The Tale of a Fake Louis Santop Bat

[Bestdj777]

Are the fake markings just on the very ends of the bat (the knob and whatever the other part is)? Sorry, I own but know little about markings on game used bats. If that is the only place it is marked, I recommend just sanding off the fake markings to return it to how it was before. That way it's no longer a fake bat and you can keep it in your collection and enjoy or you can sell it and provide full disclosure without concern about someone later trying to pass it off. I did something similar with a Mantle/Maris signed baseball. The Maris was fake, so I removed it while leaving a trace of the signature. So now I have a real ball without the cloud over it from the forgery.

[yanks12025]

I have a fake Happy Felsch bat that I plan on cutting into pieces and making a pen holder out of one part.

[drcy]

Originally Posted by Bestdj777

Are the fake markings just on the very ends of the bat (the knob and whatever the other part is)? Sorry, I own but know little about markings on game used bats. If that is the only place it is marked, I recommend just sanding off the fake markings to return it to how it was before. That way it's no longer a fake bat and you can keep it in your collection and enjoy or you can sell it and provide full disclosure without concern about someone later trying to pass it off. I did something similar with a Mantle/Maris signed baseball. The Maris was fake, so I removed it while leaving a trace of the signature. So now I have a real ball without the cloud over it from the forgery.

Agree. If the bat is game used and only the stamping is forged, remove/sand off the stamping and sell as a game used bat.

[Huysmans]

Sorry, I don't agree with the previous posters.
The fake labeling is now part of the bat's history, and should be embraced.
Plus, if I was interested in purchasing said bat, I would much rather have it as an attempted forgery of an interesting HOF player with a neat backstory, than a "generic" game used bat that I can't attribute anyway... Which has also been sanded-down and further damaged.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Sorry, I don't agree with the previous posters.
The fake labeling is now part of the bat's history, and should be embraced.
Plus, if I was interested in purchasing said bat, I would much rather have it as an attempted forgery of an interesting HOF player with a neat backstory, than a "generic" game used bat that I can't attribute anyway... Which has also been sanded-down and further damaged.

I don't think removing the forgery harms the bat or makes it less interesting. Generic bats from the 20's are cool. But if you leave it as it is, you or someone else might look at it to help identify other fakes.

[aelefson]

Thank you everyone! I am leaning towards keeping it as is, but hopefully this thread will also help people learn from my mistake. I always use the Net54 photo hosting, so hopefully these photos will serve as a learning lesson for others for a long time.

Alan

[Huysmans]

I think that would be cool if you kept it as is...
Either way, neat bat.
I just wanted to also say it was nice talking to you at the Boston show Alan.

Brent

[aelefson]

It was nice to meet you as well Brent! I really appreciated your knowledge of early hockey sticks and other vintage equipment. I hope you make it back down in November.

Alan