Posted By:
Frank WakefieldNo relation. I bought the bat because of the same last name, and the guy selling it said it had been Howard's. He seemed to be a knowledgable seller, not a rip off fast talker. From someone other than him I got that 2 page listing of bat labels... either my recollection is off, or the list was errant, or both!!
And I don't think Howard coached in the majors, he's not listed in that coach listing in Total Baseball. He might have done minor league coaching, I've suspected that the reason Indianapolis had him wasn't his hitting or fielding, they wanted his major league experienced mentoring.
I recall a Wakefield that played in the minors in the 20s that killed himself, I recall that mentioned in the first Bill James Historical abstract. Maybe this bat is one of his. Still, folks aren't using long bats like that in the late 20s.
Since you guys seem to know bats, this is a pro model bat of the time, isn't it?