Our favorite time of the year. As I always say, Baseball is BACK! With baseball back, our commemoratives are back too. This post is once again a little later than I hoped to get it out, but honestly there’s been a severe lack of info going around! Whoever you are, collector, ballhawk, fan, or just someone passing by, I hope you have a great 2024 MLB season and enjoy all it has to offer.

I think 2024 will be another fun season for commemoratives, and in this article, I will be outlining everything that will be made and used this year, as I hear it, when it happens. This is your one stop shop for all commemorative updates and news this season.

As always, I will update this article throughout the season with more baseballs, details, and pictures, especially as I get 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.

As a general statement to start, once again, MLB has decided to forego league wide commemoratives for 2024, which is just another year, another disappointment. This is obviously extremely upsetting for us all. As a reminder, this means no Spring Training, Opening Day, as well as any holiday/league wide celebrations. This will be another year WITHOUT, these baseballs being used on field. The only league run commemoratives will be for international series (which are mostly dupes and lame), the All Star Game, and the World Series. I hope to get more intel on if these will ever make a comeback, or truly WHY they never returned.

As for me, I hope 2024 can be a big ramp up for this site. I want to finally have everything in my database go live here, have some more interviews, deep dives, as well as more guest posts. But without further ado…

Here they are, your 2024 new commemorative baseballs!

Overview

2024 Dominican Republic Series – On March 9th/10th the Boston Red Sox will take on the Tampa Bay Rays in the inaugural Dominican Republic Series at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This baseball was used for both games of that series. You may remember there was a commemorative for a 1 game trip that occurred in spring of 2020, but this is the first multi game series. Of course it has the “MLB World Tour” as is standard now, and a custom font for the wordmark, as well as the year. Nothing exciting here, super lame. You can buy these direct from Fanatics, here.

2024 Seoul Series – Opening series fun has returned! On March 20th and 21st, the Dodgers will take on the Padres at the Gocheok SkyDome in Seoul, South Korea, and use this ball for both games! This ball is honestly an extreme disappointment. I expected the logo to be just slightly more, with some Korean text, or the team logos as is the standard for an opening series. Overall, this is the same font and branding they planned to use for the formally planned Korean All Star postseason series that was cancelled. This ball does look pretty nice rubbed up though, decent logo size. This ball is currently available from Fanatics, here.

2024 Yankees vs Diablos Exhibition Series – In a very strange and surprise move, on March 24th and 25th at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, the Yankees and Diablos used this side panel commemorative baseball. This is the first Rawlings side panel commemorative baseball EVER used in game, and on top of that, the logo is stamped on what was a plain old Rawlings Official Major League Baseball. The logo itself, is quite strange. A weird looking wordmark that was used for the official promotion of the series, and then it’s got the stadium name and just the month and day, not the year. Plus there’s the fact it’s on a side panel! How strange is that, and how odd looking and unappealing is it. Currently, this ball as well is unavailable to purchase on the open market. I will keep tabs on this and update if it becomes available, but don’t hold your breath.

2024 Peter Seidler Memorial – In an incredible tribute to the man who owned the San Diego Padres, and also Rawlings, the San Diego Padres on their home opener (and domestic opening day) of March 28th used this “PS Heart” logo on their baseballs in game. This is the first time a commemorative baseball has ever been made/used to memorialize someone’s passing, and no more fitting way to do it than someone so involved in not only MLB, but the man who helped MLB purchase Rawlings in 2018. This ball is currently not available for sale anywhere.

2024 Petco Park 20th Anniversary – A STUNNER! For all home games in 2024, the San Diego Padres will be using this fantastic Petco Park 20th anniversary commemorative! The Padres never fail me, and I love this ball SO much. It’s got the warehouse at the forefront, the best and easily the most iconic feature of Petco. A big 20 in the San Diego Padres numbering font that looks fantastic, and it’s a simple idea executed super well! I am very very surprised to see the Petco Park corporate name on there though, as MLB does not allow this for on field regular season games generally. I somewhat expect this to get reviewed or changed, but maybe there was a change in the policy, I will keep an eye on this though, as the Globe Life Park baseball did have the corporate name on the mockup originally, and was changed before it hit the field. You can get these here, on eBay, from a trusted Rawlings dealer. My gripe here is the microprinting is something that will be very inconsistent on these. There were a few games this season that the ball was not used due to stock issues!

2024 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 “Space City Monday” at home. There will be 8 nights in 2024. This ball IS in use once again this season. You can get this ball directly from a trusted Rawlings dealer, here on eBay.

