That’s a very cool display!

Nice!

Awesome display!!

Christmas in April!
 

After a week under quarantine in my baseball room, I finally opened my mail!!!

I am excited to finally add Donnie Baseball to my Yankee collection!

Does anyone know about Young bats? Mostly that one I picked up out of curiosity. Looks like no real (or minimal) use, but the research I could find was that they made these for pro players back in the day, but they didn't catch on with many players.

Nice pickups...I heard that Cal Ripken used Young bats (not sure how often) for batting practice. I do know that some players did use them. I believe Rickey Henderson used them at some point again not sure how often. I'm sure the other bat guys will chime in. Really like the Yankee gamers though.

Picked up this Larry Brown bat recently. He had over 800 hits in the big leagues over a 12 year career with the Indians, Orioles, A’s and ended his career with the Rangers. He was the younger brother of Dick Brown who also played in the big leagues and died at age 35 in 1970.Attachment 397689

Attachment 397690

Attachment 397691

Attachment 397692

Was Brown a coach somewhere?...Bat is interesting in that it has a center label that first came out in 1980 & Brown's last season in professional ball as a player was six years earlier.

Bill: nice catch on the label. I will send the pics to Mr. Brown and see what he says. I don’t believe he was a coach after he retired.
Thanks

Thanks Mike....let us know....These kind of things always interest me

This Brinkman came in a couple of days ago courtesy of LOTG. Always happy to add another Tiger to the collection.
Attachment 399530

Attachment 399531

a bat
 

I added this Irish Meusel H&B recently. Looks like a pro-model, probably from the last 3 or 4 years of his career. I'm curious to learn if anyone has any info on other Irish M bats. This one is 35" and 36.5 oz. (if it was in good shape, it would probably weigh 38 oz.)

that's a fine bat, and he was not just any Tiger: he was a key part of one of the most memorable teams of the last 60 years. Are you working on a set of the 68 club?

I do have a handful of 68 Tigers. Brinkman didn’t join the Tigers until 1971. He was on the 72 team that lost in the playoffs to the Oakland A’s. He came over as part of the trade in October 1970 that sent Denny McClain to the Senators.

I sent a letter to Mr. Brown with the pictures of the bat. I let you all know if I here anything.

You all have awesome collections.

I just wanted to throw this out there that I have been looking for a Billy Klaus bat for his family. There was one listed on Worthpoint from a number of years ago that sold but I never received a response from the auctioneer as to if he could put me in touch with the buyer. I know this is a shot in dark but if anyone comes across a Klaus gamer please let me know so I can alert the family.

I could swear I have seen a Klaus lately, but I can't figure out where for the life of me (definitely not in my collection). If I see it, I will let you know right away.

I think the family recently picked up a Bobby Klaus who is Billy's brother but any lead you may remember would be very much appreciated

Picked up this Luke Scott bat for my nephew who played with Luke out of American Legion Post 6 in Florida.
Attachment 401257

Attachment 401258

I'm also a big Tigers fan and have focused on the 84 WS team for gamers (missing Allen & Kuntz), but I've also loved collecting Rickey Henderson and Vladimir Guerrero bats, too. My wife assigned me my own 'sports room' at our new house, but it's not ready yet for official 'Net54' photos, so here's just a picture of my bat rack.

Not the most valuable, but probably one of the rarest bats I have is my Jim Abbott gamer from when he was a pitcher with the Brewers in 1999, the only year he was forced to hit. I would love to get it signed someday, but he hasn't made a public appearance in years. He did show up in 2018 at Angels spring training and signed multiple days, from what I read, so I sent the bat out on consignment through a collector in AZ hoping he would be back last spring training, but no luck. He only had 21 official at bats in 1999 with 2 hits and 3 RBI's. It's cracked on the handle and shows some use.

Awesome Abbott and Henderson(s)!

My Collection
 

Great bats guys. Not sure how to post pics on here but here is a link to some of my collection:
https://www.gubats.com/my-collection

I also have a website with some great bat pics on there:
www.batbreak.com


-Nick Nunnari

Great collection & site Nick!

Here is a Charley Lau game used H&B (1965-68 labeling period) bat from his time with the Orioles...Of course, Lau later gained fame as a batting instructor primarily with KC.

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

Mail day!
 

Had no trouble picking this one up. It is the home accounting office's favorite player. :D

That Brewers wall display is off the charts!

Let's keep it going with some random Spalding and H&B HOFers --


Greg

A quick update on the Larry Brown.

That's some sweet lumber there Greg. Good stuff.

