[mattm]

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