2024 Phillies City Connect – So we’re seeing a trend here. MLB or Fanatics is pushing for teams to have city connect balls in use when they wear their jerseys. This one was a bit of a surprise out of left field though. In 2024 the Phillies on all Friday home games will wear their “City of Brotherly Love” city connect jerseys, and use this commemorative baseball. First of all, what a horrible logo. The jersey font is rough, It takes a while to even see that this ball says “Love” with the o being the Phillies liberty bell logo. I like the liberty bell, but nothing else. Overall, not a fan of the city connect commemorative trend. Available via the Phillies directly for now. You can get these here, on eBay, from a trusted Rawlings dealer.

2024 Mets City Connect – Meh. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of these, they’re uninspired and a bit of a cash grab. That being said, It’s nice to have my home team do a commemorative for the first time in a while, and I was just able to snag this one. Pic is mine, a Francisco Alvarez groundout. The NYC is the exact center jersey wordmark worn on the Mets city connect jerseys. Used on every home Saturday, and the occasional other home game where they wear the jersey as well. You can get these here, on eBay, from a trusted Rawlings dealer.

2024 Cardinals City Connect – One of my favorites, the iconic birds on the bat with a little twist. In honor of St Louis, “The Lou” takes center stage. Another ball where the logo is simply the jersey’s wordmark. This baseball was ONLY used for the first city connect game on May 25th, a puzzling move and the first we’ve seen a team do this. I am honestly unsure why. You can get these here, on eBay, from a trusted Rawlings dealer.

2024 Rays City Connect – This one really really strays from the average. A logo that seemingly has little to do with the jerseys, this logo is an alternate for the city connect branding package. 3 Palm trees and a pelican, as well as a little Rays logo for the pelican’s eye that if you squint a lot you can make out. I snagged this ball the first game the Rays used them. Used on Saturdays at home, and some other games as well. You can get these here, on eBay, from a trusted Rawlings dealer.

2024 Toronto City Connect – This was the one that sparked a lot of intrigue this season, as I had a heads up on it early on. Inspired by the Toronto subway system, this Maple Leaf with a big T is the same logo the Blue Jays wear on their hats! Will be used on select dates this season, mostly Fridays. You can get these soon on eBay and I will link when you can. You can find these from a trusted Rawlings dealer on eBay, here.

2024 Mexico City Series – On April 27th and 28th at Alfredo Harp Helu Stadium in Mexico City, the Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies will face off in the 2024 Mexico City Series and use this commemorative baseball. They are using the same exact branding this season as 2023, so this ball is a carbon copy of the 2023 logo, except the 23 changed to 24. I hate when commemoratives get re-used. As I said last year “the wordmark is okay, the whole thing is just very okay” and I stand by that. This ball is currently available from Fanatics, here.

2024 London Series – The third MLB London Series took place on June 8th and 9th at London Stadium with my New York Mets taking on the Philadelphia Phillies. This ball was used for both games of the series. It’s got the MLB Logo, the year, and the MLB World Tour of course. It does not have much else, the same wordmark font as last season, and with all other branding the same the only that was changed is the 23 to a 24. Another duplicate ball and that’s a bummer. I was in attendance for this one and was able to snag two myself! This ball is currently available from Fanatics, here.

2024 Futures Game – Since 2017, there has been a very similar logo used 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, usually 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 Texas flair accordingly. I do like this one though, as it appears they have dropped the Sirius XM advertisement on the ball! Wow! First time in a long while we’ve had a Futures ball without an ad. You can get this baseball via a Rawlings dealer on eBay, here.

2024 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. Last season 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) and in past years the baseballs were signed on the sweet-spot. You can find these from a trusted Rawlings dealer on eBay, here.

2024 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 get this baseball on eBay, here, from a trusted Rawlings dealer.

2024 All Star Game Batting Practice – Since 2022 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 idea behind it is that a mix of MLB wanting to give ASG balls to fans but also being cheap at the same time lead to these.

2024 All Star Game – On July 16th at Globe Life Field, the 94rd Midsummer Classic will be held! This year, we have a pretty great logo for the All Star Game commemorative. I broke down the logo previously and here’s what I said: My initial reaction is that of glory, this is an absolute gem of a logo. I won’t go so far to say it is extremely complex, but it is everything an ASG logo should be. It has the outline of the state of Texas (which is the exact same as a part of the rangers logo) and it’s got a red and blue stitching theme, of course the colors of the Texas flag. It is surrounded by a circular outline as well, and I cannot exactly tell what the small logos are, but I believe the stars are stars of Texas, which happens to go along nicely with the theme of an All Star Game. It is a little small and busy, but overall is a solid baseball and that makes two straight years of pretty good ones! You can get this baseball here, on eBay, from a trusted Rawlings dealer.

