Hillerich & Bradsby Hall of Famers
 

Here's a shot of the bats currently in my collection.
http://www.hofbats.com/images/NewCollSmall.jpg
From left to right:
Fred Lindstrom - Joe Cronin - Rabbit Maranville - Jesse Haines - Ty Cobb - Tris Speaker - HS Cuyler - Ross Youngs - George Sisler - George Kelly - Eddie Collins - Dave Bancroft - Harry Heilmann

Beautiful collection Tim, and what makes it even better is the backdrop!

Greg

Terrific lumber! :eek:

Joe Cronin
 

Tim, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe your Cronin bat has a Kren mailing lablel? The Kren factory had a couple of fires and local folklore is that Kren employees would take home the broken bats, cut them in half and use them for firewood. Not many bats survived the Kren vault. Awesome collection!

sweet.

Hi Mike,

Correct. Here's a close up of the mailing label. Difficult to read, but it is addressed to "Kren's Better Bats" in Syracuse, NY.

http://www.hofbats.com/images/JCroninKrensLbl.jpg

Thanks Greg. I was pretty stoked to have won that cloth on ebay for around $100 several months back. I've never seen another one.

I don't want to completely dominate the discussion, but I did want to "showcase" the Heilmann bat from my collection.

It was originally sourced from a gentleman in the Detroit area. Even though it wasn't heavily used it is the only one I've seen with a tape job that style matches to what Heilmann used. I think the original handle tape and top notch condition make it a pretty special bat.

http://www.hofbats.com/vault/heilmann/HHeilmannFull.jpg
http://www.hofbats.com/vault/heilmann/HHeilmannTape.jpg
http://www.hofbats.com/vault/heilmann/Heilmann.jpg

Tim that is an awesome collection!

I posted this the other day in another thread...c. 1955-1958 Mickey Mantle Game Used Bat.

Bat
 

Mike,
Looks as nice here as it does on the memorabilia side! Congrats! :eek::eek:

Duke Snider after the move from Brooklyn.

Awesome Snider bat. Perfect characteristics!

Thanks Tim!

Duke was one of the more famous St. Paul Saints. Being from St. Paul, Snider was my dad's hero. While I would have preferred a bat from his time in Brooklyn, this one perfectly matches several of his use characteristics. As an added bonus, it came with a notarized letter of provenance. The original owner was a bat boy for the Angels and Dodgers.

Also, glad to see you more on this forum. Your collection is incredible and I hope you stay real active here :)

And for people who don't know Tim, he is one of the true good guys in the game used side of the hobby.

Nice Snider bat. I'm looking to buy one but haven't found one yet. Tough to find.

I think you got it from me. Found them in a Philly warehouse that made displays for conventions. The are set up as curtains and thats how I use the other 4 I have

Really nice Snider and mantle bat.

Regarding this Ty Cobb '1910-15 Professional Model' decal bat, is it the 'Made By' in the label that replaces the store model '40 T.C.' that makes it a Professional model?

Mears Ty Cobb 1910-15 Pro Model decal bat

The simple answer to that is yes. Once you see the 40tc, 40ts etc, its a lot easier to tell pro model from store model.

Thanks, I don't collect bats, but have two with the 1911-15 label, one being a 40tc.

Really nice collection! Thanks for sharing:)

Awesome bats everyone. Here's my one and only. Edd Roush 50+ ounces.

wow
 

A 3 pound bat!! That sounds like the real McCoy.

Ted Williams Gamers with scored handles
 

Here are a pair of Ted Wlliams bats from my collection which illustrate his penchant for scoring the handles for grip, as well as some other good use characteristics. These two bats were used 14 years apart, but show the same, aggressive vertical and horizontal scoring on the handle. Williams would sometimes use a pocket knife to carve some pretty deep grooves as you can see.

The top bat is from 1960-1961, likely immediately post-career while he coached. The lower bat is from 1946 or 1947 based on labeling plus his ordering records and specs. Both are 35 inches and about 33 ounces. Both were purchased from Hunt Auctions, with the 1946/7 bat coming from the Louisville Slugger event.

Both bats also show great use on the back barrel, as Williams was often a label down, left-handed hitter. Deep stick marks and swollen grain in a concentrated pattern on both. A few cleat marks, but not a huge number are seen on both. I think these are ideal use characteristics, but Williams was not consistent and can be seen in period photos swinging label down for periods and label up. He sometimes scored the bats and sometimes did not. There is also olive oil and resin remnants on the handles from additional experiments in grip enhancement. He was always trying something new in this area.

I hope this information is helpful

Matt M

Matt M,
Nice William bats.

Not quite as glorious, here are a couple of mine: Doerr and Schoendienst, plus my Adirondack Torre and Kaline.

Ken

Great bats Ken!

On this rainy Friday morning, here are some of my favorite game bats of Hall of Fame pitchers --

Greg

No Wynn?? You mean I actually have a bat that you don't have?

Ken

Hi Ken,

No Wynn in that photo, I'll look for it. I love your Schoendienst, that looks to be a real nice example. And it looks like your Torre is from his amazing 1971 MVP year -- very nice!

Greg

Nice bats. Is the Seaver a cupped end?

Nate -- yes the Seaver is a cupped end with his uniform number written in there.
Here are a few more HOF pitchers bats: Early Wynn, Whitey Ford, Walter Johnson, and Lefty Grove, along with some other HOFer All Star and World Series bats.

Greg

Greg, would you be offended if I told you I kinda hate you??

Ken

PS: Nice bats, though!

Boy, Greg, that's some lumber collection you've got. Wow!

Greg, Amazing collection! That's a lot of legendary wood there. That collection is so opulent that it could be pornographic. No pun intended.

Any more out there?? I know there are some great bats we haven't seen. A few more of mine: Kell, Aparicio, Fox, plus an off-brand Jimmie Foxx.

Ken