You've got a great collection and shouldn't have to pay much to get a great display. Here's what my main rack looked like - it held 30 bats.

Those Pirate teams were great. Won it all in 1960, 71, 79, each time in 7 games. And Clemente's 14 game hitting streak in World Series play.

Thanks, I like what you did with cards. I may use that idea.

Marsans, A

LOVE old vault marks! Add to that that it's linked to the first great Cuban star---what a cool bat.

Hey Mark, Thanks for the kind words! I always really enjoyed working with you on deals and talking bats. I'll give you a heads up the next time I run into a flannels collection!

A few more bats I got yesterday for my collection.

https://i.imgur.com/faPofu4h.jpg

A pitcher's signature model bat
 

Does anyone know about how many Major League pitchers were allowed 'signature model' bats from Louisville Slugger?

(apologies for the oversized pic)

For obvious reasons pitcher bats are very difficult to find. Those of Hall of Famers are obviously highly desirable and expensive. When I was putting my collection together I decided not even attempt that. I came across one Bruce Kison and one Steve Blass. I offered much more than I felt they were worth and was met with a firm no.

Here are the final two bats I picked up (Mazeroski and Taylor) to complete to complete my 1971 Pirates game used bat run

Nice bats! Congrats!!!

Congrats Mike! Well done! :cool::D

I made this one.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

Great Pirates accomplishment!

Well the time has come. The fickle hand of fate has demanded that I relocate, and my new place will have only about 20% of my current display space. This just might be my only chance to get a team pic of all the boys together. So here it is, 40 years of collecting, 194 game used bats

Wow, Trubluecrew, that's a lot of lumber!! :eek::cool:
Unreal collection & thanks for sharing this.
Just curious, how far does your collection go back and what are the bats that you are most proud of?

that is a beautiful and most impressive fire hazard! yes, how far back does it go?

My collection spans from the late 60's to present day. Thinking about it now, the bats that are special to me are the ones that I took to get autographed and got the player interested and chatting about bats. Brooks Robinson made an appearance at Milwaukee bar for the 2002 All Star game. The autos were free, and when I got to the front of the line there was a sign that said NO BATS. Brooks waived the attendant off, took the bat, slid back his chair, gave it a good grip rub and took a couple slow half swings. He smiled and gave me an "Oh Ya" before autographing it. Reggie Jackson was really interested and asked me about the bat and showed his handler the shaved handle and we had little chat about bat models. My all time favorite is Cecil Cooper. Since I was a kid I've had many encounters with him and he's always been great. I've had multiple items signed by him through the years, but when I bring him a bat, he always lights up, handles it and we discuss it. He usually has a little story to share about bats.( He once admitted he was a bat thief. He would go to the bat rack and check everybody's models, and would liberate one if he liked it, and put his number on it). Always remember those times

Thanks for your response and I completely get it!
Each bat signed gave me an opportunity to connect with the player that that signed it, and like you, a conversation always became part of the experience. ;)

That’s a really cool collection!! I collect a lot of things but I must admit that a bat collection displayed like that is probably my favorite!!

Some new bats picked up this week for the collection.

https://i.imgur.com/hzXoTjJh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RKBvjcKh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kaFWbuIh.jpg

Gary Sheffield
 

Attachment 546670
Not sure why this photo resolution is set like this. If anyone knows how to change it on a iPad please let me know.

I'm used to older baseball bats, but I saw this and was interested. Was this sort of logo used for MLB bats? And does anyone know who the engraved signature belongs to? The bat is a 32" Louisville Slugger.

This one is Jay Bruce. The MLB180 was not, but there are some players that did use barrel branding like this.

Thanks, it's amazing how many companies make baseball bats.

I collect the Giants and I’m unconvinced this was a gamer or even ordered by McCovey…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22528853907...mis&media=COPY

I would have to agree with you on that and the Santo that sold. I can't believe it went that high. I guess it coming from a "Scout Estate" added some value?

