Let’s start a game used bat thread.

[bat_master]

Originally Posted by etsmith

I'm used to older baseball bats, but I saw this and was interested. Was this sort of logo used for MLB bats? And does anyone know who the engraved signature belongs to? The bat is a 32" Louisville Slugger.

This one is Jay Bruce. The MLB180 was not, but there are some players that did use barrel branding like this.

[etsmith]

Thanks, it's amazing how many companies make baseball bats.

[ooo-ribay]

I collect the Giants and I’m unconvinced this was a gamer or even ordered by McCovey…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22528853907...mis&media=COPY

[Baseballcrazy62]

Just picked this up.
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[Vintagedeputy]

Two new bat rescues found their way to my door. 1965-69 era U1 models from Fred Whitfield and Willie Davis. They’ll both need some work to save them as the condition is rough.

[Baseballcrazy62]

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[todeen]

My first Larkin bat. Another Net54 member was very patient and worked with me on this one.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

[bnorth]

And its a 1990 bat. Congrats on a very nice Larkin bat.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by todeen

My first Larkin bat. Another Net54 member was very patient and worked with me on this one.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

That's great. From what I've seen, it looks like the Reds were one of the pioneers of MLB teams offering game used items to fans at the ballpark.

[Baseballcrazy62]

Had these for awhile and finally get them signed on Sunday.
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[magicwaters]

Yello paint pen came out 🔥 on Jefferies.

[jason.1969]

I have a bat that I suspect is game used and perhaps even “THE GAME” used. Unfortunately I’m at a dead end in terms of my research.

Came from the collection of a deceased Pirates collector and carried no provenance.

As the photos show it’s a broken bat (carefully
repaired) marked with info from Rennie Stennett’s 7 for 7 game. What I’ll call THE BAT from that game lives at the Hall of Fame, but it’s certainly plausible to me that more than one bat would have been used.

Either way a fun item as I have a special connection to the Rennie game. (My artwork honoring the game just went up at PNC last month.)

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

I have a bat that I suspect is game used and perhaps even “THE GAME” used. Unfortunately I’m at a dead end in terms of my research.

Came from the collection of a deceased Pirates collector and carried no provenance.

As the photos show it’s a broken bat (carefully
repaired) marked with info from Rennie Stennett’s 7 for 7 game. What I’ll call THE BAT from that game lives at the Hall of Fame, but it’s certainly plausible to me that more than one bat would have been used.

Either way a fun item as I have a special connection to the Rennie game. (My artwork honoring the game just went up at PNC last month.)

I'm assuming you've looked at all the photos of him at bat that you could find from the game, but have you been able to find video?

[71buc]

That’s a cool Rennie bat. I was very tempted to grab that one myself. I didn’t pull the trigger because the HOF claims to have that bat in their collection. I guess you can never be certain. They also claim to have Clemente’s 3000th hit bat and it was recently photo-matched to a private collection.

https://baseballhall.org/discover/in...even-for-seven

[Baseballcrazy62]

Had these for a while and had them signed at the National.
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[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by Baseballcrazy62

Had these for a while and had them signed at the National.
Attachment 586243

Attachment 586244

The yellow paintpen/sharpie is the bomb. Wish I'd had one back when I was getting a lot of bats signed at Spring Training.

[ooo-ribay]

I've had this bat for years. When I dug it out today, I'd forgotten all about the Worth brand. I just picked up this pair of batting gloves for 20 bucks. I have a soft spot for Brenly because a) he lived down the hall in my Freshman dorm at Ohio University (alma mater of Mike Schmidt, also) and b) because of the story shown in this clipping.

[Vintage Yankee]

Originally Posted by Baseballcrazy62

Had these for a while and had them signed at the National.
Attachment 586243

Attachment 586244

Love the ink - the yellow really pops. Couldn't Tristar find a less conspicuous spot for their holograms?

