When you’ve been doing something for a hundred years, you’re bound to have learned a thing or two along the way. Such is the case with the Chicago Cubs and their beloved 100-year-old Wrigley Field.

As most baseball fans know, the Cubs and Wrigley Field just celebrated their centennial season on Chicago’s north side. It was dubbed “The Party of the Century” and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the four-game series between the Cubs and Dodgers at Wrigley on September 18-21. It was my first-ever trip to “The Friendly Confines” – this in spite of the fact that my entire family except for me was born in The Windy City, and let me tell you, it was everything that it was cracked up to be. In fact, it was every bit as enjoyable as my trip to Fenway Park in 2010 – if not more so.

Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary – “The Party of the Century.”
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

I was joined on the trip by my dear friend Will Isabella who lives in New York. Will is 62 years old and has been a life-long Dodger fan from their Brooklyn days at Ebbets Field. He is a walking encyclopedia of Dodger knowledge and history from their humble beginnings as the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1855 up to and including this past season when he flew out to Los Angeles to join me for the home opener series at Dodger Stadium against the Hated Ones. Will and I were joined in Chicago by my good friend and longtime Dodgers season ticket holder David Baltazar, who also managed to sneak in a visit with his daughter and his brother who both live in Chicago.

Will Isabella, yours truly and David “Dunkin’ Donuts” Baltazar waiting for the famed Wrigley Field Tour – an absolute ‘must do’ while in Chicago. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As Will, David and I were leaving Wrigley after the first game of the series (the Dodgers won 8-4), I noticed that one of the small kiosks set up in the concourse behind home plate was selling game-used memorabilia, including baseballs. I had hoped to purchase a Rawlings Official Major League Baseball with the 100th anniversary logo on it but had been told at the team store earlier in the day that they had sold out of them “months ago,” so when I stumbled upon this kiosk I was ecstatic. Not only were they selling the official commemorative baseballs, they were selling game-used commemorative baseballs from that very game! Needless to say, I purchased a couple of them forthwith – one for myself and one for my good friend Benny Amesquita back in L.A. who is an avid baseball collector. Fortunately, they allow you to go through the baseballs and pick out the ones you like and I selected two that had the best looking commemorative logos on them.

As I was paying for the baseballs, which were an absolute bargain at $35 each (a brand new ROMLB goes for around $28 at most ballparks), I asked the young man at the kiosk if I could pre-order a game-used ball for tomorrow’s (Friday, September 19) game, as Clayton Kershaw would be vying for his 20th win of the season. I was informed that I could, but would have to do so tomorrow before the game which, of course, I did.

I was rather pleased when the Dodgers offense erupted to give the soon-to-be 2014 NL MVP and Cy Young award-winner a healthy 14-3 lead. Our seats for this game were located on the left field side directly behind the Cubs dugout and I could see the ball boy handing the balls that were removed from play to an authenticator (an off-duty police officer) sitting directly behind the Cubs on-deck circle, so I now knew how the game-used balls were obtained and authenticated.

Clayton Kershaw en route to his 20th win of 2014. He would finish the season with 21.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Around the sixth inning, I noticed the authenticator stand up and begin walking up the aisle carrying three or four Rawlings cases – each with a dozen balls in them – so there was zero doubt that the baseballs being sold were, in fact, used in that day’s game. A couple innings later, Will and I made our way down to the kiosk and selected our Clayton Kershaw game-used baseballs from what would be his 20th win of the season. Each ball had an official Major League Baseball certificate of authenticity (COA) sticker on it.

An authenticated game-used ball from Kershaw’s 20th win of the season.

When you think about it, this whole same-day game-used baseball thing is a brilliant idea. Not only does it offer fans an opportunity to purchase a piece of baseball history complete with a COA sticker (you can print out a paper certificate from the MLB Authentications website – if you so choose), but you get it right there right now and at a very reasonable price.

By entering the code from the authentication sticker on the baseball into the space provided on the MLB Authentication website, you can get (and print out) a copy of the certificate which indicates the date, location and a brief description of the authenticated item.

If you happen to be at Wrigley Field the kiosk is called “Cubs Authentic – Wrigley Field Collection” and, of course, they have a website called Cubs Authentic.

Whether or not the Dodgers will ever do anything like this remains to be seen and is anyone’s guess; but one thing is for certain – when something has been around for a century, it’s usually a pretty good idea to pay attention to what they’re doing.