Greg

Great, impressive group of HOF bats. More, individual photos eagerly desired! Looking at the lettering of the names on the Spalding bats, I wonder if you have any theories or thoughts about the different "font" sizes/ styles of the lettering of the names on the Hornsby and Schalk bats---as well as any theories about the two different kinds of lettering on the names on the Carey bat. Do you think that one is later than the other? If so, which is earlier? How do you understand the two name stampings on the Carey bat? Why would Spalding place two block letter names on one bat? Does the "Red Smith" resemble the lettering on H&B bats? Could that name have been placed on the bat by H & B after Smith sent it to them for future orders?

Mark

Thanks for the kind words Ron -- I'm constantly amazed with the new bats you manage to dig up!

Mark, a few quick answers -- the Hornsby style was I believe used by Spalding for a couple of years -- I have a Roush just like it. I don't know if perhaps the Schalk branding was unique to his bats -- I say that because the only other Schalk bat I know of that has sold at a major auction, looks just like this style.

As for the Max Carey, I think it started as a Red Smith bat, not sure when the Carey was added, but it may have been by H&B. This bat is H&B sidewrittten with both Max Carey and Red Smith, and it has Carey's C130 vault mark on it. Carey's H&B ordering records reflect his use of the Red Smith. I have another Red Smith bat that I picked up years ago just in case it too might have been used by Carey.

I will have to post some bats in the coming days.

Greg

Greg
Thanks. Very interesting info on the Spalding fonts. Thanks for sharing the photos. I know that some people here have stupendous collections, and out of modesty or discretion they don't show every great piece that they own. So, it's fun and instructive when advanced collectors share some especially nice pieces.
Mark

Mail day!
 

Picked up this bad boy for a pretty good price. I have been looking for a dash-dot-dash to fill the hole in my collection.

No idea on the player; the seller thought perhaps Rabbit Garrity, a minor league guy maybe.

34 inches, and 37.2 ounces!

I think it's more likely that the bat was ordered by the Senators' Patsy Gharrity--he played on some cool teams. It's my impression that they didn't spell every name correctly.

Oh, wow. That had never occurred to me. I will have to look that guy up.
Was that a fairly common event? Now that you mention it, I have seen a number of misspelled gamers from time to time.

Thanks!

a new one
 

Just got this bat today, and it's been on my list for a long time. I have been collecting pre-war Pirates bats since the early 90's. I remember passing up the chance to get a George Grantham bat in 1994, and I immediately regretted it. Promised myself I'd get the next one I saw, and today it arrived via FedEx. This fills a big hole.

Mail day!! Part II
 

Not sure if this technically qualifies as a gamer?
But you don't see these everyday, so I had to add it to my collection.

A heavy beast, 34 1/2" and 39.09 ounces.

And, it came from my own state of Maine, so that is just the icing on the cake!

Collectible Bats?
 

Okay, after decades of collecting cards, I am really new at the whole collectible bats scene. Are all pro models collectible? or do you just buy PSA Certified Game Used Bats? This is one area that the internet is extremely vague on. PSA lists value for GU'd but how can a novice tell? And if it isn't game used, does it still have value?

Case in point: I just bought thisJackie Robinson model for $1 plus shipping on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/JACKIE-ROBI...rdt=true&rt=nc

I'm guessing it's a professional model but not game used because of the JR4 on the knob. Where can I find out more info on bats other than the $100 books on Amazon? Thanks for helping a rookie learn the ropes of the big leagues...Scott

BTW I know the Jackie Robinson bat has screws in it to hold it back together...obviously it was played with and broken in action by someone.

That is NOT a Profesional Model it is a Store Model.

All bats have value, just some are worth more than others. I am kinda new to bats and collect everything from SGA to Game Used models.

I highly recommend this book. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-Re...8AAOSwj-5eOvAf

The guys on here are a HUGE help; but do yourself a big favor and get Vince Malta's Complete Guide to Louisville Sluggers.

Be very, very careful when you buy stuff. The tiniest detail can make all the difference between a legit gamer and a store model.

Do lots and lots of research. Ask lots of questions.

But have fun! To me, there is absolutely nothing like handling a bat that you know Joe DiMaggio once used, or Wade Boggs (hi Ben).
I walk into my baseball room all the time randomly, and just pick up some vintage lumber. I love it.
You never know whose bat will pop up next.

Sean

Thanks
 

Thanks Ben and Sean; I'll get a copy of the Slugger book. I pretty much figured it was a store model but for $1 + shipping it still is cool. So what are store models tied to players worth? or is that in the book?

Also, regarding more bats...there is an Estate sale this week near me (about 40 miles away) that is selling at least ten authenticated bats. Until I get there I don't know the players, the condition or any specifics, but they look well cared for in tubes. Do I print the PSA pricing pages or wing it? Also it seems like signed bats, versus gamed-used, are demanding higher than PSA pricing currently. Is that true?

