2018 GLB Gift Guide, part 1: Ballpark Blueprints

With the holiday season in full force, chances are you are at least starting to think of what you'll be getting your loved ones for the upcoming holidays. And as Padres fans, you hopefully have other Padres fans in your life worth gifting something special.

There are a lot of great gifts for baseball fans out there, but also a lot of bad ones. So over the next few weeks I'll be sharing some of my favorite gift ideas for the baseball (and especially Padres) lovers in your lives. And maybe you can point your family and friends towards Gaslamp Ball if they're trying to come up with gift ideas for you!

My first choice is a special one, because it comes attached with a cool promotion and giveaway! If you were around a few years ago you might remember these Ballpark Blueprints.

The prints come in a bunch of different sizes, and this year they've expanded their offerings to include canvas prints, framed prints, metal prints, men's and women's t-shirts, blankets, travel mugs, coffee mugs, and ornaments. So no matter your style or price range, you are likely to find something awesome for yourself or a loved one.

I personally have had one of their Petco Park prints for a few years now and I absolutely love it. It's a really cool piece of art that's so different from anything other kind of baseball souvenir, and it goes well with all different kinds of decor.

Thomas Young, a designer for Ballpark Blueprints, reached out to me with a cool offer to pass along to all of you guys. He'll be giving away a print or shirt to one of our readers. We're gonna have a good ol' FanPost contest here on Gaslamp Ball, and the winner (who will be chosen randomly) will get a print or shirt of their choice for free!

I'll choose a winner at the end of this month, so get your fanposts in by 11:59 PST on Friday, November 30th. Multiple fanposts will earn you multiple entries, but put some effort into them and don't just write random words to fill up space. And don't worry, you don't have to be the best writer or know a ton about baseball to do this. Here are some ideas of things you can write about:

• Your favorite or least favorite memory from the 2018 season
• How you got into baseball or became a Padres fan
• Your biggest baseball influence
• Your favorite or latest piece of Padres memorabilia
• The best baseball-related gift you've ever gotten
• Your plans for Spring Training 2019
• Why the Padres should bring back Tim Stauffer

You can write something analytical about the team or a player, or just talk about something Padres/baseball-related that is personal to you. I love doing these contests because everyone always comes up with something cool to write about and I love reading all of them and getting to know you Gaslamp Ballers. Oh, and since I know many of you live outside of the United States and may be wondering - yes, this giveaway is also open to you! You may just have to wait a little while longer to receive your prize if you win.

For those who don’t win, or who just don’t want to enter the contest, you can still take advantage of a special promotion being offered. Just go online to Ballpark Blueprints and use the code GASLAMP at checkout for 10% off your order, from now through December 24th.

But hopefully I'll be seeing lots of fanposts over the next week and a half. If you need a refresher on writing fanposts, check out our handy little FanPost Guide or just shoot me any questions you have via Twitter (@jodes0405 or @gaslampball) or email, or leave it down below in the comments, and I'll be happy to help you as best as I can.

Good luck!