[Mark]

Opened up a fairly recent acquisition. It's a U1 Tommy McCraw.

[ooo-ribay]

One of my more recent favorite Giants. I don't know if you guys have ever seen this picture of 5 or 6 year old Brandon, taken at Candlestick Park in 1992. Years later, he reprised the pose. This bat is from 2014 - one of Craw's World Series years.

[Baseballcrazy62]

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Eddie Brinkman gamer.

[ooo-ribay]

I only bought this because it was dirt cheap and Heliot Ramos was the Giants' first round draft pick in 2017. I guess I also liked that it is a Dinger model I don't have. It is signed, with "1st round pick 2017 Go Giants!" Ramos hit .348 in the Rookie League at age 17. He has been a bust ever since. Maybe he will break through, but I doubt it. I was thinking how the Giants wasted a first round pick and then I pulled up the entire 2017 draft. Looks like the Giants weren't the only ones to swing and miss. Of the entire first round, I've heard of three guys..#1, #2 and Jeter Downs. I think Royce Lewis is an everyday player; Hunter Greene may have a future (or not) and Jeter Downs is only known for his first name.

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/dra...ft.php?yr=2017

[magicwaters]

I exhibit my vast collection of over 300 game used bats, mostly Hall of Famers, on my Instagram, which is @magic_waters. If anyone uses IG and wants to check it out, would love to connect there as well. Keep this GU post alive. Love it.

[JoeDfan]

Not really a new pickup, as I was just able to prove what it is the other day. Probably a boring story to most everyone but me, but I will share it anyway. I love the little stories of the obscure guys; regular joes who didn't quite get there, or maybe got to have a minute in the sun.

I got this in trade last year very reasonably, I had to give up one of my favorite big side-written big bats of a minor league guy for it.
But when I got it in hand, I became a little suspicious of what it might be.

At just 30" long, and 40 ounces, it had the feel of Wee Willie Keeler. The labeling period was 1916-1922, so it would be post-career for sure if I could even prove it. Still, for a Yankee GU bat collector, a pro model Keeler sure fills a big hole.
Using both black lights and infrared, I was able to decipher the side writing on the barrel read "40 oz Virgil Hetzel 3-23-24". I spent months trying to track down this guy. I found someone in the Baseball Reference with a same last name playing for Kalamazoo in '21. Long story short, I emailed the public libraries of Kalamazoo, who directed me to Philadelphia, who got me to Cincinnati, and the trail sort of stopped.
I then sent the bat to Mr. Taube, who confirmed for me that it was indeed a Willie Keeler model. Where Hetzel got the bat was uncertain. Perhaps he ordered it direct, or possibly in his minor league travels he crossed paths with Keeler, who was a coach and scout after he retired.
While I was happy to have a Keeler model, I couldn't help but remain curious about who Virgil Hetzel was, and how he got the bat.
By total coincidence, I got the bat back last week, and on that very night, I received an email from a woman I had emailed as part of my search. It turns out that she is indeed related to him. She confirmed that he (or his son) was part of the Philadelphia minor league system, and sent me a newspaper article from Dayton, where Hetzel lived. The article specifically references Hetzel's "short, thick and especially-made bludgeon", leaving no doubt that this is the same guy. Although he never made the majors, at least on that night, Virg Hetzel was the local hero, quite possibly using the same bat.
With that, I finally feel like I can bring this story to a successful conclusion.
For me, this is one of my favorite parts to the hobby. While everyone naturally wants to find the next Gehrig or Shoeless Joe gamer, I love to find those tiny moments in history that were otherwise lost, and bring them back. The woman said she was the "family historian" and I believe she was quite happy to know that I had found his bat. She said she would round up all of the information she had on him. I can't wait to see it, and who knows, just maybe there will be a brief appearance by Wee Willie himself.

