Game Worn (allegedly) Dodgers 2015 Memorial Day Jersey

I picked up this jersey from the MLB Auctions site.  This is Tim Wallach's "game worn" jersey from the Dodgers 6-3 win over the Braves on Memorial Day this year, May 25, 2015.  I'm not a huge fan of these "special" jersey's MLB seems to trot out for more and more occasions.  In fact I find it to be a bit of a vulgar marketing gimmick and affront to the integrity of many of the traditional teams' uniforms.  The Yankees, Dodgers, and other non-Marlin and Rays type franchises should not be degrading their uniforms in this manner.  Yet MLB knows suckers like me will open up their wallets for this stuff.  Granted, I'm a very high end sucker, and wouldn't shell out for a mere hat from the souvenir stand.  I go for the game worn stuff.

All self-important sanctimonious griping aside, this jersey is actually very nice looking in person.   It looks much better in hand than it does on t.v., the Dodger blue nicely compliments the camouflage (at least I think it's called camouflage, I'm not a big military surplus store shopper).

I'm also not sure it's fair to call this "game worn."  For one coaches don't "play" in the game.  That's a distinction that I'm willing to over look.  They're involved in the game, much more so than say a pitcher out in the bullpen who doesn't see any action, and far more than a paying spectator.  So that's not really my issue.  My issue is, that I don't think Tim Wallach ever wore this jersey.  From what I've seen this year, Wallach typically goes with a blue long sleeve coolbase Dodgers undershirt with the short sleeve Dodgers windbreaker on top.  Maybe he wears a jersey under it, but I kind of doubt it.  I mean, that seems warm enough, and who's going to know?  It's not like he's going to have to pinch hit.  Below all the jersey pictures, I've included some pictures from the Memorial Day game that these were worn.  The photos are from Jon SooHoo's Dodger Photo Blog.  I'm not sure if  I'm allowed to use them, but I didn't see anything that said I couldn't either.  So I'll leave them up until someone complains.

2014 Dodgers Post Season Game Worn Road Jersey

Last week I posted about the game worn 2014 Dodgers Post Season home jersey I picked up from MLB.com.  I did a little more damage than that.  I also bought Wallach's 2014 Dodgers Post Season road jersey.  Like the home jersey, this appeared on the MLB.com auction page (I was tipped off to both listings by a reader).  And the like the home jersey, I opted not to bid on the jersey, deciding it would be irresponsible and a bit frivoulous to blow money on a jersey I don't really need (I'm a card collector after all).

But after this listing (like the listing for the home jersey) ended without anyone placing a bid, and I had a couple of days to dwell on it, "Want" won out over "Need" and when I contacted MLB I inquired if I could buy both jersey's.  They were willing to take my money.

This one was actually a little bit cheaper.  I presume that's because it lacks the "Post Season" patch on the sleeve.  Which begs two questions, (1) did all the Dodgers road jersey's lack the "Post Season" patch, and (2) was this the jersey Wallach wore during the regular season as well?  I can't imagine he went through too many jersey's as bench coach, and if MLB wasn't going to add the patch, why incur the expense of a whole new jersey?  In any event, it's a very nice jersey (the cool base thing is no gimmick, it's awesome material) and one I plan to wear on the rare occasion I wear a jersey.

Here are some more pictures of the jersey:

UPDATE

I snooped around a little bit about the missing "Post Season" patch on the sleeve, and feel confident in the information that has been provided to me.  It's rare but by no means unheard of.  Here's a link to the answer provided to me on the subject.

Also below is a picture of Clayton Kershaw in the road jersey with the patch clearly visible on the sleeve.

2014 Dodgers Post Season Game Worn Home Jersey

This is Tim Wallach's jersey from the 2014 National League Divisional Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.  I picked it up from MLB.com auctions.  Sort of.  I actually didn't bid on it.  I deemed the opening bid to be too much.  Apparantly everyone else did too, because nobody bid on.  But after about a day of making rationalizations in my head after the auction ended, I emailed MLB.com to see if they would still sell it to me.  Obviously they did, and that's it above.

