One sub theme in my advanced Nolan Ryan collection is to find the game used bat of every catcher that was involved in a significant career pitching milestone(s).
Once I find the bat I have had the catcher sign and inscribe their game used bat- ex. Jeff Torborg 1000th strikeout and 1st no-hitter catcher, etc.
Since most of his catchers are fairly obscure, finding a game used bat for these guys has proven to be very challenging...
Some of you that know me may have noticed that I have occasionally posted on the BST looking for a Mark Bailey bat.
This is a collecting theme that I have chased since I first got the idea in the early 1990's. I have been successful at finding a game used bat for each of these milestone catchers. The last game used bat that I needed to get signed was catcher Mark Bailey of the Houston Astros. Bailey is not a common signer, so I sent him a letter letting him know what I was working on and asked if he would sign & inscribe his game used bat. He immediately responded and said he would be glad to do it for me.
This is where things got interesting...
In 2006 I sent Bailey a really nice example of his H & B game used bat along with return postage and a very nice thank you letter.
The interesting thing is that the bat was cleverly corked (ala Slammin' Sammy Sosa).
I noted that the end had been drilled out, substance inserted (cork or ?) and the end was patched up, repainted (in black) and his uni # 6 was written over the end. Of course I made no mention of this when I sent him the bat.
Long story short, he never returned the bat even after I sent him two additional letters, one containing $$. No bat.
It's taken me
9 years to find another one, but mission accomplished.
Needless to say, I will not be sending him this one. It's a nice bat with excellent use. No cork this time though.
05-07-2015, 03:14 PM
One big hole on my want list finally filled- for the 2nd time!!
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