Seattle Mariners - #57 D.J. Mitchell (2012)

At the end of May 2014, I was about to give notice at my job of ten years and start the hard portion of a career change that involved some relocation and vast fluctuations in income and savings.  As such, this is the last jersey I would purchase for over two years.  I actually first purchased a different navy Mariners jersey first, one with Seattle across the front belonging to Luke French, but sold it very quickly as it was far too large and the style wasn't very interesting.  This jersey was another purchase from Kruk Cards, an incredible card and memorabilia warehouse in Michigan, permanently linked in the sidebar.  Typically, this vendor seems to acquire full lots of similar jerseys direct from MLB teams. I don't recall exactly why I chose D.J. Mitchell.  I imagine it simply had to do with size and cost as the purchase price was exceedingly good.

D.J. Mitchell was a 10th Round draft pick of the Yankees in 2008 out of Clemson University.  He played parts of three seasons in Scranton before appearing in four major league games for the Yankees in 2012.  On July 23 of that season, Mitchell was one of two pitching prospects sent to Seattle for the great Ichiro Suzuki.  D.J. was immediately optioned to Tacoma and designated for assignment during that offseason.  He would not pitch in the major leagues again and finished his professional career in the Atlantic League.

This is the first jersey in my collection featuring the Major League Baseball Authentication Program hologram and lookup number.  This is a nice third-party authentication feature that greatly simplifies provenance research.  As Mitchell did not appear with the Mariners after the trade, it easy to say this jersey is Team Issued, but the confirmation, right down to the date worn, will come in handy on some of my other jerseys.  The jersey features an interesting metallicized silver twill that really pops in strong lighting.  There are no sleeve patches or tagging on this batting practice jersey, designed similarly to the spring training jerseys of that time.

Details:

• Manufacturer - Majestic
• Size - 46
• Date Acquired - 5/20/2014
• Authentic Team Issue - Polyester / Spandex Mix
• MLB Hologram: EK209093
• Three-color Twill Script
• Two-color Name/Numbers
• Batting Practice Jersey for 2012 Season