Every family has one: the person who already owns the jersey, the signed ball and the team mug. Buying for them gets harder every year. The trick is to stop buying more gear and give them something about them.
1. Find out who shares their birthday
Sports fans love trivia, and there's no better trivia than their own birthday. Babe Ruth was born on February 6. Willie Mays on May 6. Michael Jordan on February 17. Wayne Gretzky on January 26. Lawrence Taylor on February 4. Tell a fan which legends share their birthday and you'll hear about it at every family dinner for a year.
That's the idea behind the Birthday Books. Each one is a printable almanac with a page for every day of the year, listing every player born on that date:
- The Baseball Birthday Book: 22,632 major leaguers since 1871
- The Basketball Birthday Book: 5,105 NBA players since 1946-47
- The Hockey Birthday Book: 8,801 NHL players since 1917-18
- The Football Birthday Book: 28,526 NFL and AFL players since 1920
2. Turn their page into the card
Print their birthday page and tuck it inside a card, or frame it. It costs nothing extra and it's the part they'll actually keep.
3. Make it official
Each book comes with a fillable birthday certificate naming their three "birthday twins," and a fill-in lineup card where they build a team using only players born on their birthday. It's a good one for kids, and a surprisingly competitive one for adults.
4. Give them the whole year
Each book also includes a printable 2027 calendar with a player birthday on every day. Hang it in the kitchen or the man cave and the gift keeps going all year.
For the household that follows every sport
If your family is split between baseball, basketball, hockey and football, the Sports Birthday Books Bundle has all four books for $29, which is $19 less than buying them separately. It's an instant download, so it works as a last-minute gift too.
The Birthday Books are an independent fan project and aren't affiliated with MLB, the NBA, the NHL, the NFL or any team.