Johnny Vander Meer 1940 Kren's Special store model bat

[KrenBats]

I hesitated in responding to this post because I could definitely feel the excitement in acquiring this bat. I'll share my opinion, for what it's worth.

Johnny Vandermeer did play for Syracuse in 1937 and many of the Syracuse players used Kren bats. There are stories that Joe Kren Jr. would fill a wagon of Kren bats and take them to the players before the games. So it makes sense that Vandermeer used Kren bats at some point in his career.

I've attached a 1940 Kren Retail Catalog which offered a Johnny Vandermeer Autograph Model. You're right, pitcher endorsed models are very rare but my guess is Kren was capitalizing on the back to back no hitters and signed Vandermeer. As you can see from the Auto models offered, Kren did a horrible job in getting the top players of the time to endorse their bats compared to H&B. This is probably what did them in.

Also this bat is a No KSN model which is the Kren's Special - Natural Finish, with lengths 33" to 36".

As for "Hand Turned", not all Kren game used bats have that inside the diamond logo. Again, many of the Kren bats found in the H&B Barn Find had model numbers and almost all had the name in block letters.

Given that this bat matches the Retail Catalog, is foil stamped and marked 35"on the knob, my opinion is that it is a store model bat.