Could this be Hughie Jennings Game Used Bat?

[murphusa]

The endorsement of professional baseball bats started with Honus Wagner in 1905. Jennings career was all but over in 1903 when he came to bat 19 times for Philadelphia.. He played in Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia during his professional career.

He was born and raised in Scranton PA

In 1907 he was named manager of the Tigers
His at bats in Detroit as a player
1907 4
1909 4
1912 1



PTC was a regional company.

During the time period there were two Professional Leagues in Michigan. The Southern Michigan and West Michigan Leagues. Where did they buy their professional bat? I'll bet PTC

go online and look at the pictures of all the bats which are said to be a Keller, Chance, Blount, Lajoie and the Jennings. All of the center brands are crisp and clean in their lettering. Now look at the knobs. All are irregular.

I don't believe that the PTC put those names on the bat pictured

I am more inclined to guess that someone other than PTC put the names on the bats

[Mark]

Originally Posted by murphusa

The endorsement of professional baseball bats started with Honus Wagner in 1905. Jennings career was all but over in 1903 when he came to bat 19 times for Philadelphia.. He played in Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia during his professional career.

He was born and raised in Scranton PA

In 1907 he was named manager of the Tigers
His at bats in Detroit as a player
1907 4
1909 4
1912 1



PTC was a regional company.

During the time period there were two Professional Leagues in Michigan. The Southern Michigan and West Michigan Leagues. Where did they buy their professional bat? I'll bet PTC

go online and look at the pictures of all the bats which are said to be a Keller, Chance, Blount, Lajoie and the Jennings. All of the center brands are crisp and clean in their lettering. Now look at the knobs. All are irregular.

I don't believe that the PTC put those names on the bat pictured

I am more inclined to guess that someone other than PTC put the names on the bats

"I am more inclined to guess that someone other than PTC put the names on the bats"

The plot thickens!

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by Mark

"I am more inclined to guess that someone other than PTC put the names on the bats"

The plot thickens!

the names and the brands?????

[Huysmans]

Hey Jim, the 1905 date for Wagner's H&S endorsement is usually cited, but do we know for sure that no other company had endorsements sooner? If Bud made the first Louisville bat for Pete Browning in the mid-1880s, there seems to be a two-decade gap between, with more than enough time for a secondary maker to possibly enter into the market of producing player bats. I seem to remember YEARS AGO a Wright & Ditson bat on Ebay that was advertised as a late-19th century example, with "Kelly" in block letters, with the seller claiming it was produced for King Kelly.

I don't have access to my Hillerich & Bradsby book currently, the H&B Wiki page mention's the date, but their source is a 2009 New Yorker article that states "Although athletes have been endorsing products for more than a century—beginning, by most accounts, in 1905, when Honus Wagner put his name on Louisville Slugger bats". The use of "by most accounts" is troubling. Are there any sources contemporary to Wagner's signing with H&B that state the company was entering new territory? This may have all been confirmed previously, I'm just unaware if it has?

Brent

[murphusa]

Brent,

The real thing is that all of the PTC bats that show an endorsement in block letters all have a different block used to make them. Some even with letters of different sizes.

Curly Blount bat??? of course a pitcher with only 49 at bats would have an endorsement deal

I have seen too many early bats doctored up with someone else punching a name on them

[Mark]

Originally Posted by murphusa

Brent,

I have seen too many early bats doctored up with someone else punching a name on them

I have seen this a couple of times, but, of course, I could tell because the attempts were very badly done. Do you have any good stories or helpful hints about spotting the fakes?

[Huysmans]

Hey Jim, I'm not disputing whether the Jennings PTC bat is an actual player-endorsed model, what I'm questioning is whether it's well documented or not that Wagner was in fact the first athlete to have an endorsed product.

[insidethewrapper]

http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.co...-lot78550.aspx

[murphusa]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Hey Jim, I'm not disputing whether the Jennings PTC bat is an actual player-endorsed model, what I'm questioning is whether it's well documented or not that Wagner was in fact the first athlete to have an endorsed product.

Endorsed product or bat. According the H&b record, Wagner was the first to be paid and have his name on a bat.

[Republicaninmass]

Great read, thanks for posting