Phillies Fans Go Shopping For Cliff Lee Jerseys (Again)
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Cliff Lee will be wearing number 33 when he takes the mound for the Phillies this coming season. That means the diehard fans will need to go shopping.
Majestic Athletic makes uniforms for the Phillies in their Easton, Pa. factory, where they are already sewing "L-E-E" on the back of those home and away jerseys -- though not with his old number, of course, since Roy Halladay now wears number 34.
The Phillies' concessionaire traveled to Easton on Wednesday morning to pick up the first shipment of Lee #33 jerseys at the Majestic Athletic factory.
Chuck Strom, director of MLB Apparel for Majestic, says retailers have been burning up the phone lines trying to get their hands on the jerseys in time for Christmas.
"This is similar to when Roy Halladay came aboard for the Phillies this year," he recalled, "potentially the two best pitchers in all of baseball coming to the Philadelphia area, which creates a heightened level of excitement."
While declining to say how many orders he's received so far, Strom says the employees, many of whom are Phillies fans, expect to be very busy through the end of the year.
And if the official shirts aren't ready in time for your gift-giving, Dan Hershberg of PhillyPhaithful.com is printing up an original design that's inspired by Lee's return.
Hershberg says, "People who loved Cliff the first time around will love him even more, especially when you consider that he left some money on the table, which all of us hard workers in the blue-collar city of Philadelphia can certainly appreciate."
Of course, there's nothing wrong with wearing your old jersey -- though some hope the team or the shirt maker might offer to re-stitch the new number for free, if there's any money left after this blockbuster deal.
Of the new slogans fans have been kicking around, Hershberg says "R2C2" is the best short form for how ridiculously out-of-this-world the Phils' pitching rotation looks to be.
Reported by Paul Kurtz and Ian Bush, KYW Newsradio 1060.
