After winning the Golden Spikes Award as the top collegiate baseball player, Kris Bryant was the second overall selection in the 2013 Major League Draft. Bryant has easy power to all fields and can handle most pitches including hard fastballs inside and the “low and away” junk, and was the perfect choice for the young Chicago Cubs organization which had a slew of good young talent already in the Majors, and a brand new manager in Joe Maddon. After a stellar brief time in the minor leagues, Bryant was promoted to the Majors on April 17, 2015 and promptly went 0-for-4 with 3 Ks, but fielding everything cleanly on defense. This prompted Maddon to quip, “Well, we brought him up here for his glove.” All jokes aside, Maddon saw the potential in Bryant as he placed him 4th in the order, while standard policy places a rookie lower in the order. Despite the inauspicious beginning to his Major League career, Bryant became acclimated to the top pitching and began to produce, though his power took a little time to develop. But when the power did arrive, it came with a vengeance. After Bryant settled into the second spot in the lineup, he hit his first Major League home run on May 9th, two days later homered for the first time in the cozy confines of Wrigley Field, and then hit four more home runs in May.

This jersey is the exact one Bryant wore that day when he connected for a first inning two-run homer off of New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom. Authenticated by MLB’s authentication system, this home button down, pinstripe jersey features an MLB Authenticated hologram sticker on the back (HZ867076) along with a FANATICS Authentic hologram (0553264). The ubiquitous Cubs emblem appears on the left breast, while the lower front tail features the “Majestic Authentic Size 48” tag with another Majestic bar code tag with “17 48 2015” in black. The left shoulder features a Cub patch while the opposite shoulder has a “14” patch in memory of longtime Cub great Ernie Banks. The reverse has his name “BRYANT” across the back with his number “17” below, both in blue-on-red tackle twill. The number “1” has a bold silver marker “Kris Bryant” signature with the inscription “GAME USED 1st Wrigley Field Home Run 5-11-15” on the number “7”. This jersey shows solid game use as evident with multiple areas of infield dirt on both sides and in the collar.

Bryant finished his rookie campaign with 26 home runs and driving in 99 runs, good for Rookie of the Year honors and placing 11th in the National League MVP voting. In 2016, Bryant set what is still a career-high in home runs (39) and RBI (102) while leading the Cubs to the World Series title – the franchise’s first since 1908. This jersey ranks right up there as one of the most desirable game worn milestone jerseys available today.

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