Quote:
Originally Posted by murphusa
the company was not JFH and Son until 1887 so the Duffy bat is not 1884
BTW Duffy played in the Eastern League (minor League) starting in 1886 and made the majors in 1888
The father was not very interested in the bat business until Bud proved to him it would be worthwhile. So his name was not on any bats until late in 1884/early 1885.
Falls City 1880 to 1884 were only used by players of Buds teams and league to find one is really tough
Hillerich 1884/85 to 1896 (1884/85 Louisville Slugger first used on some pro model bats) (Crackerjack was the Youth model until 1915)
J F Hillerich and Son 1897 to 1916
Hillerich and Bradsby 1916 on
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Great info Jim, thank you for sharing! I believe a couple typos found their way into a couple posts regarding picture of Duffy's bat (1884/1894) and when JFH & Son occurred (1887/1897), but I think I follow most of the presented history.
Your information is far more than I was able to get from Louisville Slugger museum and HOF. Do you have images for any of the pro-model bats that were produced on or before 1888? I guess the bats would fall into one of two categories as follows:
1880-1884 Falls City Slugger
&
1884/85 to 1896 Hillerich bats for which there were "Louisville Sluggers" and others that were not pro-model such as the youth's "Crackerjack".
In both cases, I'm interested in the decal and/or burned/engraved text found on the pro-model bats. Clint's bat falls just outside of these categories. Anything out there in print/ads, photos, or surviving bats?