I have read somewhere that the D model bats were not ones ordered by the players. Could be wrong though.

The signature model simply indicates that they were under contact with LS. Block lettered names were bats made for the player to try but were not under contact.

Its not about how many they were allowed; its how many they ordered. Some guys only ordered 6 bats a year, some more or less.

Funny how the seller didn’t mention the scout’s name :cool:

That was not a model McCovey ever ordered and he usually (always?) put a circled “44” on the knob.

Would there be a blue stripe for Giants bats? I thought those were color coordinated for the teams

Giants were typically black banded for Adirondack bats.

Correct, from all of the gamers I've seen they were always marked with his number.

Another one for the Tigers collection
 

Just picked this up.
Attachment 559378

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Attachment 559380

Attachment 559381

Two new bat rescues found their way to my door. 1965-69 era U1 models from Fred Whitfield and Willie Davis. They’ll both need some work to save them as the condition is rough.

Lynn Jones: Another former Tiger
 

Attachment 560156

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Attachment 560158

My first Larkin bat. Another Net54 member was very patient and worked with me on this one. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...3c791dcfbe.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...27be8ced1f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...09787efc8e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...349ac003fa.jpg

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

And its a 1990 bat. Congrats on a very nice Larkin bat.

That's great. From what I've seen, it looks like the Reds were one of the pioneers of MLB teams offering game used items to fans at the ballpark.

Bill White Gamer
 

I went outside my comfort zone because growing up I so enjoyed Bill White when he was Was paired up with Phil Rizzuto calling Yankee games on TV. In the late 60's early 70's we had a Black and white Zenith TV that we would watch games on while sorting cards on our game table.
Added to that He was an 8x All Star And was President of the National League!!. Thats a lifetime full of Baseball.
Anyway my oldest gamer PSA gave it a 9 despite the crack on the Handle. So they must have seen alot of characteristics they liked on the bat. I know I like it.

White and Rizzuto filled my childhood baseball memories as well. I picked up a nice NL President White ONL ball a while back too.

Given his life in Baseball I am very surprised He has not been given a spot in the Hall of Fame.

2 Gregg Jeffries Gamers
 

Had these for awhile and finally get them signed on Sunday.
Attachment 574704

Attachment 574705

Yello paint pen came out 🔥 on Jefferies.

Giants
 

This bat is in rough shape, especially on the ends. But it is a bat.

Mark- Great Ott bat. You don't see many of those out there.


I just received this Willie Puddin Head Jones GU Adirondack bat. The bat is double marked on the knob 72A (Adirondack) and J62 (Hillerich & Bradsby). I haven't seen many Puddin Head bats around. Excited to add this to my collection.

Met Steve Garvey today to get my 1983-86 era gamer signed.

Mail Day!
 

Don't get me wrong, I love finding the superstar bats. But sometimes I run across something completely different that is just amazing.
I was fortunate enough to acquire this one last week.

This bat is uncracked, measures just 30 inches, but weighs in at 39.12 ounces. Another interesting feature is that it has the dash-dot-dash on the bottom of the logo, but the top is missing either the dash-dot-dash or the 125 I expected to see.

Finally, it has some side writing. After some intensive work, I was finally able to make it out (I think): Virgil A Hetzel, returning this bat in March of 1923. Checking the Baseball Reference, I was able to find one very strong candidate: Hetzel, who played for the Kalamazoo Celery Pickers in 1921.
I will continue to do some more research to be more certain, but I am just delighted to add this one to my collection for sure.

Good Taste in Bats
 

A gamed used Puddin' Head Jones bat. Very appealing to the eye, and the dual model numbers must be rare indeed. If I had that, it would probably start me down the road to a Wiz Kids collection..... AND a beautiful GU bat from one of the Celery Pickers-- a team that counts Mike Donlin and Wally Pipp among its celebrated alumni. Thanks for all the photos.

There are so many awesome bats on this thread. I just love it when I pop on and see there is another one.
That Puddin' Head bat is awesome!

