Zach Britton cries false advertising on ‘game-used’ jersey

Zach Britton calls auction of his “game-used” jersey false advertising.

Zach Britton never threw a pitch in the deciding eleventh inning of the Baltimore Orioles Wild Card loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. After the game, he expressed frustration over being warmed up several times but never actually being called upon to enter the game. His response to postgame questioning was diplomatic at best, and it was evident he was angry about being left out of his team’s most important game of the year.

Because Britton put on a jersey and wore it over the course of the game while sitting in the bullpen eating sunflower seeds, stretching, and throwing a few warmup pitches, the Orioles are billing it and auctioning it off as “game used.” The current winning bid for the jersey is over $2,000.

The irony of the situation is not lost on the Orioles closer, who took to Twitter to tell us how he really feels about watching Ubaldo Jimenez burn his team’s postseason hopes to the ground.

It was probably not the best idea for the Orioles to go forward with this auction, but a buck’s a buck, right? With Britton expected to receive a hefty raise in arbitration following the best season by a closer in baseball history, who can blame the team for trying to cash in?

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Not pitching in the game is definitely still on Britton’s mind, and this tweet is about as close as he can come to letting the world know how he really feels about Buck Showalter’s decision. This is a moment that will stick with the franchise forever, and perhaps it’s best that the team moves forward without the offending “never-used” jersey in its possession.

One thing’s for sure, Buck Showalter is definitely not on the Britton family’s Christmas card list this year.