It has been a banner year for promotional bobbleheads in the world of professional baseball.

Who, after all, can forget the formidable Bryce Harper Gobblehead?

Still, the latest baseball-related bobblehead to be announced might be the cake-taker for coolest and quirkiest of all.

It’s all about the “Thumbs-Down Guy,” and it’s a nod the New York Yankees’ unexpected deep run in the Major League Baseball playoffs this year.

Let’s take a step back:

“Thumbs Down Guy” is actually a 54-year-old fan of the New York Mets named Gary Dunaier.

Dunaier was drowning in a sea of Yankees fans at a game between the Bronx Bombers and Tampa Bay Rays, which was being played at his Metropolitans’ Citi Field (due to Hurricane Irma), when pinstripe slugger Todd Frazier slammed a homerun. As the Yankees fans cheered, the bearded, bespectacled and suspender-wearing Dunaier stood with a dour expression and rendered a thumbs-down salute of defiance.

Images of Dunaier in pose went viral in New York media circles, and even became a tongue-in-cheek rallying cry for the Yankees. When players, especially Frazier, come up big in games, they’ve given each other an ironic thumbs down gesture.

Sharp to spot an opportunity, the Wisconsin-based National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum decided it wanted to create a limited-edition bobblehead of Dunaier doing his now-famous gesture.

Dunaier gave his blessing to the idea – and forward it will go. The Mets fan will be receiving a percentage of sales on the doll, which is scheduled to debut in February – right on the cusp of spring training for the 2018 season. The bobblehead will reportedly sell for $25 plus $8 for shipping.

“I think it’s great. I’m thrilled. I never expected anyone to make a bobblehead of me!” Dunaier told the New York Daily News.

According to the Daily News, the bobbleheads will be about 8 inches tall, individually numbered and will say “Thumbs Down Guy” on them. While the base will be pinstriped, there is no affiliation or licensing from the Yanks or MLB. The head will indeed bobble, but the thumb will remain stationary.

Dunaier and the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum aren’t the only ones doing a little cashing in on the gesture. A thumbs-down T-shirt with a graphic done in pinstripes is retailing online at Frazier’s store for $25. You can find another shirt here.

Of course, for us, nothing beats the bobblehead. From where we’re sitting, it gets two big thumbs up.

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