I have a bat that I suspect is game used and perhaps even “THE GAME” used. Unfortunately I’m at a dead end in terms of my research.

Came from the collection of a deceased Pirates collector and carried no provenance.

As the photos show it’s a broken bat (carefully https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8c8453a8c4.jpg
repaired) marked with info from Rennie Stennett’s 7 for 7 game. What I’ll call THE BAT from that game lives at the Hall of Fame, but it’s certainly plausible to me that more than one bat would have been used.

Either way a fun item as I have a special connection to the Rennie game. (My artwork honoring the game just went up at PNC last month.)

My childhood idol. Is there a player better with fans than Garv?!


Jason
Twitter: @heavyj28

I'm assuming you've looked at all the photos of him at bat that you could find from the game, but have you been able to find video?

That’s a cool Rennie bat. I was very tempted to grab that one myself. I didn’t pull the trigger because the HOF claims to have that bat in their collection. I guess you can never be certain. They also claim to have Clemente’s 3000th hit bat and it was recently photo-matched to a private collection.

https://baseballhall.org/discover/in...even-for-seven

Haines and P. Fielder gamers
 

Had these for a while and had them signed at the National.
Attachment 586243

Attachment 586244

The yellow paintpen/sharpie is the bomb. Wish I'd had one back when I was getting a lot of bats signed at Spring Training.

I've had this bat for years. When I dug it out today, I'd forgotten all about the Worth brand. I just picked up this pair of batting gloves for 20 bucks. I have a soft spot for Brenly because a) he lived down the hall in my Freshman dorm at Ohio University (alma mater of Mike Schmidt, also) and b) because of the story shown in this clipping.

Good with the ladies, too. :cool:

[QUOTE=jason.1969;2350999]My childhood idol. Is there a player better with fans than Garv?!

He was good... he waved to us from inside his car on the I-5 freeway after a Dodger game.

But Tony Gwynn was the nicest of any professional athlete I ever met. No ego, made great eye contact, respectful, told us endless stories, and signed a ton of stuff for free. Super friendly guy who passed way too soon. :(

[QUOTE=perezfan;2367789]And such an underappreciated star of the game, in my opinion.

Love the ink - the yellow really pops. Couldn't Tristar find a less conspicuous spot for their holograms?

White Sox
 

Opened up a fairly recent acquisition. It's a U1 Tommy McCraw.

One of my more recent favorite Giants. I don't know if you guys have ever seen this picture of 5 or 6 year old Brandon, taken at Candlestick Park in 1992. Years later, he reprised the pose. This bat is from 2014 - one of Craw's World Series years.

Received my letter for my Billy Williams bat.

Rob love that Crawford bat. The pic of him as a kid has always been a favorite of mine. First time I’ve seen the reprise it’s hilarious thanks for sharing.

What a beautiful bat from the sweet spot of Billy Williams' career. Thanks for posting the bat photo and the LOA, etc.

[QUOTE=perezfan;2367789]Manager not player, but notable because I didn't even remotely expect it. Met Dick Williams at one of the A's reunions probably 15-20 years ago now. Gregarious as can be, telling stories, just fantastic.

Had an amazing experience with Don Drysdale when I was a kid, too, but it's well documented how kind he was.

Although most of your all-time, HOF type guys used H&B, LS or Adirondack, I love that there are now many companies producing MLB-quality bats - Marucci, Victus, Chandler, Dove Tail, Max, X, B45, Tucci, Birdman, etc. They make for an interesting display.

Agree... Collecting modern bats is more interesting with all of the upstart brands and newer companies competing for market share. Especially love the look of the two-tone Bats.... many of them are almost like works of art.

