo, and year, but they also are adding MLB World Tour, which I actually love! The fact MLB is embracing international game as a more frequent thing is great. And I think it really adds to the ball. That being said, I am a fan of the ball, but it once again is quite basic and I wish they did something more interesting with an actual logo. The wordmark is okay, the whole thing is just very okay. You can get this baseball on eBay from a Rawlings dealer, here!

2023 London Series – The second MLB London Series will take place on June 24th and 25th at London Stadium with the St Louis Cardinals taking on the Chicago Cubs. As I previously reported, it would be the wordmark, MLB logo, and year, but they also are adding MLB World Tour, which I actually love! The fact MLB is embracing international game as a more frequent thing is great. And I think it really adds to the ball. That being said, I like the font of this one, but it once again is quite basic and I wish they did something more interesting with an actual logo. You can find this ball on eBay, here!

2023 Futures Game – Since 2017, it has been a very similar logo for the Futures Game. With a Sirius XM ad on top, and “All Star Futures Game” in the wordmark font of the All Star Game that year. It has the date below that, and an MLB logo below or in the middle of that. Nothing exciting, quite small in size, and has been generic for a while now. The font slightly changes year to year in line with that All Star Game’s wordmark, and this one has a tiny bit of flair accordingly. I do like this one maybe the most of the past few years. Oddly enough, this baseball debuted in April, and we usually do not see it until at the earliest June or so. I am unsure why it came out so early, but what a welcome development. I hope that is a sign for things to come! You can purchase it on eBay, here from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 Home Run Derby – Since 2016, MLB has used the same logo for the Home Run Derby, the trophy, a T-Mobile ad, and the year. In 2018 they reduced the size of this logo to be consistent with other logo size changes, and it has been identical ever since. A small change for this year is that the balls started to be signed under the logo for the first few rounds (the players only sign 100 or so of these, so the later rounds usually do not feature autographs) past years the baseballs were signed on the sweet-spot. This particular ball was a home run from Vlad in the first round. You can get these here, on eBay from a Rawlings dealer.

We should see this ball in a few months, and when we do I will update with photos and a link to purchase.

2023 Home Run Derby Moneyball – Since 2016, MLB has used the same logo for the Home Run Derby, the trophy, a T-Mobile ad, and the year. In 2018 they reduced the size of this logo to be consistent with other logo size changes, and it has been identical ever since. Always the exact same logo as the normal HRD ball, with the exception of one of the two panels (the “Official Major League Baseball” panel) being a pink dyed leather. You can buy these here, on eBay from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 All Star Game Batting Practice – Since last season MLB has used an alternate version of the ASG baseball in batting practice for the Home Run Debry and the All Star Game. These baseballs are NOT available at retail. The thought is that a mix of MLB wanting to give ASG balls to fans but also being cheap at the same time lead to these.

2023 All Star Game – On July 11th at T-Mobile Park, the 93rd Midsummer Classic will be held! This year, we have an absolute masterpiece for the All Star Game commemorative. From the green and white stitching, to the bright blue ink, to the complex and intricate logo, they have hit an absolute home run with this one. Of course like every ASG, we have the “Official Ball 2023 All Star Game” and the commissioner’s sig on the sweet spot, and below that, our logo. I love the laces, it is a unique color combo and it really goes well with the ink color. This logo though, this is the true gem of the ball. If we take a closer look we can see the basics, All Star Game wordmark, 2023, the MLB logo as always, and then we start getting into the smaller details. Instead of the Seattle Mariners’ classic S logo, they have decided to just go with “Seattle” and then for the star in between the “All” and “Star” we can see the Mariners alternate compass logo as the star. What a great little detail! Along with this, we have the Seattle skyline including the Space Needle, and that skyline turns into trees for the pacific northwest forests. There’s a sun poking out behind Mount Rainer that rises above the top border of the logo, and the five pointed shield logo represents the five states of the pacific northwest. My only quarrel is that there is a trademark symbol to the right of the logo. Overall, a smash hit, a grand slam, whatever you want to call it, this ball is a real star, and outshines most of prior years designs, especially 2022! You can currently find these here on Amazon from Rawlings directly.

2023 Phillies Wall of Fame – On August 12 at Citizens Bank Park for Phillies v Twins, as in years past, the Phillies will be inducting a Wall of Fame member (or members), and using this WOF commemorative baseball. Used yearly since 2018 (sans 2020) this is still a great looking ball and I have always enjoyed it. They will have game used authenticated versions of it after that game. I am not currently sure if the Phillies have unsigned versions of this ball currently, but I do know they keep signed versions in stock. You can reach out to Phillies Authentics via email here to purchase. You can currently find unsigned versions here on eBay from a trusted seller of commemorative baseballs.

