Dan Haren was a three-time All-Star pitcher who began his 15-year career in 2003 with St. Louis and spent time on nine teams, from Oakland to Toronto. Since he retired in 2015, his Twitter account has been a source of good mood fodder, baseball stories, and self-deprecating humor. Like everyone else in the United States (and the world for that matter), Haren is at home watching as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads through the country, putting us all at risk. But some people are in greater need than others. Haren is trying to do his part to raise money for charities that help those in need at a time when more and more families find themselves wondering how they’ll pay for food and shelter.
On Wednesday, Haren decided that he would auction off his very large baseball bobblehead collection. A baseball player having a ton of bobbleheads makes sense—MLB baseball games over the last couple of decades have frequently included bobblehead promotional giveaways.
Along with bobbleheads of famous baseball players, many of whom are contemporaries of Haren, he promises to write a note about each player—sometimes an anecdote about them, sometimes just a thought about them. For example, for the Texas All-Star Michael Young bobblehead, Haren notes that Young’s sister-in-law was Haren’s high school prom date.
Haren told Molly Knight from The Athletic that he understands he’s lucky and privileged to be financially secure during these anxious times. “Charities need help right now and I want to get more people involved to raise awareness about the great work they do to help people who really need it.”
You can see the first round of Haren’s bobblehead auction here. Good stuff.