A Word about 40K Bats - Babe Ruth , Ty Cobb, etc.

[steve B]

I only have a few game used bats, so I'm far from expert. But I'll give it a go and the experts can correct me if I'm way off.

1) I suppose it depends, faking marks that are old might be difficult, but I guess anythings possible. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough bat speed to duplicate the sort of marks someone like the Babe would have caused. More modern marks maybe. Of course the risk is wrecking a nice lightly or unused pro bat.

Some people have studied at length the stuff a player does to a bat. Different use of pine tar, tape etc. Knowing a player usally taped a certain way helps. I think the LS bats have released the order books so you can find out if a certain player ordered a bat that size weight and finish. But I think it's easier to figure out a particular player didn't use a bat than that he did.

2) Lots of ways. The ones I have are from a wide range of eras,

1900-10 ish. Got it from a family friend who broke it playing softball The player was from Maine, and I think his family had some Maine connection, so the player probably had a few around and gave them away. At the time they were just old bats. (I got a couple old but not pro bats too)

1950's Found at a flea market. I used to check the markings on any crummy old bat I saw and to my surprise got a pro bat. Probably the same thing, the player had a few and gave them away to friends then eventually it found its way to the bat barrel in the barn and flea market.

1970's-early 80's Dwight Evans game used, bought from Fenway sports cards. They had a clubhouse guy who sold them batches of broken bats that would have been thrown away. ($9 in I think 1979)

Late 80's Cubs. Maybe Damon Berryhill? maybe just a BP bat with his number writen on it. By then some teams were selling bats as souveneirs. Early 90's the Red Sox had a store in the mall that sold game used bats alongside the replica uniforms hats, upper deck autographs etc. You could even place an order for some players.

Some I heard about survived other ways, like ending up in the stands.

3) I know less about jerseys. But many old ones got recycled to the minor leagues, so un modified/unrestored ones aren't typical.

Steve B

Originally Posted by glchen

Thanks for your information on this. I have always been looking to buy a GU bat, but have been confused by this. I have a few of other questions.

(1) First, let's get the dumb one out of the way. First if someone has a Ruth pro model bat, and say that there are no game used marks on it (e.g., something like a ball mark where the bat hit a ball), could this be added a later time. For example, a guy has a pristine Ruth bat that looks like it was never used. He takes it to his backyard, and hits a couple of balls with it, to "produce" these marks. Is this possible or can people tell that this "mark" was done in "modern" times? (I assume this is not possible to tell.)

On a similar note, I assume there is no way to tell if Ruth actually used the bat, even if the marks were legitimate? That is, one of Ruth's teammates could have borrowed his bat, and used it instead? Do we know if this practice was fairly common or pretty rare (e.g., players borrowing each others bats in prewar times)

(2) Do we know how these bats typically survived to modern times? For example, other than Ruth giving a bat away to a friend or fan, how did the public typically get these bats? Do most of them come from the player's estate? Or did some people just find a bunch of bats at the bat company? For example, many old photos are found when the archives of newspapers go on sale. Did something happen for bats in a similar way? e.g., at the end of every year, the Yankees would sell/give away old bats/memorabilia to the public.

(3) For bats, it is stated that there is only a percentage chance that the player actually used it. How about other memorabilia like jerseys? If there is a Ruth uniform (or hat, etc), is there practically a 100% chance that was used by the player? (assuming it was not counterfeit) For jerseys, it is more about whether any restoration was done (e.g., new buttons) rather than questioning whether the player actually used it? Thanks!