Cue the frozen-pond music as the Peanuts cast skates, watch Kevin apply some aftershave and all aboard the Polar Express. It's that time of year when the world falls in love, when people shop for big deals, when we watch holiday movies and when we look for meaning in the new season.
As you browse the Black Friday sale at mlbshop.com and score 25 percent off thanks to a big sitewide sale, which has been extended through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, the MLB.com Gift Guru returns with 10 classic holiday flicks to set the mood.
Elf: He's supposed to be small, but he's huge. Jose Altuve is his name, and he just took the top prize of Best Major Leaguer in the Esurance MLB Awards. Celebrate the 5-foot-5 Astros second baseman with his custom No. 27 jersey or his Fathead Player Wall Decal that will be almost actual size in your room. Did you hear that?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: No one wants a one-year membership to the Jelly of the Month Club. They want something big, like lights-on-the-roof big. They want the PROLIGHT 59FIFTY caps. MLB just announced that these New Era models will be worn by players in 2018 during all Spring Training games and in batting practice before all regular-season games. It's better than Eddie in your living room.
Home Alone: So you're eating junk food, watching rubbish, going through all of Buzz's private stuff and you have to defend your house. What's a solo baseball fan to do? Go to mlbshop.com/home_and_office and start by planting a big MLB team flag out front. Put on a movie, buy a toothbrush that's approved by the American Dental Association and keep the change, ya filthy animal.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: MLB general managers know the feeling: Trying to mix and match just the right characters as their own free-agent shopping season arrives. As for you, you'll never fit in, unless you go to the land of mlbshop.com/toys. Any future dentist can find puzzles, fidget spinners, plush toys, cornhole sets, games and more. Also, look at mlbshop.com/electronics for cool tech gifts, because there are mobile-device cases, chargers, headphones, power banks, flash drives and much more.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Never lose your wallet on the road thanks to the Sweet Spot Travel Pack. Got two dollars and a Casio? Add one of the many watch styles at MLBShop.com to your wish list. Hotel clerks loooove those.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966): Let's see him try to rip Buster Posey or Yadier Molina off a tree. You don't steal when those guys are hanging around in catcher's gear.
It's A Wonderful Life: Every time a bell rings, Mike Trout does something unbelievable. All the Angels center fielder did in 2017 was lead the Majors with a 187 OPS+ and hit .306 with 33 homers, 92 runs and 22 steals -- in just 114 games due to a thumb injury. Trout just turned 26 and already has six All-Star selections and a 55.2 JAWS, which basically makes him Hall of Fame material already and a hero in Bedford Falls. His gear is Wonderful, starting with that No. 27 Red Backer Pullover Hoodie.
Ernest Saves Christmas: What we have here is a failure to accumulate. Alex Colome accumulated the most saves in 2017, with 47 for Tampa Bay, and you can give someone his autographed baseball to start their own collection.
Miracle on 34th Street: "Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to," Fred Gailey said. It is the rally cry of most MLB fans today. To win a World Series, you have to earn a postseason berth and then navigate your way through a 10-team playoff field fraught with adventure on the way to a championship. The Astros just won their first title, a year after the Cubs ended a 108-year drought. And before that, in 2015, it was the Royals winning it all for the first time in 30 years. Who will it be in 2018? Define the outcome and start with gifts from Under Armour's women's collection.
A Christmas Story: Don't shoot your eye out and don't buy a leg lamp. We've got a better idea: Order the Rotating Desk Lamp. Would you look at that! And find a good knit cap so they can overdress for the winter.
Browse with no brick-and-mortar lines or parking-lot stalkers, feel free to watch for more sales if you want. But remember, moments before zero hour, it does not pay to take chances.