The 1924 St. Paul Saints.
I have been working on a Saints collection for a long time now. My initial interest began almost 25 years ago when my father and I found some old ticket stubs of games my grandfather went to in the early 20s. 1924 was particularly interesting because the Saints won the Junior World Series that year.
They are extremely obscure. I have 8 or 9 from the players from the team so far. First of all, it wouldn't surprise me if most of the players on the team didn't even have their own model bats. Secondly, who back in 1920s would have saved broken bats of no-name players? Superstars will always command top dollar, but their must be dozens of Babe Ruth used bats out there for every Bruno Haas bat. Most of my bats survived because they are Hillerich vault bats.
I missed out on two bats so far. Nick Allen and Oscar Roettger. Making it more difficult, many of the Saints played for the 1920s Yankees teams. 12 of the 1927 Yankees played for the Saints. That might sound like a cool historical footnote, but it is a massive pain in the ass when you're a collector.
It is a set that is impossible to complete, but the search is the best part.
Chris
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