Dan Haren is sacrificing his vast bobblehead collection to help those in need
Dan Haren isn’t just dipping into his bank account to help those in need during the coronavirus pandemic. The former MLB pitcher is parting with memorabilia filled with stories and personal memories to aid two of his family’s favorite charities.
As Molly Knight of The Athletic reported Wednesday, Haren recently placed 24 bobbleheads from his vast personal collection up for auction on eBay. All proceeds will go directly to the Hollywood Food Coalition and Children’s Action Alliance.
Helping comes in many forms
Haren says the idea behind the auction is to make people more aware of the charities he supports and the support those charities currently need.
These 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. I can’t imagine not having a home right now, or not knowing where my next meal was coming from.
Haren could have easily stopped at writing a check, but his desire to do more led to this creative gameplan. It’s never an easy decision to give up items that hold personal meaning, but Haren felt the auction would engage more people and let them know there are many ways — even fun ways — to help out. That there’s no set way to contribute.
In times like these, it’s important to remember that every little bit helps. A dollar. A smile. A laugh. Haren hopes the auction will provide all of the above.
A personal touch
Haren says there are over 300 bobbleheads in his collection. Many of those come with a fun or interesting personal anecdote, either about the person or the bobblehead itself, attached to them.
Those stories will be shared after Haren decided to include personal notes about the person behind each bobblehead he’s auctioning.
The note attached to his Vladimir Guerrero bobblehead reads: “Hit him on purpose once. So glad he didn’t charge.” The note attached to his Zack Greinke bobblehead reads: “Will tell me selling my bobblehead collection is a dumb idea.” And his Albert Pujols bobblehead is accompanied with “Once caught me playing Pokemon Go.”
Though he has over 300 bobbleheads in his collection, Haren said he chose the ones he felt he could write the best accompanying captions based on his own personal interactions with the players.
Those interested will have one week to make their bid. The auction began Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET and will conclude April 1 at 8 p.m. ET. The list of bobbleheads available is star-studded, too, ranging from Hank Aaron to Derek Jeter to Barry Zito.
But that’s not all. Haren will send five additional bobbleheads to the winner of each auction.
That’s a great deal. More importantly, this is a fun idea that will help two worthy causes.
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