Chad Wallach Cincinnati Reds Spring Training Jersey

I recently acquired this Chad Wallach Spring Training jersey on the MLB Auctions webpage.  I really liked the new Spring Training logos used this year, and that served as some of my justification for the price of this jersey, which was still well under what a new authentic jersey would demand on the Shop MLB website.  But regardless of what kind of "deal" I got, blowing anything on something like this inherently counterproductive to my ongoing efforts to load up on Wallach baseball cards.  I can't imagine ever having much occasion to wear this jersey, and it's not going to end up framed, so it's probably going to hang in a closet with what is slowly becoming an alarming number of collectible jersey's for guy who doesn't collect jerseys. 

The "interstate" Spring Training patch is made out of a sort of firm rubber material, and the MLB logo on the back is of the same material.  The Reds patch, and running man logo are both of the more traditional variety.  The other distinction with this jersey is the Spring Training logo pattern used on the numbers on the back.  I noticed this at some Spring Training games this year, and just thought it was some sort of ugly color variant from afar.  Up close, it's kind of cool, but what's the point if the only way to tell is up close?

This marks the second jersey of the Wallach trio of children that I've come across.  A year or two ago a reader sent me a Matt Wallach St. Patricks Day green Dodger jersey.  I mentioned it in that post and I'll mention it here again, but I'm curious how much stuff these guys actually get to keep.  I'm talking about the Spring Training invites with little to no expectation of making the roster.  There must be an impulse to take everything from jersey's on down to extra gum home with you as keepsakes.  At some point in player's career, I'm sure it becomes gratuitous, but it has to be sort of cool to see your name on a big league jersey for the first time, even if an MLB career is the expectation and you've enjoyed success/fame in college and/or the minors.  So I feel a little guilty having these hang in my closet if the players themselves weren't able to shove a couple jersey's into their travel bags when they left.  For that reason, it's a standing offer, if Matt or Chad Wallach ever stumble across these post and would like these jersey's back, just ask, they're literally yours.

    

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:

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.

2011 Game Worn Jersey

This jersey is the jersey Tim Wallach wore during the 2011 season as 3rd base coach for the Dodgers.  It's the first game worn jersey of Wallach's I've been able to obtain, and only the 2nd game related item in my collection.  I also have a bat.

I'm pretty excited about this pick-up.  I was debating whether or not to frame it or just keep it as something to wear (I tried it on and it fits very well), but think I'm going to end up framing it one day.  The debate then is whether to showcase the front with the name tag sewn in the neck or the back.  I'm going with the back, and will try to do it in such a way that the L.A. logo and Duke Snider patch on each of the sleeves are also displayed.

Wallach wore #25 his first season with the Dodgers in 1993.  He switched back to #29 for the rest of his time with the Dodgers.  Now he wears #26 as the Third Base Coach.