December Pick Ups

[bnorth]

I ordered this in October, LS mailed it on Nov 6, and I received it about an hour ago. I will say the wonderful person named Mary at Louisville Slugger was amazing at customer service.

[Scott Garner]

Very nice, Ben, but you need to sign it in blue Sharpie.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Very nice, Ben, but you need to sign it in blue Sharpie.

True! It will also help the value once you use it in a game.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Mark

True! It will also help the value once you use it in a game.

I couldn't hit water if I fell out of a boat. Maybe if I used a tee or some steroids.

I noticed LS made custom display bats so I figured it would be a cool conversation piece. It was only $80 delivered, they have a 20% off sale going on now so they are even cheaper.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I couldn't hit water if I fell out of a boat. Maybe if I used a tee or some steroids.

I noticed LS made custom display bats so I figured it would be a cool conversation piece. It was only $80 delivered, they have a 20% off sale going on now so they are even cheaper.

It's a very, very cool thing to have. And reasonable to afford.

[Mark]

My new Lloyd Waner bat arrived today! Up until now, I have been trying to tell myself that an H&B 250, bone rubbed Lloyd Waner model with inch marks on the knob was close enough because it is the right size and because it allegedly once belonged to Reds' long-time groundskeeper Matty Schwab (!), but now I have a somewhat more plausible pro model.

[Jcosta19]

Love the personalized Louisville Slugger.

Lived and worked in Kentucky for 5 years and was gifted one of these as a goodbye gift from work when we moved.

The Louisville Slugger Museum is a very cool spot that I recommend for anyone going through the area.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Joecoco]

That's awesome Ben. Flame finished is the way to go. Let me guess, 36 in 38 Oz? 👍

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Joecoco

That's awesome Ben. Flame finished is the way to go. Let me guess, 36 in 38 Oz? 👍

34" and 34 Oz is the real length/weight on this one. My favorite bats are the Flame Treated finished ones. It is a display quality bat so you can't pick any specific weight/length.

They also have higher quality bats you can really use. You can get the length and weight you want on those.

[Joecoco]

Sorry Ben, I was just making a joke about stepping up to the plate with super human strength, swinging a tree trunk against a 95 mph fastball. That joke did not translate well in writing.

[horzverti]

Cool bat Ben.

[BRoberts]

Congratulations on that Waner bat!

[jerseygary]

I'm a big fan of the 1938-40 Reds, and I just couldn't pass this up.

IMG_0752.jpg

Jim "The Milkman*" Turner won 14 games with a nice 2.89 ERA for the World Champion 1940 Reds, and later went on to be a pitching coach for ten pennant-winning clubs, including the 1961 Reds.

The photo is crystal-clear and the vintage fountain pen signature is real nice – but the reason I couldn't pass it up was the inscription: "To Joe the Great Magician"

*He was called "The Milkman" because he was – you guessed it – a milkman in the off season.

[JoeDfan]

My Spline collection is complete!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by JoeDfan

My Spline collection is complete!

Nice, what exactly is a Spline bat? The advertisement makes it look like they have cuts in the bat.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by JoeDfan

My Spline collection is complete!

I wasn't familiar with them, either. Great theme for collecting bats! Show more of them, if you don't mind---especially the "splines."

By the way, I looked up Spline Bat, and Keyman's Collectibles has the following:

http://http://keymancollectibles.com...esplinebat.htm

The Keyman's site has a habit of providing lots of information in a very concise and clear manner.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Mark

I wasn't familiar with them, either. Great theme for collecting bats! Show more of them, if you don't mind---especially the "splines."

By the way, I looked up Spline Bat, and Keyman's Collectibles has the following:

http://http://keymancollectibles.com...esplinebat.htm

The Keyman's site has a habit of providing lots of information in a very concise and clear manner.

That is a nice explanation on the Keyman site. Looks like Sean has all 4 different known versions. http://keymancollectibles.com/gameus...esplinebat.htm

[JoeDfan]

Here you go...

I technically don't have all the versions. The Mantle one, for example, is the earlier model, missing the (R) logo in the brand above the "Co", which would appear in 1964.
So I am still missing the post '64 Mantle, and the pre-'64 others. Additionally, some of the spline bats have been found with the word "Powerized" instead of "Spline".
And, finally, the little brochure in the frame only lists Mantle, Robinson, and Mathews as being available for colleges to order, so I am not sure what that means for my Berra '64 model. The brochure is selling them to teams other than MLB/Minor Leagues for the first time at that point (dated November 1963, for limited sale to colleges in 1964). So, if you have an earlier one, like the Mantle, it was almost certainly either in the MLB spring training or some minor leagues. I have read that they made it into real games, but I have seen ZERO proof of that, and Keyman points out that they might be illegal anyway.
But, I think I am close enough.

As you can see from the pictures (especially Berra), the splines did not work very well. But what is interesting is that they worked well enough for LS to bring them to the public for sale, which tells me that someone in the MLB must have liked them?
Anyway, a pretty rare, and relatively affordable bat of some serious players. And hey, you never know, maybe Mantle took a few swings, said "this sucks", and chucked it. The knob on Berra looks like "BB"; so maybe the bat boy used it???

Ok, I lied. Now that I wrote all of that, it is not close enough. Now I want all the versions.

And, I have no idea why it made my picture upside down.

[JoeDfan]

Originally Posted by Mark

I wasn't familiar with them, either. Great theme for collecting bats! Show more of them, if you don't mind---especially the "splines."

By the way, I looked up Spline Bat, and Keyman's Collectibles has the following:

http://http://keymancollectibles.com...esplinebat.htm

The Keyman's site has a habit of providing lots of information in a very concise and clear manner.

I agree. That web site is pretty awesome, especially when I am researching some obscure brand.

[Mark]

thanks. it's all very interesting.

[todeen]

Christmas gift from my wife to add to my Tris Speaker cabinet. She is always more willing to assist my habit when she thinks something is cool. She doesn't think very many baseball items are cool, though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[sbfinley]

Found an interesting item during a rough week. My mother passed during the first week of December and my sister and I have taken a few days this week to sort her items, pay the bills for January, and other assorted tasks to settle an estate. Her mother (our grandmother) was a local librarian and county historian and held a treasure of family items dating back almost 350 years. When she passed it went to our mother and filled most of our old bedrooms. Combing through a binder containing items related to family members who served I came across this draft card for my Great-Grandfather James Gwaltney. The interesting thing it is also signed by J.G. Bridges a local doctor, draft board member, and father of Detroit Tigers pitcher Tommy Bridges. I've collecting Bridges items for nearly 20 years and although it absolutely nothing to do with baseball, this mean a lot to my collection. Happy collecting all!