2024 Jim Leyland Hall of Fame/Number Retirement – On August 3rd, when the Detroit Tigers take on the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park, the Tigers will be honoring Jim Leyland’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. August 3rd, officially billed as the “Jim Leyland Hall of Fame Celebration” certainly warrants a baseball, and as the Tigers have frequently done in prior years to honor their HOFers, These baseballs are not available at retail currently.

2024 Phillies Wall of Fame – On August 17 at Citizens Bank Park for Phillies v Nationals, 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. The Phillies have the small logo version in stock, and also keep large version autographed versions in stock as well. You can reach out to John at Phillies Authentics via email here to purchase. You can also currently find unsigned versions here on eBay from a trusted seller of commemorative baseballs, for a slightly higher price. Last year, the Phillies ended up using the large logo retail version on field by accident.

2024 Todd Helton Hall of Fame – In honor of Todd Helton being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Rockies had these Todd Helton Hall of Fame baseballs made and exclusively are selling them themselves. Overall, it’s basically an exact copy of the Larry Walker Hall of Fame ball the Rockies previously did. It’s a nice silhouette of Todd, with a Rockies logo, the year, and a big number 17. I “boo” the little trademark symbol at bottom right. I am pretty surprised it made it to the field. Currently these are not available at retail

2024 World Series – We’ve got a solid World Series logo this year, but as usual for the past few years I just expect this font and wordmark to make the ball. I’d love to be proven wrong. We’ll see the ball in September or so.

Not being used:
Orioles 70th (HUGE shame, big miss here)/Reds 155th Anniversary/Wrigley Field 110th

2024 Hank Aaron 715th HR 50th Anniversary – This is something in the past I would say is a lock, but the Braves have been pretty silent on it. I tried to reach out and heard nothing, they did a 40th ball as well as a ball in the 90s too. I was informed by a team employee that this would not be used, and it is another HUGE miss. What a travesty, and purely something the Braves should be ashamed of.

Retail/Exhibitions

2024 Cole Hamels Phillies Retirement – On June 21 before the game at Citizens Bank Park, Cole Hamels will officially retire a Phillie. As for other retirements, the Phillies will have a retail large logo baseball for this occasion, and they will offer them through their Phillies Authentics department. These baseballs are available via the Phillies, you can contact the great John Hollinger, via his email here to purchase. The ball will be basically identical to the other retail retirement logos they’ve done, with a depiction of Hamels, his name and a special design.

2024 Lou Gehrig Day – Unique, and surprising that we got something new. Quite simple and a retired number image of Lou’s iconic #4. In memory of my friend Adam Wilson, I am glad Lou Gehrig Day is celebrated and will be for years to come. This ball is only available from teams in auctions and special sales benefiting charity, and will not be sold at retail.

2024 Home Run Derby X – This year they changed it up, opting for a more traditional logo but with orange stitches, and making the money ball more like the normal home run derby money ball, with orange dyed leather. These are not available at retail at the moment. I have last year’s version if you may be interested.

Recap

Well, it should be another fun season, although a much slower one than average if I am being honest, with some extreme disappointments! I do hear that there are some very very unique retail balls in the process of being made, and that side has heated up in recent years. I wish more teams would do full season commemoratives, and I will continue to push for more to get used in the future. Regardless, as always, I am looking forward to what surprises this season brings. There is ALWAYS something new and interesting that catches me by surprise!

Here’s a link to my EHA Collectibles eBay store, where I currently have in stock lots of rare commemoratives and where I am listing more all the time (as well as autographs and other fun items)! Here’s my full commemorative inventory right now, email or message me to purchase.

Here is a link to Rawlings’ Amazon page where you can always find commemoratives (or standard ROMLBs) from 2024 and other years! Here’s a link to SportsProStop on eBay where you can find loads of newer commemorative baseballs from an official Rawlings Dealer.

My full commemorative master list is a bit out of date from last season, and mostly need to fix retail, WBC, and 2022/2023 stuff. I am still working on hosting the database of photos, hopefully to be completed within a few months.

I hope to bring more interesting content this year, and hear more feedback from my great readers. I still host this site at a net loss yearly, and I do it out of personal 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.

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, Instagram @EricAbneri, Twitter @thefrownyface, or even in the Just Baseballs Facebook group which I administrate. if you have any questions, comments, or just want to chat!