Clayton Kershaw Project Update

. . . Is it Baseball Season yet?

Even though its not I am now ready as I have received my jersey back from Pro Image with the customization that I sent it in for.

When I scored this jersey for a great deal on eBay as shown HERE the intention was to always get Kershaw's name and number sewn onto it. While all of my other jerseys have my name on the back but Kershaw is in a league of his own and I think even though he will opt out of his contract when he can he will resign and eventually retire as a Dodger and enter the Hall of Fame as one as well. It was finally time to get a jersey with his name on it.

As stated in the original post, the price was prohibitive coming from either the stadium or online stores so I went the blank back route and then once in hand have the numbers and name sewn on it. Took a little more than 4 weeks to get back but it is now back in my possession and it looks great. I have tossed it into my dry cleaner pile and will get it cleaned and pressed shortly. I will then put it on a hanger and it will wait there in the closet till the season begins to finally be worn.

This was my birthday gift to myself and at a fraction of the cost it would have put me back if I were to have purchased it at the stadium. Bring on the 2015 season already . . .

Have a blessed day and thank you for reading.

- Penguin

Clayton Kershaw Jersey Project

The 2014 Dodger season is over so it is time to prep for the 2015. Yes, it's only October but it's never too early to get ready for the promise of a new season.

During the last week of the regular season the Dodgers were running the promotion of 20% off of everything at the stadium and that could be combined with my 20% discount for being a season ticket holder. I knew at some point I was going to purchase a Kershaw jersey and it would be the 2nd (Kemp) player jersey I would own. The name on the front is and always will be more important and that is why all my other jerseys have my name on it and the number seven (wedding day number) instead of having multiple player jerseys. Kershaw is going to be a Hall of Famer and probably and hopefully a lifetime Dodger. It was time to get his jersey.

The wife and I went to the stadium and I was planning to buy the new batting practice jersey and wanted her opinion. Thought a nice new blue jersey would be nice (and cheaper) so that was my plan.  She didn't like the look of the new blue jerseys. The white stripe on the color and sleeve didn't look good in her eyes. Thought I would go check the regular game versions to see what deal I could get on those. As you may or may not know all the jerseys now are made of the "cool base" material and they have a look that the wife does just not like. She said I should have one of the older (pre 2013) ones as they have a nicer look and feel better. Problem was is that they do not make those anymore. Ugh. I ended up passing on both jerseys and switched my hunt to an older jersey and with that I was back on eBay searching.

Not much to choose from as all the sellers had Kershaw jerseys on BIN's at over $190. Well I went to plan B which was to do what I do with my personalized jerseys. Buy a blank one and take it to a Pro Image store near my house that sews the names and numbers on. The good thing about them is that they use authentic numbers as well so it makes the jersey look authentic and not like some cheap knock off. Found this one from a reputable seller with a high bid of $20 with a little more than a day to go. Following day I was the winner at just a little over more than that. Love off season purchases. So much cheaper. Jersey in hand and now going to get it customized.

In the end this is a way better deal and the wife will like the look of this one better. Win win for me.

Think Cure Autographed Game Used Jersey Hyun-Jin Ryu From August 9, 2013

Balls, check
Bats, check
Cards, check
Bobbleheads, check but debating
Jerseys..... Nope

That basically is my collection. I have stuck to my basics for years with cards only coming back into my collection this year. I have been debating the bobblehead part of my collection for awhile and guess I was just waiting for a good reason to quit collecting them. I had already decided to not add more to my collection as I sell them prior to the game they are given out at. I still had signed ones in my collection though.

Well Saturday's game was Hideo Nomo bobblehead giveaway day and I already sold them. Hideo is Asian. During the whole series with Tampa Bay it was the think cure weekend which is dedicated to helping fight cancer. My little brother Michael, God rest his soul, died from cancer 12 years ago in 2001. Right after 9.11. One very shitty month for out country and my family. One of the things that the Dodgers do is auction off jerseys off the players back via silent auction on the club level. They did this on Saturday and Sunday so when I arrived at the stadium I headed up to the level to see what was up for auction. The jerseys that were up for auction were from the previous game when the Dodgers came back in miracous fashion as they were losing 6-0 heading into the 7th inning and ended up winning the game in the bottom of the ninth with 4 runs. One of the best games of the year. So the jerseys were from a winning game and to boot an exciting one. There was a sign that stated that Kershaw, Puig, Gonzalez, etc were going to be up for bid on Sunday so I assumed that most of the auction would be that day and Saturday's jerseys would have less traffic. They had Crim (coach), Capuano, Ellis, etc. The biggest names were Matt Kemp and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Well I as I have plenty of Matt Kemp autographs so I wasn't looking for more and if I wanted a jersey of him I would just do it sometime in the future the IP way. A few of the other jerseys were dirty and didn't really care for them even though some people would prefer them that way as they know it was used during the game. Well I made it to almost the end of the table and I saw one that I wanted. Mr. Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Ryu didn't play in Friday's game as his pitched the day prior. That meant his jersey was clean and free of dirt and was white. Ryu is Korean which is means he also is Asian. So I made that connection between Nomo and Ryu. So two of my favorite Asian Dodgers ( the other being Kuo ) were represented in different ways on the same day. Now I just had to see if I could win it. If I could I knew it would go for a great cause and any little thing I could do to help beat cancer is a plus and getting something Dodger related in return is just icing on the cake.

The jerseys are won via silent auction and me being an eBay whore this was just up my alley. This also gave me the reason to fully quit my bobblehead collection. I rationalized that I can and will sell my bobbleheads for the same amount that I would pay for this jersey if I was lucky enough to win it. Now it was time to win the jersey. 

I put in my first bid and was told good luck and that the auction would end at 2:45. Headed back to my seats and waited until it was roughly 2:40. Ran back to the club level to see the auction to its end. Saw that someone else bidded on the jersey and with at least 10 people milling around I didn't know if that person was around. The gentleman running the auction stated "one minute" to get all your bids in. The catch was that you had to have your name, phone number and bid price finished prior to the end of the auction. If you were still writing it wouldn't count. Well I picked up a pen a few feet away and counted backwards in my head so I knew how much time I had left and made sure I wasn't standing right in front of the jersey to show where my interest was. Once I got down to 30 seconds I went to the paper and started writing my new bid in while counting still in my head and when I hit 10 seconds I was done. No way could someone come up and write all the information needed in 10 seconds to beat me. And nobody did. I had just won my first jersey.





Rookie sensation Ryu certified game used jersey from a great game with his autograph in a nice silver finish. It's great to have this as a collector but more so that I helped cancer research. My bobbleheads up now up for sale ( eBay ID : SKORPNIX if you want to look ) and I can more than say that it is an even swap and more fulfilling knowing where the money went.