group of old bats

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Posted By: Greg G

I bought this lot of 4 bats in a small antique shop in Mitlon PA over the New Year break. I inquired as to where they came from and was told they were purchased together recently at an auction that included stuff from a old sporting goods store that closed. One of the bats has the name Leiser inscribed, the box that the bats came in (from auction) was a normal newer box, but written on the side was "Drew Lieser's Baseball Relics." There were a couple older baseballs with the group as well. My guess is they were used in a store-front display once upon a time - but really don't know. I knew very little about old bats before the purchase (now I know a whole bunch - part of why I love collecting) but best I can tell the bats are:

Bing-Go bat - this one's handle is not as thick as the others, I found a 1923 reference to a bing-go bat. The bat is inscribed "H L Model"(I may have the initials wrong).

Longer Flat top bat has no identifing marks, has a couple black rings at the end of the bat.

Flat top Reach bat with Leiser inscribed in the bat orange painted brand label

J.F Hillerich bat - old trademark no signs of a decal or model signature

I would enjoy hearing the comments from you experts as to what I've found.

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Posted By: Glenn

My response is: I live just outside of Milton, so how did you find these and I missed them?

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Posted By: Greg G

Glenn - I live over 3 hours drive away from Milton, but drove up to the area because the antique hunting in your area is better that in the DC area where I live. For further evidence of this, if you hop over to the non-sport forum under Jan. pickups I have pictured 3 of the stack of 10 Yum Yum coupon cards I picked up on the same trip. Here comes the part you'll hate the most... Yum Yum cards were $10 for the lot, and the bats were $18 each.**

**footnote to the story - the first time I looked at the bats I was with my father long-time sports collecting partner, I had to convince him the Reach bat was old (he thought the Hillrich bat was a softball bat) and we only bought the Reach bat. When I got home and did some research I realized the bat had some age and ANXIOUSLY waited the week and half before I could make the 3+ hour drive again to buy the other bats and couple baseballs.

I am not sure but I think the sporting goods store they mentioned was in Lewisburg - are you aware of a store like this going out of business in the last year or two?

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Posted By: Glenn

Greg,
There were no sporting goods stores like that in the area for a good while. There was a true sporting goods store in Milton that closed years ago, maybe the '60's but can't remember the name. Then, there was Charlie Baum's in Sunbury, which closed in the '60's. Charlie Baum baseballs surface on ebay occasionally.

I search the countryside and haven't found anything worth carrying home for a long time. Yet, you drive up and find these bats. About two years ago a guy in Milton came up with two very rare gloves which he knew nothing about. One was the best condition crescent pad I ever saw. He turned down another because he didn't want to fork out another $5. I had to tell him what they were, answer all the ebay questions for him, etc. I think he pulled in over $2500 for them on ebay. He was an ebay guy who sells $2 junk items in every category they have.

Timing is everything in life. Good for you.