Originally Posted by Mark17
It might've been something else, like not enough use (ball, stitch marks, tar, etc.) I once had a rookie era Bench bat that was only given a GU 8 because there wasn't enough "use." His #5 in distinctive style was on the knob and there were ball marks, but not enough I guess.
Another thing you can do, and I wish I'd done this with my Frank, is get the PSA letter but just don't ask them to grade it. It'll save you some money, and then you can show authenticity without getting dinged for imperfections or light use.
I share your frustration. By the way, I had some bats restored by a guy who had been doing that kind of work for a long time. He did an excellent job, and was especially a magician with badly cracked, even shattered, handles. But he had one annoying tendency - he liked to put some stain and shiny varnish on the bats. He said he thought it made them "look better."
The last time he worked on a bat for me, I asked him very specifically to not do that, to leave the finish dull as it currently was. He replied by email, asking if I was sure I didn't want any stain or finish on it and I repeated, yes, I wanted the bat repaired, but to look as it did, which was dull (it was a 50+ year old bat.) When I got the bat back, as soon as I opened the box, I could smell the very strong odor of the varnish, and sure enough, that was the shiniest 1955-1960 era bat you ever saw. I was so angry, like the guy intentionally overruled my very specific and repeated instruction.
Anyway... I'm just glad I've got a top notch jersey guy who's done some outstanding work for me. He's got 2 of my shirts now in fact.
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