J.F. Hillerich & Son Oil Tempered Bat
 

I did some research on this bat a while back, trying to determine if these bats came taped from the factory. I'm still not sure. Today, I ran a magnet all over the tape to see if there were signs of nails, and there is no sign the bat is cracked.
Has anyone ever seen a factory taped bat with the tape in this location, leaving the handle exposed and going up so close to the label? The tape job is extremely neat.
Thanks!

While it is pretty nifty, I have never seen one taped like that from the factory. I could be wrong, as the tape job is pretty meticulous. But going from personal experience and looking at dozens of Catalogs over the years, I just haven't seen the original tape placed in that location.

Perhaps someone will chime in, who has.

There were definitely bats that came with wrapped handles from a number of manufacturers, including Reach. The same can be said about hockey sticks during the era.
But I personally, like Mark, have never seen one taped in this particular fashion, so high up the barrel.
Maybe others can shed more light...


Brent

Thanks for your feedback. The tape is coming off.

The tape is off and she's all cleaned up. There was a crack after all.
I like it better with all the wood showing.

Great looking bat!

Beautiful, and looks far prettier! Looks like the tape came off with no issues or residue. Great job... that would never happen for me. :o

What's the deal the darker wood area from knob end up about 8 inches? It's as if the bat was originally taped up to that area thus protecting the darker grain and the tape you just removed was much more modern?

I've seen that two-tone feature on quite a few bats of the era. It was not from tape, but was definitely done at the factory.

Interesting. I did not know that. I'm assuming it was done purely for aesthetics?

The handle and the barrel patina are actually much closer in color than the photo shows. As for the tape residue, there was a bunch of black stickum. I dipped my finger in a bowl of canola oil and coated the residue. After 10 or 20 minutes, I would wipe/rub with a terry cloth. I was surprised how the oil softened the black residue. I went through this process about 5 or 6 times. Afterwards, I wiped off the remaining oil residue with vinegar. Go figure. Thank you, Google.