[ruth-gehrig]

Originally Posted by JoeDfan

Not really a new pickup, as I was just able to prove what it is the other day. Probably a boring story to most everyone but me, but I will share it anyway. I love the little stories of the obscure guys; regular joes who didn't quite get there, or maybe got to have a minute in the sun.

I got this in trade last year very reasonably, I had to give up one of my favorite big side-written big bats of a minor league guy for it.
But when I got it in hand, I became a little suspicious of what it might be.

At just 30" long, and 40 ounces, it had the feel of Wee Willie Keeler. The labeling period was 1916-1922, so it would be post-career for sure if I could even prove it. Still, for a Yankee GU bat collector, a pro model Keeler sure fills a big hole.
Using both black lights and infrared, I was able to decipher the side writing on the barrel read "40 oz Virgil Hetzel 3-23-24". I spent months trying to track down this guy. I found someone in the Baseball Reference with a same last name playing for Kalamazoo in '21. Long story short, I emailed the public libraries of Kalamazoo, who directed me to Philadelphia, who got me to Cincinnati, and the trail sort of stopped.
I then sent the bat to Mr. Taube, who confirmed for me that it was indeed a Willie Keeler model. Where Hetzel got the bat was uncertain. Perhaps he ordered it direct, or possibly in his minor league travels he crossed paths with Keeler, who was a coach and scout after he retired.
While I was happy to have a Keeler model, I couldn't help but remain curious about who Virgil Hetzel was, and how he got the bat.
By total coincidence, I got the bat back last week, and on that very night, I received an email from a woman I had emailed as part of my search. It turns out that she is indeed related to him. She confirmed that he (or his son) was part of the Philadelphia minor league system, and sent me a newspaper article from Dayton, where Hetzel lived. The article specifically references Hetzel's "short, thick and especially-made bludgeon", leaving no doubt that this is the same guy. Although he never made the majors, at least on that night, Virg Hetzel was the local hero, quite possibly using the same bat.
With that, I finally feel like I can bring this story to a successful conclusion.
For me, this is one of my favorite parts to the hobby. While everyone naturally wants to find the next Gehrig or Shoeless Joe gamer, I love to find those tiny moments in history that were otherwise lost, and bring them back. The woman said she was the "family historian" and I believe she was quite happy to know that I had found his bat. She said she would round up all of the information she had on him. I can't wait to see it, and who knows, just maybe there will be a brief appearance by Wee Willie himself.

That's awesome congrats! I to enjoy the history part of our memorabilia and the connections that can be found if we search and ask. Sometimes we strike out but doesn't sound like you did

[Baseballcrazy62]

Happy to add another 1984 Tiger to the collection.
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[magicwaters]

This is a Don Sutton PSA 8 gamer I recently shared on my Instagram. You can see more at @magic_waters.

[Vintagedeputy]

New arrival! 1929-31 Lew Fonseca game used bat.

Fonseca was the 1929 American League batting champion (.369) and had a career .316 batting average.

[Trublubrucru]

Recently, a buddy of mine retrieved a box of game used bats that have been in storage for some time. In that box, a bat(given to him by a player), was said to be Brewer's manager Harvey Kuehn's longtime Fungo bat/walking stick. He had a prosthetic leg and used the bat for steadiness. This bat needed help and identification. I wanted to bring it back to life

The bat was completely covered in multiple layers of athletic tape with the outermost dirty and darkened overtime. That layer was crumbly and came off fairly easy. The second layer of tape was dry but stuck to the bat and got messy but removable. The third layer was all the leftover adhesive that was "petrified" to the bat over the last four decades. It was pounded into the grain and looked pretty bad. After he talked of sanding it, I immediately confiscated it and took it home to finish. After 4 hours and LOTS of elbow grease, I managed to bring it back to life. I left the lower handle layers of tape remain to show that this was that bat. I regrettably forgot before pictures, but it turned out great, and he had it back in 24 hrs. and was very pleased.

Uncovering this bat was a thrill for me, and it represents a cool piece of Brewers history.