John Lackey gave Pat Neshek a Babe Ruth autographed ball for his jersey number
John Lackey has worn jersey No. 41 throughout his entire career, and it is obviously very important to him. When the veteran right-hander was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox, he had to negotiate in order to keep No. 41. Cards reliever Pat Neshek drove a pretty hard bargain.
On Wednesday, Neshek tweeted a photo of an authentic Babe Ruth autographed baseball and thanked Lackey for the gift. Considering the nature of the exchange, I’d be more inclined to call it a form of payment than a gift.
Huge Thanks to John Lackey for the incredible gift for changing my uni # pic.twitter.com/SFnuTh2d7x
— Pat Neshek (@PatNeshek) August 20, 2014
Baseballs that have been signed by The Babe sell for anywhere between $3,000 to $50,000, depending on the condition. When you consider what some other professional athletes have paid to keep their jersey numbers, Lackey didn’t do all that horribly. Plus, he’s making north of $15 million this season. If Big Hoss wants another autographed Ruth baseball, he’ll just go out and buy one.
H/T Hardball Talk
