Pete Rose Bat Specs
 

Hello, I'm very much a rookie when it comes to bats. I'm interested in what is professed to be a Pete Rose game used bat. The bat is 35 inches long and has Genuine S2 with Rose's burned signature underneath and Louisville Slugger underneath the signature. The center brand reads Louisville Slugger 125 Hillerich & Bradsby Co. Made in U.S.A. Louisville, KY and has the Powerized mark. Pete's number 14 is written on the knob.

Is this at least a game model bat? I would appreciate any help you could offer.

Thanks,
Mike

Probably would have to put up some pictures, including the knob for anyone to give you a good opinion.

Sounds like a 1977-79 H&B index bat. There's been speculation that Rose had used the S2 later in his career since he ordered it early on, but during that era his H&B "go to" model was the R195.

Watch out for later era (like the 80's maybe?) Pete Rose S2 bats. I think he (or someone) ordered a bunch for shows and promotions.

Here is my Rose S2. It is from the late 70's, and doesn't match Rose's ordering records, but does match team ordering records.
That means that people would consider this an index bat, not a true Rose "gamer". However, I love index bats, and think they are a fantastic alternative to paying full price.

Thanks for the insight everyone.

Is there anywhere a collector can go to look up Pete Rose's bat model numbers?

I'm wondering about a "PR3" model bat from the 1960s.

Steve

PR3 would be a store model. PR for Pete Rose and 3 is for 33 inches long

Thank you Brock!

Steve

Try to find yourself a copy of the Vince Malta Louisville Slugger book. They’re out of print and hard to find, but you can come across them if you search diligently.

That book only lists the bat ordering records for hall of famers, as of the copyright date of 2007 (and yes, I do have it); as everyone knows, Pete Rose is not in the hall of fame.

Steve

Correct, that book won’t help you with Pete Rose ordering records.

It will, however, help you learn about various eras of Louisville Slugger models and how they’re labeled and that a PR3 would be a 33 inch retail store model.

7yI would post pictures of the bat here, but I can't get them to load, since the file format is incorrect.

Suffice to say, the bat has a P-10 Powerized label; 125 in the trademark (looks like a C-19 trademark), dated to 1966 in Vince Malta's book.

As mentioned before, the model number on the knob is PR3.

What confuses me is the fact that it has the 125 trademark, and a Powerized label.

Then to complicate things further, on the signature branding, the "Genuine" appears to be a BS-5 with the semi-squared-off "G", but the "Slugger" looks like a BS-6, with the rounded G.

Again, any help is appreciated.

Steve

There are more than player issued models with both the 125 and Powerized. There are Pro Stock, Promotional, Autograph, Team Index, and Show models with both. I am sure there are also other terms used to describe them and some are way better to have than others. I had to learn that having both means nothing since I collect all types/models of Wade Boggs bats.