"On December 27, 2017, William Eatinger, a popular baseball coach (now retired) in California and a friend of Henkel’s, entered into a contract with Heritage Auctions to sell this Ruth bat in its February 24-25, 2018, auction. It sold for $60,000 with $1320 subtracted from this total for grading fees and commission for the authentication taken out. According to Wells Fargo records, on April 11, 2018, Eatinger received a check from the victim for $52,680. He gave Henkel and his brother (Mark) approximately 85 percent of the sale’s proceeds. The bat was PSA/DNA-certified. JT Sports authenticates MLB bats for PSA. The analysis notes that the bat lacked a model number and its measurements were smaller than other bats used by Ruth, TDN reports. So was this bat fake or real? The FBI doesn’t say. PSA and JT Sports were contacted about this by email but didn’t reply."
Can you say more about why some doubt the authenticity of this bat? The LOA discusses the bat's weight and width, and it links the bat to shipping records from 1925 that say Ruth ordered some "lighter" bats that year. Where are the problems? A bat from 1925 would not be expected to have a model number on the knob or the barrel. Is it the discrepency between the bat's current weight (41.3 oz) and the weight of bats Ruth ordered that summer (43 oz.)?
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