Bid on Eloy Jimenez and Fergie Jenkins Autographed Baseballs and Raise Money for Riley Hospital

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 6, 2016

Cubs Insider is hosting a watch party for Game 1 of the NLDS at Dave & Buster’s in Castleton (Indianapolis), during which we will be raffling off some pretty cool prizes and generally having a decent time. Thanks to a very generous donation from Dale Miller of Miller Consulting Group, we’re going to have a few appetizer platters and some free booze to throw around (35 drink tickets, so you probably want to get there early). We’ve also gotten some really great donations from some fans out there who wanted to help us raise money for Riley Hospital for Children.

I’m going to get to the meat and potatoes of this post in a moment, but I wanted to share a quick word about Riley before I do. They cover everything from primary care to a wide range of complex specialty services for children and have been a huge part of my life.

When your child is diagnosed with a medical condition, it can be confusing and scary. We are here to help. The experts at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health have provided compassionate care, support and comfort to children and their families for more than 85 years. As one of the nation’s leading pediatric hospitals and Indiana’s first and only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children, we treat more than 300,000 patients each year, across Indiana, the nation and the world. Learn more about our Departments & Programs.

When I was just an infant, my mom noticed that the bulge on my right side was more than just being a really chunky baby. Tests revealed an additional ureter in my kidney, so I underwent my first partial right nephrectomy at roughly 6 months old to correct the issue. Three years later, I developed a blockage in that same kidney and returned for another procedure. I’ve been perfectly healthy since and have always felt that I owe the relative normalcy of my health to Riley.

But enough about me, let’s talk about how you can help raise some money for a good cause and maybe get an autographed baseball in the process. I had mentioned a raffle ($1 per ticket or 6 tickets for $5), which will include some Cubs Insider gear and autographs from past and future Cubs, but that’s going to be for party attendees only. After some feedback from social media, however, I decided to open up an online auction for the Eloy Jimenez and Fergie Jenkins baseballs.

Respondents to a brief Twitter poll actually favored a manual auction format over a formal site, but I think I’m still going to end up doing the latter. Given the hassle of trying to coordinate a paper form for guests and relay that to folks online while also watching the game, I don’t think my oversight would be either fair or consistent. As such, I’ve set up an auction page through Bidding Owl that will allow people near an far to bid and track everything via mobile or PC.

If you’re interested in getting in on the action, I’d recommend registering ahead of time. It’s a pretty simple process, so even if you’re a slacker you can easily do it while the game is going on. The auction will run from 8 – 11 pm (ET) on Friday, with opening bids set at $20 and subsequent offers in $2 increments. Again, I will be giving 100% of the proceeds (well, the site takes 5%, but I’m going to offset that on my own) to Riley.

This is my first time using Bidding Owl and it was really easy to set up, so I imagine that ease will continue. If you’re the winning bidder, you’ll be able to pay via CC/debit or PayPal and I will be able to generate an invoice should you need it. While I’d kinda prefer that you use PayPal to check out, my only real request is that the winner resolve payment as quickly as possible just to make sure everything is locked up. Because there are people on-site who could be bidding too, I am not charging a shipping fee in the auction itself and will mail to you for free (though if you feel like compensating me for s/h, I won’t be mad).

Also, and this is big for those of you who don’t win: there’s a “Donate” button on the bidding site page if you’d like to maybe give a portion of what you would have spent on one of the balls. I’m not asking that you pledge the same amount you were bidding, but it’d be awesome if you’d be willing to drop $5, $10, or $20 in there. It’s set up under my email, but rest assured that every single penny will go to Riley.

On-site raffle items

Online auction items

  • Eloy Jimenez autographed ball
  • Fergie Jenkins autographed ball

If you like any of the CI swag, you can get 10% off with code SAVE10 from 10/6 to 10/12







Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanOctober 6, 2016
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