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1917-21 George Shively Game Used Bat 1917-21 George Shively Game Used Bat.

Currency:USD Category:Sports - Cards & Fan Shop / Sports - Game Used Memorabilia Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD
1917-21 George Shively Game Used Bat 1917-21 George Shively Game Used Bat.
<B>1917-21 George Shively Game Used Bat.</B></I> Talk around the Cooperstown water cooler is that the Hall intends in future years to address an historical oversight that has found the top talent of the early Negro Leagues outside of consideration for induction. While we cannot definitively state that Shively is on the supposed short list for a posthumous nod, it certainly is not outside the realm of possibility. Though records relating to the Negro Leagues of the 1910's are spotty at best, it must be noted that the fleet-footed center fielder, known around the Leagues as "Rabbit," earned two MVP's and seven All-Star selections during his fifteen season career. His defining moment came in 1916, as he led the Indianapolis ABC's to the Championship, the only year in the decade that Rube Foster's Giants did not occupy the top spot. And so we feel our excitement in presenting what is certainly the only surviving example of a Shively game used bat is fully justified, and we expect that should Cooperstown come calling for Rabbit, they'll quickly come calling for this exceedingly scarce lumber as well. While the thirty-two ounce, thirty-five and a half inch bat has the name "Sims" stamped on the barrel, the association to Shively is rock solid through vintage side writing reading "Geo. Shively 9-23-22, Buck___, Ohio." Even more thrilling is the appearance of a pair of tattered affixed handwritten mailing labels, one listing the address of Hillerich & Bradsby, and the second a return address on which can be read "From Geo Shively." No exemplars of Shively's writing are known to exist, but unless we come to the rather unrealistic conclusion that Shively had some sort of personal secretary, the strong assumption must be that this text is penned in Shively's own hand. Use is very strong, as is typical of the few Negro League bats known in the hobby, which tended to be used to the point of turning to sawdust. An absolute dream piece for the serious Negro League collector, and one of the most exciting bats from the League ever to be offered for public sale. MEARS A7.