The reasoning that finally won over my frugal hesitations was that I don't have a #29 Wallach Dodgers jersey.  I have a home and away #26, but not #29.  This jersey was actually cheaper than buying an authentic one off of the MLB.com shop.  Assuming of course, they would even allow me to custom order one, which they don't.  When one tries to do so, they are met with a message about former players not being available for purchase due to a contract of some sort.  I feel like coaches should be in the drop down bar the way current players are on the MLB Shop, but rather than argue this point I just went ahead an purchased this one.

The big revelation for me with this jersey is the tagging MLB uses in the neck now.  It's one of those square bar codes with the the players name, number, size, and the year printed on it as well.  I much prefer the old method of the stiching a mini name-plate in the neck.  When you scan the bar code you get a very generic message.  I included a screen shot below.  If it linked to something a little more exciting, I might be more accepting of this new modern tagging.  But it doesn't, and I'm not.

In all likely hood, this will be a walking around jersey for me.  I know collector's of game used stuff see this as some sort of unforgivable sin, to which I have a couple of retorts.  I need, or least want, a #29 Wallach Dodger jersey to wear to games and the like, and MLB won't sell me one.  Framing is wildly expensive, and I have a finite number of walls in my house.  And finally, shut up.  If I want to wear it to a ball game, I'm going to wear it.  Were not talking about Abner Doubleday's first ball being used for a game of beer pong at a undergrad rugby social.  We're talking about a jersey worn but a bench coach for two games nearly two decades after he last played in a Major League game.  It's not like I'm defacing centuries old priceless art (no disrespect to Coach Wallach).

If anyone has any photo matches from the series with the Cardinals last year, please share them.

Here are some more pictures of the jersey:

Black Cooper Game Used Bat, autographed

I'm not a huge collector of bats, but that doesn't mean I ignore them.  I just won't pay the huge price that often gets hung on them.  This is "only" my second Wallach bat.  I picked it up from a seller on the "Game Used Universe" site.  He also gave me a great deal on a bat that belonged to Oddibe McDowell, who like Wallach, also won the Golden Spike Award (1984 Arizona State).  If you collect bats, I suggest looking at this guy's other listings.

There are three things I want to discuss about this bat.  The first is the color.  It's black.  Which while in and of itself is not unusual, it's unusual for Wallach.  I can't find a photo of him using this bat anywhere.  He's using a black bat on his 1983 Topps card, but on that card the handle is also black.  Wallach also appears to be using a black bat on his 1990 Topps card.  I can't say for certain, but I think that the bat on that card is the same as the one above (same model, I'm not claiming it's literally this bat).  The photo quality on the 1990 Topps is just too poor to tell.  However it, it would be the right era.  As the only other Wallach bat I have is also a Cooper, all natural wood color, and the period Wallach used that bat appears to be from 1990-91 from the photo matches I could find.

The other thing I look for in bats is pretty basic, whether or not their cracked.  I prefer they not be.  I'm not sure which is more "valuable," broken or intact, but I prefer intact.  It drives my wife nuts, but I have to have something in my hands.  If I'm watching a Syracuse basketball game on my couch, chances are there's a football, or tennis ball, or baseball in my hands, which I spin or fire up at the ceiling as the intensity of the game may demand.  Wooden baseball bats have gradually worked there way into my rotation as a preferred prop for watching sports.  As such, I prefer to be swinging an intact one while stressing over free throws at the end of a Georgetown game, or counting down outs in October (disclaimer, my wife insists swinging a bat inside is not ok.  But she also says throwing a football inside isn't either, and we all know its fine so long as you have a good arm).  This one is far too cracked to swing.  I'm pretty sure it would split into pieces if it were swung with any force.  But it looks nice.  The Oddibe bat, if your interested, is in perfect shape.  It's coming to Spring Training in Scotsdale with me (I go as a paying spectator, I'm actually trying to make a 40 man), and I'm going to take some actual cuts with it off my old man, an aging former college pitcher who still throws pretty decent B.P.

Which brings me to the third thing I look for in a bat, it's appearance.  This one looks awesome.  It's got a good amount of pine tar, the finish is very nice, everything about it is pretty sweet.  Except for the autograph.  I've said it many times, but I am not an autograph guy.  If I didn't get it myself, then I have no use for it, and even then, I get a much bigger kick out of a hand shake, or photo op, than a I do a signature.  The Wallach signature on this bat only detracts from it for me.  Wallach wasn't swinging bats with his own signature in his playing days, and at it's core this is supposed to be a genuine relic from his playing days.  I'd prefer it were left as is (or was?).

