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.

[mr2686]

That's more or less the story I always heard. Here's a link to a 2001 story on how the Feller Museum purchased it back.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsour...704&slug=bat04

[jgmp123]

Kinda crazy that the couple won it through a contest sponsored by Upper Deck, but were still going to be required to pay $35k in taxes.

[slidekellyslide]

I stopped at that museum on the way home from Adventureland last Summer. Nice little museum.

The bat in question






the museum

[Jay Wolt]

Dan great shots, thanks for posting them.
The large bat display is fantastic, really highlights the piece

[Mark]

I've seen Feller on tv making the claim that the Babe needed a bat to lean on and that he was given Feller's bat.

[mr2686]

When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

[Runscott]

The glove I recently picked up that was used by Feller's Dad to catch him, has a notecard signed by Feller that makes the same claim, but....there is also a Barry Halper letter to Sirsky. The Halper letter says something about Feller and him being good friends, and Feller was over one day viewing his collection. Feller told him about his Dad's glove, gave Halper a price, and Halper accepted.

A lot of the Halper stuff is legit, but I have no idea how much, or what. If I had only the Halper letter, and not the Feller, I would have to assume I had gotten ripped off. As it is, I am fairly sure Pickles would enjoy the glove if it turns out to be a fake.

[Jantz]

I had the opportunity, albeit briefly, to work with Bob Feller in 1994 and he was aware of the bat and wanted to acquire it for the museum.

The topic came up when I ask him a question about the museum & would there be other baseball items other than his own on display at the museum.

Thats when he began talking about his bat that Ruth used as a cane.

He also told me about a baseball that he had signed in person by Ruth and Gehrig for $5....but thats another story.


Jantz

[sylbry]

Any idea when Feller became aware of the bat? Perhaps he knew of the Ruth connection because Halper told him about it? And the problem with that is Halper told a lot of people a lot of things that were later found out not to be true.