As I mentioned, I like the plethora of new bat companies approved by MLB. Marucci and Victus now make up nearly 50% of bats used in the major leagues. Louisville Slugger has fallen to 14.6%. Heere are some new Giants pickups:

Joe Panik - fan favorite and member of the 2014 WS team. All Star and Gold Glove winner with the Giants
Donovan Solano - hit .330 with the 2019 Giants; member of 107 win 2021 team; Silver Slugger in 2020
Matt Duffy - member of 2014 WS team; also known for his fat cat :p
Ryan Vogelsong - rescued off the scrap heap to go 27-16 in 2011-12; member of 2 WS teams; 3-0, sub 3.00 ERA in two posteasons.

Summer of 2022 I asked for examples on how other members here display their game used bat collection. There were some very nice displays and many options to choose from. I couldn’t make a decision. My 1971 Pirates Game used bat collection is likely the centerpiece of my myopic collection. I really wanted to do something unique and perhaps even a bit classy. Unfortunately those two characteristics are very foreign to me which served to compounded my ambivalence. I enlisted the help of a friend who is a talented artist. She brought her father along. He happened to be a big baseball fan and wanted to check out my collection. She said he had some good ideas. He listened to us discuss different options while he swung a few bats off to the side.

He asked if I would allow him to design something for me gratis. She explained that he was a finisher. I had no idea what a finisher was. I asked him if he had ever completed a similar project before. He only said, “I’ve done a few things”. His only conditions were that I had to cover the cost of materials, promise to be patient, and and most importantly trust him. It took the better part of a year and it was certainly worth the wait.

He used African mahogany and a Japanese charred wood technique called Shou Sugi Ban. He created numbers to be mounted above each player’s bat in a style that pays homage to the 1973 #21 Clemente memorial patch worn by the Pirates. He separated the black backsplash from the bat knobs with a gold groove that can be used to display pin-backs, photos, cards, or tickets essentially making it a display shelf. The visible wood grain almost looks like tiger eye as it shimmers when the light hits it. He said he was shooting for a look that might have been similar to the area on a pirate ship used to tie down rigging. He used LED lighting to illuminate the bats at night. As a final touch he purchased a small tablet and downloaded Game 7 of the 1971 World Series. It fits perfectly in the grove. He said the sound and video serve to bring the bats to life.

I shared his work with my friends at the Clemente museum. They gifted me the 42”x16” photo of the 1971 Bucs that’s mounted above the rack.

It turns out this finisher’s other “similar” projects were a Weyerhaeuser board room and trophy rooms at UCLA. He also has work on display at the Smithsonian. I suppose his talents meet my standards LOL. I was blessed by his generosity and know I couldn’t afford to commission such a talented artist.

WOW! Mike, that bat and photo display is the bomb!!! :eek:
Congrats, my friend. :cool:

That's a stunning display, Mike. Good things come to those who wait. Congrats!

That’s an awesome display, Mike! Congrats to you and your finisher. I swear it’s your good karma that causes things to “fall into place” for you!

Wow incredible display. Congrats on the new set up.

Gorgeous Wall, Mike...

He did a fantastic job, and what a great idea to add the circled numbers above each of the bats! The lighting is magical and really accents it all beautifully. I also love the giant Photo (with apparent matching frame).

I don't think it could be done any better... just a stellar job, proving that patience really pays off!

Holy Moly! That looks AWESOME!

Thanks everyone I appreciate all of the kind words. Rob, Im definitely cash broke but Karma rich 😆

Eddie Brinkman Gamer
 

Attachment 606485

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Eddie Brinkman gamer.

I only bought this because it was dirt cheap and Heliot Ramos was the Giants' first round draft pick in 2017. I guess I also liked that it is a Dinger model I don't have. It is signed, with "1st round pick 2017 Go Giants!" Ramos hit .348 in the Rookie League at age 17. He has been a bust ever since. Maybe he will break through, but I doubt it. I was thinking how the Giants wasted a first round pick and then I pulled up the entire 2017 draft. Looks like the Giants weren't the only ones to swing and miss. Of the entire first round, I've heard of three guys..#1, #2 and Jeter Downs. I think Royce Lewis is an everyday player; Hunter Greene may have a future (or not) and Jeter Downs is only known for his first name.

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/dra...ft.php?yr=2017