Going, going, gone! Interest in Paul Skenes bobblehead draws ‘unprecedented’ demand in Pittsburgh

By Canadian Press on April 19, 2025.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes doesn’t just make baseballs go fast. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ young ace can make merchandise fly off shelves, too.

Fans began lining up outside PNC Park more than five hours before Saturday’s game between Pittsburgh and Cleveland in hopes of landing a bobblehead featuring the reigning National League Rookie of the Year.

The gates didn’t open until 90 minutes before the first pitch. Lines stretched out in all directions from the park early Saturday afternoon, including one that snaked over the Roberto Clemente Bridge behind center field, which links Pittsburgh’s North Shore to the city’s downtown.

Demand grew so great that the club — which has endured its share of public-relations issues during the season’s opening weeks — pledged to make sure everyone in the expected sellout crowd who did not receive one will have an opportunity to obtain one.

Team president Travis Williams called interest in the bobblehead “unprecedented.”

The promotion also happened to align with Skenes’ fourth start of the season. The top pick in the 2023 amateur draft entered Saturday 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA in 2025.

This is hardly the first time an item featuring Skenes drew outsized attention. A one-of-a-kind card featuring Skenes sold for more than $1 million at auction last month.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Will Graves, The Associated Press