Is It Possible to Get Bat Ordering Records?
 

I am new to bats and I see many references to player ordering records. I am curious if these records exist somewhere for people to look through. It would be fun to have the full list.

Thanks

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-Re...8AAOSwj-5eOvAf

This book has ordering records for many, but not all, hall of fame players.

Thanks! That is a very good start.

What about other players and companies other than Louisville Slugger? As I am looking around at listings and completed sales I feel like I am seeing references to records a lot of places and for non-HOFers. That got me to wondering where all of that info resides.

As authenticator for PSA, John Taube has access to records. There are a few other people that have them but it is few and far between.

As far as I know, while some companies are helpful with questions about bats, I think most are hesitant to give out any sort of player ordering information. Louisville Sluggers records are really the only ones that have been made available.

Thanks Tim, that is what it was starting to look like to me as I tried to find them.

It would be terrific if there would be a way to have public records for guys that have been retired for 5 years, or something similar. I can see not wanting to share for active players, but it would be a terrific historical resource for the public to have.

At least I know that I can quit trying to find the records. :)

I actually emailed a company once (I think Victus or Chandler) and asked if a bat was a gamer or a store model. To my surprise, a lady emailed me back right away and said yes, it is a gamer.
So if you have a specific question about a bat, they might get back to you.

I have had questions about bat specs and batch orders answered from Old Hickory. They were very helpful and informative

Do those types of inquiries take a long time?

Also, another question. I also see people say things about lengths that were not available in the catalog and therefore are not store model bats. So, same question about catalogs - is there a collection of these?

Thanks again everyone

In my case, they emailed me back within the day.

I think your question about bat lengths is a slippery slope. If, for example, you have a bat that is supposed to be 35", but is slightly short, and has other markings indicating that someone worked on it (like a hand turned knob with rasp marks), that might be an indicator.
I have a Spalding Bresnahan Autograph bat, circa 1912 -1925. The 1912 catalog says these bats are 32 1/2", and between 40 - 44 ounces. My bat is 33 1/4" (and 39.45 ounces). Does that make it a gamer? It would be exciting to think so of course.
But I got this great advice from other collectors when I was starting out: without any other evidence, you can't conclude that.
I also learned (from the great collectors in this forum) that many of the bat companies back in the day would allow Joe Shmoe to order whatever he wanted on a custom order. So that makes things even more difficult.

On the other hand, bats that don't match the "store specs" are always worth a closer look, in my opinion. I have gotten excited more than once, and I have quite a number of "peculiar" bats in my collection that have unusual features. In the end, there is not enough empirical evidence to conclude anything.

However, that said, for me, that is half the fun of bats. I can research all afternoon, and sometimes, you really DO find something. That has happened to me a few times.

Good luck with your bat collecting. I always thought it was AMAZING to have a bat in your hands that a player once actually used.

There are bat ordering books out there. I had 3 or 4 at one time. Got them when I Bought a large collection from someone that worked at Briggs Tiger Stadium. Louisville Slugger length & weight with players name. Sold a few years ago. Joe

Were these records kept by someone in the Tiger's front office?

This post presents a pretty accurate and appealing picture of what it is like to collect old baseball bats. If you find that you've got, for example, a Bresnahan with an unusual length or weight, you search the net to see if anyone auctioned a side-written or otherwise bona fide Bresnahan with the same length and weight of your model. If there's a match, you can tell yourself that you are holding the same kind of bat that old Roger would have used. Even if there is no match, but you find something else that is unusual, such as lathe marks, you can reasonably say that your bat is not the retail model that was advertised by Spalding. But whatever these bats are, they are as close as most of us will ever get to owning a game used Bresnahan, Chance, et al.

In your case, JoeD Fan, I think it would have been irregular for Joe Schmoe to ask Spalding to make them a Bresnahan bat with a longer length that his model came in. But who knows? Maybe Spalding would do or make anything for an extra $2.

Here is an ad from the Keyman site. Notice the bottom part, where they appear to say (if I am reading it right) that you can tell them what specs you want, and they can do it for you.

http://keymancollectibles.com/images/img224.jpg

One other interesting feature of the Bresnahan bat is red rack marks. So I have always been curious...

Yes, they were booklets about 5” x 3”. Carbon copies stayed With the book & original was sent to company With the order. Not sure if I have pictures, will check. Joe

Thanks Sean. Have baseball teams always used bat racks? How far back to you suppose they go?

Well, in 1900, we see Wagner behind bats in the dirt.
In 1930, we see Gehrig and Ruth behind a bat tray.

The Gehrig Hanna bat had the "green bat rack marks", per Taube. That bat was circa 1930, if I recall correctly.
So I am not sure if racks evolved from the trays, or the "rack marks" are from the trays.
I have never really thought about it, actually. I will add it to my list to research.

It might be park specific, or something like that.
I just looked at a Ty Cobb circa 1910-1915, and there do not appear to be rack marks on that one, so maybe that narrows it?

I actually had some ideas about rack marks, but I have to research it some more.

Or, maybe some others have a better idea?

Here’s what the team ordering books look like —

Greg

I’m pretty sure you purchased those Detroit ordering books from me a few years back. LOL. Joe