Jimmy Fallon is taking a swing at baseball’s youngest audience, teaming with Major League Baseball on a pair of board books built around two of the sport’s most recognizable club names.
Your Baby’s First Word Will Be Dodgers and Your Baby’s First Word Will Be Yankees are scheduled for release on Feb. 2, 2027. The books will be published through Macmillan’s Feiwel and Friends imprint, with preorders already available ahead of their wider release in bookstores and other retail outlets.
The late-night host and best-selling author has aimed the project at families hoping to introduce baseball before a child is old enough to keep score, follow a pennant race or argue over a lineup card. Illustrator Miguel Ordóñez provides the artwork, featuring expressive farm animals delivering the names of the Dodgers and Yankees.
Fallon framed the concept as a playful alternative to the familiar household campaign for a baby’s first spoken word.
“Parents spend months hoping their baby says ‘Mama’ or ‘Dada’ first,” Fallon said. “These books are for parents aiming a little higher.”
For the Dodgers and Yankees, it is another way to bring club identity into the home — this time through sturdy pages, animal characters and the possibility that a future fan’s first call might come before his or her first trip to the ballpark.
