Johnson Bat

[yanks12025]

Seems like alot of money for a bat with just Johnson stamped on it. You could never determine whether its Walter Johnson or some random player with the last name Johnson during that same time period.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-EARLY-1900-039-S-J-F-HILLERICH-amp-SON-CO-034-Johnson-034-BASEBALL-BAT-/292335153486?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=WbA8Gh2U%252FuqQG4JBbQ04KOjT9Uo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[JeremyW]

According to the listing, it's a 50 ounce bat. That's awful heavy isn't it?

[Mark]

It's an interesting bat. Early label, authentic block lettering, enormous weight, etc. It got to be a little expensive for a "Johnson" bat, but it would cost a lot more if it could be definitively linked to Walter:

http://http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/walter-johnson-professional-model-bat-6021425-details.aspx

[steve B]

Interesting, the link doesn't work for me from here, but it's the first result on Google and works fine.

I'm surprised they only had one picture for an item estimated at 70-90000.

[eastonfalcon19]

Looks like this same bat is up for sale again. Starting bid 999.00. I wonder what happened to the last buyer?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-EARLY-1900S-J-F-HILLERICH-SON-CO-Johnson-BASEBALL-BAT/292395836816?hash=item4414266590:g:tQQAAOSw8axaD06 c

[Dewey2007]

Does Walter Johnson have H&B bat records listed in Vince Malta's bat guide? I don' have mine handy. That should give some idea if he ordered bats this length and weight.

[sicollector1954]

Jackson...................jenkins................. ...kaline.

[Directly]

Appears there are around 13 possible players with that name who played in that era--??? (1911-1916)

[Mark]

There are no logbooks recording players' bat orders prior to 1920, when this bat was made. The Malta book does not list any orders post 1920 for Walter Johnson. But Christie's recently auctioned a side-written Walter Johnson bat from 1920 that sold for $118,000. That bat is 34.75 in. long, and it weighs 36.8 oz. Naturally, those specs don't prove that the ebay bat(33 1/2" and 50 oz.) was never used by the Big Train. But they don't do much to support the possibility, either.