Bill Terry Bat

[Sladge34]

A co-worker of mine is in the process of moving and came across this bat. He thinks it was made for the mold for Terry's bat. It has the date 4-14-34 and Bill Terry Ntl lea possibly in grease pencil. If anyone would have any information on this bat that would be great. Thanks

[bat_master]

It's a lathe bat. Was used as a template for creation of new bats of that particular model for Bill Terry.

[Sladge34]

Tim,

Thanks for reaching out. Are these rare? I can’t find anything else like this?

[Mark]

They are not common, that's for sure. It's an interesting piece that collectors might want to have to illustrate the bat making process. On the other hand, there's no reason to believe that Terry ever touched the bat, let alone used it to hit a baseball.

[Sladge34]

Would this also be considered side written? Or just a lathe bat?

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Sladge34

Would this also be considered side written? Or just a lathe bat?

If someone sold me a bat that he said had Bill Terry side-writing, and he sent me this bat, I would want a refund. It's a lathe bat with Bill Terry's name on it. Side writing is important because it places a game used bat in the hands of the specific player. A lathe bat never left the factory, as far as I know.

[Sladge34]

Mark, thanks for the reply. Bats are not my expertise, I’m just doing a little research each day. But I found this on PSA’s website.

Side Writing
Refers to the writing, usually in grease pencil, on the barrel of a bat, written by a manufacturer employee, to document the receipt of a bat by a player, in making future player bats in the same or similar specification. When legible, the writing will indicate the player who shipped the bat back to the manufacturer, the city/and or team name, the league of the team, and the date the bat was received at the factory. Side written bats are usually found on bats of the pre
model number era.

By no means do I think this was game used. But according to psa, it has the players name, the date, New York, and ntl league all in grease pencil. There are no other markings or branding on it. I can’t find anywhere that to be side writing, it has to be game used.

Originally Posted by Mark

If someone sold me a bat that he said had Bill Terry side-writing, and he sent me this bat, I would want a refund. It's a lathe bat with Bill Terry's name on it. Side writing is important because it places a game used bat in the hands of the specific player. A lathe bat never left the factory, as far as I know.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Sladge34

Mark, thanks for the reply. Bats are not my expertise, I’m just doing a little research each day. But I found this on PSA’s website.

Side Writing
Refers to the writing, usually in grease pencil, on the barrel of a bat, written by a manufacturer employee, to document the receipt of a bat by a player, in making future player bats in the same or similar specification. When legible, the writing will indicate the player who shipped the bat back to the manufacturer, the city/and or team name, the league of the team, and the date the bat was received at the factory. Side written bats are usually found on bats of the pre
model number era.

By no means do I think this was game used. But according to psa, it has the players name, the date, New York, and ntl league all in grease pencil. There are no other markings or branding on it. I can’t find anywhere that to be side writing, it has to be game used.

The PSA statement is saying that side-writing is the grease paint writing on the side of a bat that was shipped to the factory by a player. If there's side-writing on a used bat, it's assumed that this player whose name appears used the bat. Srictly speaking, what you have is not a bat. It is a lathe bat. It was not shipped by player to the manufacturer to serve as a model for future bats. H&B would not oridinarily ship a bat out until the ends were carefully turned and smoothed. H&B made the lathe bats in their factory in order to use them to turn actual, useable bats on a lathe. That is why I would say that you (or your friend) have a lathe bat with identifying writing on it, but I, at least, would not call it a side-written bat. Of course, I know that this is merely how I understand things.

[Sladge34]

Mark, thanks for taking the time to explain your side. I appreciate it!

[Jcosta19]

As a point of reference here is a copy of my PSA LOA for a Frank Crosetti lathe bat I just recently picked up.

PSA calls it "factory side written" in grease pencil.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Sladge34]

Justin, thanks for the photo. Really cool bat as well! Thanks for the help

[perezfan]

Awesome piece! Think of it as the "template" or "mold" for a bat used by Bill Terry. I have a similar Duke Snider example, and it's always a great conversation piece when people come over to view the collection.

Very nice!

[Sladge34]

Mark, thanks for the reply. So I finally got the back story to how this was acquired. So in the late 80’s my co-worker was working for Sporting News. They wanted to write a book on the genealogy of bats. They had a meeting with guys from Louisville and because of the records being kept by hand, they found out the task was too much for them. While there, OUTSIDE!!! Was a piles of bats, and he thought thousands, just stacked up. The very first bat he picked up was this Bill Terry bat. He asked to keep it and got the go ahead. He said in the pile were lathe bats and game used bats, some still with stamps on them.

Imagine what was in that pile! So much history! I wonder what Louisville did with that pile. Anyone who would have worked there during that time, would love to hear from you.