Mears 'Authentic'

[markf31]

Originally Posted by Mark

Glancing at the records from Malta's 2007 book, it looks like that bat could have been said to match factory records. In 23, Goslin ordered bats with a 35 1/2" length and weighing 38 oz. as well as other 35 & 1/2" bats with a weight that is not specified in the records. Since Mears claims that bats typically lose 3 oz. (and sometimes 4 to 6 oz.!), it seems that they could have looked to those records and slapped a high number on it. Not sure why it didn't get a higher grade. In any case, I think of myself as a collector of pro model bats and try to pick up models that, according to known records, could have been game used.

And especially with pre-model bats it only makes the job of trying to determine actual game usage by the specific player even more difficult if not impossible without provenance. Once you get into the model number issued bats it at least adds another layer to the record the bat must match.