Is This a Ring Bat?

[Joe Hunter]

I'm not much into bats, but picked this up recently and was wondering if it is a late 19th or early 20th century ring bat. It is 33" long and very heavy. There are no visible markings other than the dark rings and the dark area toward the end of the bat. Any thoughts?

[MGHPro]

it is a ring bat of sorts. cant tell if its home made or a really beat up zebra bat.

[drc]

I'm no expert in this area, but one thing to remember is they didn't put rings on later 20th century bats. It was a fashion of the 1800s.

[ksfarmboy]

Originally Posted by drc

I'm no expert in this area, but one thing to remember is they didn't put rings on later 20th century bats. It was a fashion of the 1800s.

They did continue to sell these bats into the 1900's. Here is a picture from the 1906 catalog. If memory serves me they may have been offered into the teens as well by other companies.

[WWGjohn]

This appears to be a home made ring bat from the late 1880's to mid 1890's bat. Not sure if it is a zebra. The multiple rings were more common earlier.

John

[Joe Hunter]

John, Clint, DRC, Matt: Thanks so much for your input. As I said, baseball bats at not my area of expertise, but when I saw the bat sitting in a barrel at an antique store I thought it might be some form of ring bat. At a cost of $5, I wasn't taking much of a risk. In the absence of any markings, I would agree that it is probably home-made. Without question, it is the earliest piece of baseball memorabillia I have come across. Pretty cool.