A Salary Built on the Number 37
In 1987, Charlie Kerfeld walked into contract negotiations with the Houston Astros with a very specific number in mind. Not $110,000. Not $115,000. The right-handed pitcher wanted exactly $110,037.37—and he had a reason for every digit.
Kerfeld’s uniform number was 37. So his salary needed to reflect it. The breakdown was straightforward: $110,000 as the base, plus $37.37 as the kicker. It was unconventional, but it worked. The Houston Astros agreed to the terms.
What made the deal truly memorable, though, wasn’t just the decimal-point mathematics. Kerfeld didn’t stop at the salary figure. He added one more demand to his contract: 37 boxes of orange Jell-O.
The Gelatine Clause Nobody Expected
Most contract negotiations in Major League Baseball focus on salary, signing bonuses, incentives, and sometimes no-trade clauses. A pitcher might ask for a clause protecting him if he gets injured. A star player might demand full control over his image rights. But 37 boxes of orange Jell-O? That was new territory.
There’s no record of Kerfeld explaining why orange Jell-O specifically, or what he planned to do with 37 boxes of it. Whether it was a genuine preference, a joke that somehow made it into the final agreement, or some kind of inside reference, the detail stuck. The Houston Astros put it in writing. Charlie Kerfeld got his gelatine.
The contract became one of baseball’s great oddball stories—the kind of thing fans still talk about decades later because it’s so perfectly, weirdly specific. In an era when player salaries were climbing and agents were becoming more aggressive in negotiations, Kerfeld found a way to make his contract memorable for reasons that had nothing to do with competing for the biggest paycheck.
Why This Still Matters in 2026
Kerfeld’s career in the majors was brief. He pitched for the Houston Astros from 1986 to 1989, compiling a 4.39 ERA across 77 games. He wasn’t a Hall of Famer or even a long-term star. By most statistical measures, he was a journeyman reliever who had his shot and moved on.
But his 1987 contract? That’s immortal in baseball lore. It reminds us that negotiations aren’t always about maximizing dollars or proving your worth through advanced metrics. Sometimes they’re about personality, humor, and the freedom to ask for something completely unexpected.
In today’s game, where every contract is scrutinized by analytics departments and salary-cap specialists, where agents negotiate down to the nearest thousand dollars and incentives are tied to WAR and ERA+, there’s something refreshing about a pitcher who wanted his salary to match his number and threw in a request for dessert. It didn’t make Kerfeld a better pitcher. It didn’t extend his career. But it made his story unforgettable.
The 2026 MLB offseason will bring another round of mega-deals, opt-outs, and complex incentive structures. Agents will cite comparable contracts and market value. Front offices will run projections and weigh risk. And somewhere in that machinery of modern baseball, you have to wonder: would anyone today have the audacity—or the sense of humor—to ask for 37 boxes of orange Jell-O?
Charlie Kerfeld did. The Houston Astros said yes. And that’s a story that doesn’t get old.
The number: Charlie Kerfeld negotiated a 1987 contract with the Houston Astros for exactly $110,037.37 plus 37 boxes of orange Jell-O—one of MLB’s strangest deals ever signed.
