Your 2022 World Series Champion Houston Astros spent the off day yesterday making the traditional trip to the White House to celebrate. As they always do, the Astros rose to meet the moment and put on an absolute CLINIC when the lights shined brightest. I’m talking of course about their fits. And we all know that the most important piece of subtle flexery in any good fit is the wristwatch! So let’s dive in to some of the timepieces the Houston Astros wore to meet the President with a little Houston Astros White House watch check!
Justin Verlander’s Patek Phillipe
Returning hero and living legend Justin Verlander rejoined the team just in time to make the Astros White House trip and he did not disappoint. Mr. Kate Upton brought out the perfectly tailored gold/tan suit looking like a young Obama. The World Series ring on his middle finger is also incredibly iconic. Only thing preventing that picture from being one of the greatest fit pics of all time is the cell phone in his pants pocket. Gotta put that thing in the breast pocket my guy!
But we’re mostly here for the watch, and buddy it’s a BEAUTY!
JV, who will hit more than $400 MILLION in career earnings at the end of his current contract, pulled out the Patek Philippe Grand Complications 5270j-001 which retails for about $187,000!
Why is it so expensive? Well, dear reader, I’m glad you asked. First of all, I mean…look at it. But also, Patek Philippe is one of the most famous and prestigious brand names in luxury watchmaking and they have earned that reputation through nearly 200 years of near flawless mechanical watchmaking. This variant of the Grand Complications features a perpetual calendar that shows the day, date, month, and the moonphase (that blue window at the bottom). All very difficult (and very expensive) to keep an accurate track of via thousands of little hand-assembled moving parts. So it gets very very pricey. But mostly it just looks clean af. Well done, JV!
Framber Valdez’s Rolex Day-Date
Fresh off a no-hitter, Framber Valdez is hotter than ever and he kept up that momentum by styling and profiling on the Astros White House trip. You can see a big difference in philosophy here between the Astros’ two aces. Justin’s older and much more of a laid-back classic kind of guy whereas Framber went for a more bold look! The patterned suit makes a big statement and it fits him. Plus, adding the LV logo belt leaves no doubt that you are being styled on!
He did choose a classic watch to compliment the look as well, but it’s one that’s impossible not to notice.
The Framchise chose a classic 18kt gold Rolex Day-Date with the black dial for the Astros White House visit. The Day-Date is a little more attainable than JV’s Patek, retailing for just under $50K. What a bargain!
You probably don’t need to have the glory of the Rolex explained to you. They’re a household name in watchmaking for a reason. And the Day-Date with its fluted bezel and presidential (yes, that’s what it’s called) bracelet, is one of my favorite in their collection. I’m a sucker for date complications and the Rolex cyclops (the big magnifying glass on top of the date window) is simply iconic. Great work out of Framber here!
Dusty Baker’s Rolex Submariner
Not to be outdone by his star pitchers, Manager Dusty Baker got his shit off too! Equaling Framber with a patterned suit and upping the score with a vibrant horse race tie, Dusty just exudes old man cool.
And nothing says old man cool quite like a stylish dive watch.
Dusty Baker pulled out the classic, understated Rolex Submariner for the Astros White House visit. The timeless fan favorite retails for a little over $9K and you’re likely to see it on a wrist or two at your local country club, Mercedes-Benz dealership, or Jimmy Buffett concert. It’s the perfect fancy watch for men who don’t want to look too fancy or spend too much time babying an intricate piece of machinery when they’d rather just know what time it is. A perfect choice for Dusty!
Jeremy Pena’s Custom Breitling Navitimer
This was the hardest watch of this bunch for me to identify. 2022 ALCS and World Series MVP Jeremy Pena won the World Series in his rookie season so he hasn’t had time to get that first huge MLB contract yet and I was really curious what kind of watch a 25-year old who is pretty well off but isn’t necessarily rich would go with for a White House visit. It was really hard to find a clear view of what he had on but once I finaly got a good look at it, it’s pretty interestng!
JP3 rocked an Astros exclusive variant of the Breitling Navitimer! The Navitimer has a few different variations that retail for right around $10K, give or take depending on materials. But the custom Astros variant is priceless, since I’ve never seen it for sale anywhere!
As it turns out, Breitling has been a long time partner of the Astros and Jim Crane often presents players on the team with Breitling watches as gifts. It appears Pena chose that for the White House visit. Makes sense that my mans hasn’t invested in the insane luxury watches like JV and Framber have yet. Hopefully one day when that big contract finally hits he’ll go treat himself!
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