Let's see some Pre-1980's gamers!
 

I picked this up at the Nat'l, it has such great patina. c. 1898-1905 J.F. Hillerich & Son. No name on barrel (Patent No. instead).

(Please ignore the ugly comforter, was at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore :))

One of my favorites. 1920's Joe Jackson with Provenance

Here is my late 60's Clemente

70's Schmidt

Late 70's Reggie

Steve,

Very nice bats, but I especially like the Clemente.

Greg

Thanks Greg, The Clemente is certainly one of my favorites.

Love the Clemente!

Not HOFers, but a couple of my favorites.

The Hank Gowdy bat -- sorry for the crummy pic -- is really cool, because instead of wrapping the handle with tape, it's actually a wire! Does anyone have any players' bats with this? (The others are Stan Hack and John Kruk.)

The Ernie Koy is hickory, meaning it's heavy as heck. I like how he carved his name into the blank barrel. It's sidewritten for him. (The others are Piggy French and Jack Fournier blank/sidewritten.)

Ken

Hey Steve, this bat looks familiar! As does the Schmidt...

Ben

Ernie Banks 1958 signed/inscribed bat
 

One of my favorites - really heavy use, provenance, nice signature and specific to the first of his back-to-back MVP seasons in '58....

Ben

George Brett 1977 bat
 

Brett gamer specific to '77, it has great pine tar given the use was not as heavy by him generally on the early bats.


Ben

Hank Aaron '69-'72 bat
 

The real home run king

Ben

Stan Musial 1947 bat
 

The early small script barrel signature versions are extremely rare to find relative to other Musial gamers. This one has great first-hand provenance to being acquired in '47 at Ebbets Field, with very heavy barrel use and nice look overall....

Ben

Johnny Bench 1970 bat - MVP season
 

As a Bench collector, this one is at or near the top..a bat specific to 1970, his monster MVP season. It has stellar first-hand provenance from one of the original owners of the Montreal Expos, very heavy pine tar, grooved handle, and great barrel use. Maybe a favorite as far as a display piece...

Ben

Ben
Amazing bats- you have a great eye for quality!
matt

Brooks Robinson 1958 bat
 

Early bat from Brooks with heavy use, grooving on the handle and a great number of barrel marks overall. It has direct provenance with it from a Senators bat boy.

Ben

Johnny Bench 1976 World Series used bat
 

A Bicentennial bat used by Johnny Bench in the '76 Series, has the ideal provenance of the Reds 580 Gift Shop tape dating it to being cracked at Yankee Stadium in Game 3....

Ben

Welcome to the party Ben!

Wow!
 

Terrific lumber, Ben! :)

Those are some terrific bats Ben.

To keep things going, here are some I didn't show in the other Hall of Famers thread.

Greg

Mickey Mantle '61-'62 bat
 

Early 60's H&B B220 model, two WS Champs years with Mantle finishing 2nd in the MVP to Maris in '61 and then winning the MVP in '62.

Ben

Pete Rose mid 70s Adirondack bat
 

Rose used Adirondacks primarily in the '75-'76 World Series years

Tony Kubek 1960 World Series used bat
 

With the Series going all 7 games, all the runs scored, the bat got a terrific amount of use.

Ben- welcome to the board, your bats are incredible! how long have you been collecting them? where do you typically buy from?

best-
Michael

Don Drysdale 1965 H&B - great year at the plate and on the mound for Drysdale, as he was the only .300 hitter for the WS Champs in '65, frequently used as a pinch hitter that year. It has great use and direct provenance too.

Sweet Drysdale!

The game used forum has been quiet for way too long, so here's a photo of some more HOFer game used bats, including another Musial autograph model. The third from the bottom that is kind of hard to see is Zach Wheat.

Greg

Some amazing collections and examples! I have not jumped into the vintage game used area of the hobby yet, but to say I'm facinated by it is an understatement, especially bats.

I'm researching and educating myself about vintage game use bats though and I hope to begin my journey into the subject in the very near future.

Great collections!

Mark,

Collecting vintage game bats puts you in touch with the actual game in a way that few other things can. It's terrific that you are not just jumping in without thinking -- education and research are the way to go. Enjoy and always feel free to ask any of us for help.

Greg

I hope part of that education involves buying Vince Malta's book. I've been buying bats for almost 20 years and still refer to it regularly.

Ken

Thanks for the tip Ken!

I've actually spent this afternoon searching for related books for my library. I've also looked into the Mastronet Reference and Price Guide: For Collecting Game Used Baseball Bats as well as it seems to be a good reference as well.

It is, I used it well when it came out, but honestly, the Malta book beats it hands-down. Malta's book has very detailed pictures and descriptions of virtually every variation in LV labeling. Every bat I get I check out the date. Combined with the actual LV ordering records for HOFers, it's worth it's weight in gold. (Is it even available anymore??)

Ken

Not HOFers in SayHey or Gorilla's category, but I am happy as can be with the Travis bat. Been looking for one for years that 1) was available and 2) I could afford. I remember one selling a few years ago for twice what I got this one for.

Combined with the Satchel Paige ball I posted in the auto pickups, I've crossed two of my top-ten "dream items" off in two weeks!

Ken

I love the look of the old Adirondacks, like the Dark and Houk here. Also, one that may be uncommon is the Duffy Lewis bat, sitting beside one of my personal favorites, my Hank Gowdy.

Ken

Ray Morgan bat
 

Attachment 84762

Attachment 84763


Some great stuff on here. Like the Myer bat.