Babe Ruth/Bob Feller bat and Barry Halper

[sylbry]

I stopped by the Feller museum last week and couldn't help but notice the bat is signed by Feller to Barry Halper. Knowing Halper is good at making up stories I started to wonder if there is any truth to the story that Babe Ruth used Bob Feller's bat as a cane on that day.

Feller's teammate Eddie Robinson had the bat signed by Ruth and later sold it to Halper. The question is did Robinson grab THE bat Ruth was using after Ruth put it down and had him sign it? Or did Robinson grab A bat (Feller's) and had Ruth sign it? The bat is signed by Ruth on the back side of the barrel.

I spent a little time doing web research and have found nothing to tie the bat to Ruth other than the story by either Robinson or Halper. With Halpers well known penchant to fabricate stories regarding memorabilia you have to wonder if that really is the bat Ruth used.

Does anyone here know more about the bat or the story behind it? Is there any documentation from Eddie Robinson saying he grabbed the bat after Ruth put it down or was the story fabricated by Halper?

The Bob Feller museum purchased the bat for $95k and has turned down an offer of $600k to sell it. That is a lot of money riding on what could be another Barry Halper fabrication.