Cracker Jack has been running a promotion this MLB season along with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. There are commemorative game balls up for grabs. The grand prize is a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, with plenty of accouterments. Which is lovely! But we’re curious about these Rawlings Cracker Jack HOF baseballs.
The Cracker Jack “Crack Open the Hall of Fame” is a “Sweepstakes & Instant Win Game”. You get a chance at an instant prize with every purchase of those boxes and bags sugary, crunchy snacks. Unfortunately we’re very late to the game to be covering this. The promotion ends June 7th. But if you visit crackerjackhalloffame.com you can play for free and see all of the prizes and odds. Or you can just keep reading below for the details on some prizes and images of the official 2024 Rawlings Cracker Jack Hall of Fame MLB Baseball.
It’s a real Commissioner Manfred signature-stamped ROMLB-style leather game ball, by the way. Not some cheap souvenir Fotoball / logoball (we wouldn’t even be talking about it if it were one of those vinyl or plastic balls).
First, let’s looks at some of those prizes, there’s some pretty cool baseball merch in my opinion.
We’ve got a Cracker Jack HOF letterman jacket, fancy-schmancy! A slick red-white-and-blue button-down jersey, sweet! And some… socks. Just a pair of socks. Nice. Not thrilling, but nice! Also available are a Cracker Jack HOF League Baseball Cap, a custom engraved HOF Cracker Jack Bat, and some other trinkets and fun odds and ends.
I’m pretty impressed with this campaign; the classic Cracker Jack brand and color scheme just translates so well to baseball memorabilia. And its very similar to our OfficialGameBalls.com color palette, which is still being developed by the way (any graphic designer out there want to help fix our logo?).
Okay enough rambling, what’s up with them balls?
(66) Cracker Jack X Hall of Fame Commemorative Baseball: Sixty-six Instant Winners will receive a Cracker Jack X Hall of Fame Commemorative Baseball. Total ARV of each Instant Win Prize is $38. The ARV of all Cracker Jack X Hall Of Fame Commemorative Baseballs is $2,508.
Crackerjackhalloffame.com
Well now we know only 66 were made, or made available via this contest at least. Sixty-six is a strange number when you consider special order baseballs typically come in dozens, and they usually have minimums that probably start at one case, which is 6 dozen, or 72 individual baseballs. We’re thinking some of the marketing folks at Team Cracker Jack or parent company Frito-Lay got to keep a few of these baseballs. And why not? They’re nice little keepsakes and they’ve earned a little reward for a cool marketing campaign.
And finally, here’s that baseball. First, the original Cracker Jack mockup artwork, and then our ball from our collection, which we mocked up to show all angles and stamps, and have already entered into the Museum of Baseballs MLB Promo & Miscellaneous Gallery:
Not bad eh? It’s a simple addition of the red Cracker Jack logo stamped onto the league panel of an official ROMLB Hall of Fame Game logo baseball. And if you know your baseballs and Rawlings manufacturing well, you’ll realize like we did that Rawlings probably just took ready-made stock of of the MLB Hall of Fame Game balls and added a red Cracker Jack stamp to the previously empty league panel. Still well done and looks like original stamping, if not for the different ink color.
One suggestion, if they bring this contest back next year, we’d love to see an all-red stamped version with a special event commemorative Cracker Jack logo—how about a new design based on the full Cracker Jack logo with mascots Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo—on the lower panel, below official MLB/Manfred league panel stamping? And how about adding red and navy lace stitching for a perfect finishing touch? Then get those into BP and practice before MLB games across the league, so they can be considered official on-field game balls! Okay, not likely, but it’s fun to take these concepts up a notch in our imaginations.
Somewhat related: There is a little history of authentic Cracker Jack game balls and Major League Baseball, FYI. Here’s a real on-field commemorative logo Rawlings Cracker Jack baseball from the 1982 Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic Game. Not technically an MLB officially stamped gamer with commish or league president signature stamping, but close.
This event took place for a number of years in the 1980s, and has come back a few times in other seasons, and in other forms. It was only a Cracker Jack sponsored event for a few of those first seasons in the 1980s. Subsequent versions are made by Worth, without the Cracker Jack sponsorship. Worth?! No wonder they dropped that sponsorship!
Hopefully it’s not too late to go out and buy some peanuts and Cracker Jacks and win yourself a commemorative game ball… or a trip to Cooperstown! Good luck! Oh and if you happen to be visiting the Hall this summer, keep an eye out for this “Cracker Jack at the Ballpark” exhibit, led by honorary curator and MLB Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield.