Ok, I ordered the book on Ebay; thanks for sharing the link; my Amazon Prime account had that same book listed for $96, which I alluded to in my first post.

rambling on...I know; I took another look at the estate sale website and only one of the bats might be a gamer, the rest look new; but two of those are autographed respectively by Reggie Jackson with "563 HR's" included on the signature, and Willie McCovey; do I go by PSA Autgraphed bat values as a guide?

The book gives you a lot of information on how to ID Louisville Slugger bats. It also has the ordering records of some big name players. There is no pricing guide in it at all.

Pricing is a PIA to figure out because there are so many different types of bats. I still harass the guy(Hi Sean) that got me into bat collecting with questions. I mainly used completed eBay listings for a price guide. Over the last 2 years I have made my own guide for the different bat types of the one player I collect.

bat price guide
 

Bat collecting is a fantastic hobby. In some ways, there used to be more info available. SCD often ran columns on bat collecting, and the MEARS website had lots of interesting essays by Dave Bushing, Troy Kinunen, and Dave Grob on a variety of bat makers. MEARS also made all of its LOA available to subscribers, so you could do a lot of research if you wanted to hunt it down. Now, most of that is gone. On the other hand, we seem to have made a number of important discoveries about collecting pro model bats, and most of what is most useful to know is availble in the archives here. As for a list of current prices, this is a start:


http://https://www.psacard.com/smrpriceguide/game-used-bat-values/8

acquiring bats
 

ok, so since may of you here have great bat collections, do you buy them and if so where? Do you only trust your local dealer or shop on-line at dealers, reputable auction houses or snatch them up on Ebay? Finally, do you pay near the graders values, or try to nab them for pennies on the dollar. I don't want this to break my bank. Case in point: a current Ebay listing has a game used Mel Ott bat from the 1940's. There seems to be some letter of authenticity that comes with it. PSA value for that bat is listed at $37,500; the bidding on Ebay starts at $499....can you see why I'm confused and a bit overwhelmed?

Do you look for authenticated gamers or don't care about the authentication hassles? The PSA site has whetted my appetite, but they remain vague as to specific identification characteristics. Especially how do you thr to "date" a bat? Is that where the book id's them?

Thanks again from Curious in Colorado

Like card collecting, rule number 1 is:
If it looks too good to be true, that is because it is!

A general rule of thumb that I use, and this doesn't always apply: If the bat has the inches marked on the knob, I generally consider it a retail bat; unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary.

Also, do not confuse signed bats, which might have a PSA or JSA sticker on them, with game used bats, which might have a PSA or Mears sticker on them.

If you want to collect bats, I suggest get the book, and then start small, with a few "known" bats that have PSA or Mears letters with them. Louisville Sluggers are a great way to start out, because the books will help you ID the gamers pretty quick.
There are also a couple of other great books on bats that are must haves.

If you like it, after a while, you will start taking chances on a few more of the bigger fish.

One thing that I watch out for is that I can totally talk myself into believing any bat is a gamer; so I often get an objective opinion if I can before doing anything crazy.

All good advice. I will add, learn about team index bats (Bats ordered by teams that have a players name but were probably never used by that player) Many collectors and even experts, get fooled by them

If you are collecting modern, stick with MLB Authenticated stuff. Also try to photo match bats, use sites like Getty Images and look for photos of the player holding a bat and compare.

You've seen what ebay has: you might go to the MEARS Online site to look at their monthly auctions. Beyond that, there are a number of auction sites, like Hunt Auctions and Heritage Auctions, that often have very desirable bats up for bidding. I recommend that you pick a few players that interest you and google their names, along with the phrase "game used bat" or "Professional model bat." Several old auctions should appear, and that will give you a good sense of what has been sold, where, and for how much. Maybe you've already done all this, but, if not, I suggest you give it a try.

Thanks for the advice
 

Thanks for all the great advice. One trend I've seen in all collectibles is that in 2020 you cannot find the bargains the way you could 20 years ago. Back then I bought some great condition Beatles 1st pressing LPs for $10 that had values of $300+. Today buyers are smarter and bid these low priced auctions much closer to BV than they did back then. This is true of cards and I'm sure bats too, so knowing that, if people aren't paying for it then it must not be worth much today.

Thanks for all the well wishes; I've printed the PSA Autograph prices and will check out the estate sale tomorrow. Hopefully I can get some bargains. I'll post updates if i buy any.

Good luck Scott -- take some photos to share with us of what you buy and don't buy. If we notice something good, you can always go back for it.

Greg