I've been working on the 1965 Twins H&B gamers since 2005, on and off, with varying levels of intensity. I've got 23 players, the manager, and a coach who had played with them in previous seasons:
POS Player
C Earl Battey
1B Don Mincher
2B Jerry Kindall
3B Rich Rollins
SS Zoilo Versalles
LF Bob Allison
CF Jimmie Hall
RF Tony Oliva
13 Harmon Killebrew
OF Sandy Valdespino
O3 Joe Nossek
C Jerry Zimmerman
2B Frank Quilici
O1 Andy Kosco
2B Bernie Allen
23O Frank Kostro
UT Cesar Tovar
1O Rich Reese
P Mudcat Grant
P Camilo Pascual
P Jim Perry
P Jim Merritt
P Al Worthington
Mgr Sam Mele
Coach Jim Lemon
I don't have:
OF Ted Uhlaender
C John Sevcik
P Jim Kaat
P Dave Boswell
P Dick Stigman
P Mel Nelson
P J. Klippstein
P Bill Pleis
P Jerry Fosnow
P Garry Roggenburk
P Dwight Siebler
P Pete Cimino
I picked it because they were the only Twins team of my childhood years that went to the World Series.
The toughest bat is considered Sevcik, a third-string catcher who only played 12 games in the Major Leagues. But the relief pitchers, I believe, are scarcer and in some cases, impossible. I have to figure there are some Sevcik bats from his days in the minors, but many of those relievers never had any bats made.
Ones that got away were by choice. I had a Boswell bat, but it had Frank Quilici's knob markings, so I let it go. I also had a nice Stigman but sold that too. In both cases, I got good prices for them, and I had seen another bat from each of those guys, so I figured eventually another would come along. Sometimes I do regret selling those two.
There was one 1961-67 Adirondack bat in my collection - a Twins team bat with #36 on the knob. Jim Kaat was one of just 3 Twins who wore the same number with them throughout the 1960s and his number was 36. But, again, I was offered a deal I couldn't turn down, so I traded that one away. I have never seen a vintage bat with Kaat's name on the barrel, although he had the reputation as a good hitter.
I had 2 Allisons and wanted to choose which to keep in the collection. One was a rookie era bat from his days with the Senators, and the other was a Vic Power bat with Allison's very distinctive knob markings, with his number and bat weight in parenthesis from the 1961-64 period. I chose the latter when I got a good offer on the rookie bat. Both have great tar and knob markings, but the one I kept was a Twins bat.
Originally my Sam Mele bat was from his playing days with Boston. I never felt like it belonged in my collection though, so I sold that one too. The chances of ever obtaining a Sam Mele gamer from his time as Twins manager were quite slim. There would've been a World Series bat made for him in 1965, and All Star bats from 1965 (since it was played in Minnesota and the Twins were in first place) and 1966, because he was the AL manager. I hoped there might be All Star bats for him from 1962, '63, or 1964, but had no idea if he coached in any of those games.
Well, one day a Sam Mele 1963 All Star H&B came up on ebay and I jumped all over it. I figure it is one of maybe 5 H&B bats made for him during his Twins days.
Realistically, I might eventually find Sevcik, Uhlaender, and another Boswell, Stigman, Kaat, and there might be a Klippstein in existence from his early years as a starting pitcher. Bill Pleis, Klippstein, and maybe Mel Nelson probably had World Series bats (I once owned a 1965 Al Worthington World Series bat.) But that is tough, chasing a 54 year old bat when only one was made. And I have spoken with Mel Nelson about it and he only recalled the commemorative black bat... not any WS game bat.
The problem when a collection gets to this point is that I am not really able to do much "collecting." There are so few opportunities to obtain bats I still need. And so.... my bats have become somewhat boring to me. I offered the collection to the Twins curator, either as a sale or on loan for display, but have not received a response yet. For now they have a home on my wall.
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