Houston Astros teammates Joey Loperfido and Shay Whitcomb decided that a surfboard would be a fair exchange for a jersey number. Photo: Screenshot//Astros
When Major League Baseball player Joey Loperfido was traded to the Houston Astros, he knew there was only one thing standing between him and the number 10 jersey he wanted: a surfboard.
Loperfido’s teammate, Shay Whitcomb, was already wearing number 10. However, given that Whitcomb is a Southern California native who attended UC San Diego, Loperfido knew of his passion for surfing. He traded him a brand new Hayden Shapes board for the number.
“Right when we traded for him, he was like, ‘Ok, what’s it going to take for me to get number 10 back,’” Whitcomb said. “I was like, ‘Buy me a new board, and we’ll call it even.’”
And Whitcomb isn’t going to just hang the board on his wall. He intends to use it after glossing over Loperfido’s autograph on the bottom so it doesn’t fade away.
“I’m going to rip on this thing,” Whitcomb said of the $850 Nova FutureFlex.
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Whitcomb clearly isn’t a beginner. One video he posted several years ago shows him ripping a lefthander in his goofy-foot stance.
Loperfido got off easy on acquiring the number. Last year, MLB superstar Juan Soto gave his teammate a brand-new Chevy Tahoe in exchange for his number.
Whitcomb did notice that one thing was missing from Loperfido’s gift: fins.
“No fins Joey, you don’t get your number,” someone off camera joked.