So… a lot happened here. The Phillies ended up using the retail version on field by accident, and it was 100% not MLB approved. This is the first time something like this has ever happened to my knowledge, and it could have had a real impact on the game. Believed to be the largest logo ever used on field, I am sure this will be fixed next year. Quite the shock.

2023 Felix Hernandez Mariners HOF Induction – On August 12th the Seattle Mariners will be using a commemorative baseball to celebrate the induction of Felix Hernandez to the Mariners Hall of Fame. In years past, for Ichiro, Griffey, and Edgar Martinez, the Mariners have used a ball either for the weekend or just the induction day. Great ball, very similar to last season’s Ichiro in style, has King Felix’s silhouette from the perfect game celebration, his full name, Mariners hall of Fame, and a logo. Also with a baseball diamond in the background. Well done! Some of these are available on eBay, here.

2023 Miguel Cabrera Final Homestand – ¡Gracias Miggy! This simple but unique logo will be used for Miguel Cabrera’s Final MLB homestand, a set at Comerica Park. The Tigers logo, and a wordmark. I like it, but there is a lot left to be desired here, sadly. At least they did something, I had this as a question mark most of the year. This ball can be found on eBay, here, from a reputable Rawlings dealer. You can get these here, on eBay.

2023 World Series – A clean good looking minimalist logo. 2023 has been the year of the wordmark and modern fancy fonts for MLB. This is no different, two different modern fancy fonts for “World Series” and “2023” as well as a small MLB logo and a diamond. A diamond just feels right on a baseball! This ball can be found on eBay, here, from a reputable Rawlings dealer.

Speculation/Unlikely Scenarios

The following teams have indicated that they have no plans at the time to use a commemorative baseball this season (but obviously this can and may change): Red Sox, Cubs, Pirates, Rangers, Angels, Blue Jays, Royals, Nationals.

Retail/WBC/Exhibitions

2023 World Baseball Classic – Man, huge disappointment here! After some delay due to the pandemic, the World Baseball Classic is back! They rebranded the logo for the WBC, and it now looks like a hurricane instead of a globe. I have no idea what they were thinking honestly, but this looks absolutely atrocious. This is one of the worst logo failures I have seen in years. Of course we have the “Official Ball 2023 World Baseball Classic” on the sweet spot, and a large WBC logo below it, but clearly missing is that iconic gold ink stamping that has been used in years prior. Just like for the World Series, it has stopped being used since player complaints a few years back. Another disappointment. Along with this, this year has added a small trademark symbol to the right of the logo. Overall, this is a lackluster baseball, and they have done an extremely poor job with it. It will be used in all WBC games this March. You can find these here, on eBay from a Rawlings dealer.

2023 Rays 25th Anniversary First Pitch – The Rays have a standard “commemorative first pitch” baseball that they use for ceremonial first pitches, and I am delighted to see that they’ve used their commemorative anniversary logo this year on it! This baseball is impossible to get retail, and will be very hard to find.

2023 Home Run Derby X – I found out that HRD X has indeed been using special baseballs again, and they are unavailable at retail. Super cool event, and this ball is one I snagged myself! I probably own the most of these out of anyone in the world right now, haha. I absolutely had a ton of fun at this event and was lucky to be able to snag a bunch. I am selling a few for $200 each. Please email me ericabneri@hallofcommemoratives.com with more info!

2023 Home Run Derby X Orange Hot Streak – They have an EVEN COOLER bonus orange ball! Also unavailable at retail, and I want one of these, and I am going to try to go snag some, and I did! These are also incredibly rare. But what a great ball. Orange leather, white ink, and dark navy blue stitching. So so so unique!

Recap

This season overall should be fun! We are seeing some small changes and a lot of one day commemoratives become popular, and that certainly makes it interesting for collectors (as well as a bit difficult!). Regardless, I am looking forward to what surprises this season brings. There is always something new and interesting that catches me by surprise! I hope to bring more interesting content this year, as well as interviews with intriguing people. I host this site at a net loss yearly, and I do it out of enjoyment as well as a commitment to having this information in a centralized place for historical purposes. I really hope you enjoy reading and get something out of it.

My full commemorative master list is a bit out of date from last season, and mostly need to fix retail, WBC, and 2022 stuff. I am still working on hosting the database of photos, hopefully to be completed this season.

Here is a link to Rawlings Amazon page where you can always find commemoratives (or standard ROMLBs) from 2023 or other years!

Of course, I will be updating this post throughout the season with more pics, more info, and more baseballs! As always, thank you for reading, and you can always contact me via, email at ericabneri@hallofcommemoratives.com or Instagram @EricAbneri or Twitter @thefrownyface if you have any questions, comments, or just want to chat!