Opening Day Auction 2014
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/26/2014
When he arrived in Dodgertown in the spring of 2008, the 19 year was just another kid with big league dreams - or so most thought. Then came the March 9 game against Boston when the unknown Dodger unleashed a curveball that looked as if it was conjured up by Harry Houdini - even the stoic Vin Scully unabashedly declared on the air “Ohhh, what a curveball! Holy mackerel!". Suddenly the unknown kid was somebody. Clayton Kershaw. Though the Dodgers think tank decided to send him back to the minors for more seasoning, they first took the young phenom home to Dodger Stadium to get a taste of The Show. With a few days to go before the season opened, Los Angeles was hosting the Boston Red Sox for a series of exhibition games. Dodgers manager Joe Torre decided to put the kid in and see what he could do in front of the home crowd. Toeing the rubber for the first time in Dodger Stadium, Kershaw threw 4 innings of the March 30, 2008 game against the Red Sox, yielding but 1 hit and striking out 5. Not a bad debut. Kershaw's white home jersey from that day features the timeless "Dodgers" script in royal blue tackle twill across the chest and Kershaw's number "54" below in red. Size 50 Majestic label is located in the lower left front tail along with additional "PROPERTY OF LOS ANGELES DODGERS 2008" tagging. Steiner holograms 37965 and 05763 are affixed to the label. The left sleeve has the intertwined "LA" logo patch and the right sports the 50th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium patch. The back has "KERSHAW" and number "54" (His original uniform # with the Dodgers up until after his debut on 5/25/08) in Dodger Blue sewn directly to the white jersey. The ace has signed the "4" in white ink with the inscription "First Game Used Jersey". The jersey has been photo matched to that game, and based on the inscription and Dodger spring training jersey practices, we agree with Mr. Kershaw that we are presenting the first ever Major League jersey worn by Clayton Kershaw. Steiner hologram is affixed beside the signature. Letter of Authenticity from Steiner-Dodgers and photo match Letter of Authenticity from MeiGray.