2011 Game Worn Dodgers #26 road Jersey

This jersey has been hanging in my closet for over a year now.  I picked it up from the same seller I purchased the 2011 #26 home jersey from.  Literally, like a day after the first one arrived in the mail, this popped up on ebay, and I figured hey, if I'm blowing money on this stuff, why get two when it'll only cost twice as much.

I likely would have passed on this jersey, as I'm trying to collect all the Wallach cards, not all the jerseys, but for one thing.  I'm 90% sure this is the same jersey Wallach was wearing the first time I met him at a Spring Training game.  My concern is with the #4 patch. At Spring Training that wasn't there, as the Dodgers didn't decide to wear the patch until March 30.  So would they have given Wallach a whole new jersey, or just add the patch to his existing jersey?  I can't imagine that as a third base coach, Wallach went through very many jersey's in 2011, so if they only added a patch, then this is probably the same jersey.

I've seen the Dodgers play at Salt River twice in the last three years.  The second time Tim didn't make the trip but his son Matt was with the Dodgers, and as I recently posted, I randomly ended up with that jersey a year later as well.  I don't think I'm going to be able to see the Dodgers at Salt River this year but I'm still trying to make it work if for no other reason than to see if I can keep this jersey streak going.

At some point I plan to frame this jersey, but right now it's #2 or #3 on the depth chart for Wallach jersey's I want to frame, so another year or so hanging in the dark seems likely.  It came with a certificate of authenticity too, but as those don't impress me very much I didn't bother to scan it.  But some random ebay seller signed his name to a piece of paper alleging its the real deal.

Matt Wallach Dodgers Jersey

In addition to cards, readers have sent and offered a variety of other items.  From the very cool (old laser wire photos), to the very odd (a Youppi toy), to the just plain weird (recently a well intentioned gentleman offered a bat along with a long detailed story about how sentimental the bat was to him and he didn't want to part with it, I suggested he just keep the bat).

This jersey is easily the coolest thing to be sent by a reader.  It's a Matt Wallach Dodgers jersey from a Spring Training game in 2012 played on St. Patrick's Day against the Rockies at the Salt River Complex in Scottsdale, Arizona.  It's not technically game worn, as Matt didn't get into the game.  He did get his name on the scoreboard line-up though, as he was sent in to pinch hit only to see the third out made from the on-deck circle.  I know all of this because I was at the game.

Last week, Austin from Redondo Beach, California (who has previously sent cards) contacted me and said he had a Matt Wallach jersey and wanted to know if I was interested in it.  Austin had been at Dodger Fan Fest recently and bought one of the "mystery bags" they were selling.  This was what was inside his.  So I thanked him and immediately took him up on his offer.

I'm not quite sure what to do with it now that it's in hand.  I have backlog of jersey's I want to get framed, and no disrespect to Matt, but this isn't at the front of the line.  It's my exact size, and would probably fit me great, but I'm a little hesitant to do so since it's autographed.  Here are some more photos of it:

I mentioned this earlier on this blog, but Tim Wallach was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame last week.  As a result, he's done a couple of radio interviews, and been on the MLB Channel talking about the induction.  During one of the interviews he mentioned that Matt has decided to move on from professional baseball and start the next phase of his life.  I was disappointed to hear this.  I can't begin to imagine how difficult a decision it has to be to walk away after getting as close a Triple-A and Spring Training games without ever breaking through.

That line of thought led me to another question, "how much stuff are players allowed to keep?"  If I'm Matt Wallach, or any other young player trying to reach the majors, I'm hanging on to souvenirs like this.  A St. Patrick's Day Dodger Jersey from a Spring Training game, it's going in my take home duffel bag, not a Dodger Fan Fest "mystery bag."  I don't think doing so makes you a hoarder or narcissist either.  Chances are every school, team, league you've ever played in wants stuff for their trophy cases, not to mention friends and family.  Perhaps having a father who was a 17 year MLB vet raises the bar on what is worth keeping and what isn't.  I don't know.  But if Matt Wallach ever happens to stumble across this and wants the jersey, just ask, it's yours.  Literally.

Photos I took at the game this was worn, I would have taken more had I known someone was going to send me the jersey two years down the road.