LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 October Sig. Sports Collectibles II #708  / 

19674

1923-24 Ty Cobb Side Written Game Used Bat

Currency:USD Category:Sports - Cards & Fan Shop / Sports - Game Used Memorabilia Start Price:35,000.00 USD Estimated At:64,000.00 - 96,000.00 USD
1923-24 Ty Cobb Side Written Game Used Bat
<B>1923-24 Ty Cobb Side Written Game Used Bat.</B></I> Famously quoted as saying, “When I came to Detroit, I was just a mild-mannered Sunday school boy,” the iconic Georgia Peach would fuel himself with a steady diet of anger and hate in the years to follow to metamorphose into the sport's most terrifying figure. The dark knight of the first quarter of the twentieth century game, Cobb was baseball's Machiavellian ideal of claiming power and respect through the iron fist rather than the hand of friendship. It's particularly interesting that this tremendously important side written bat appears within the same auction as another once belonging to Babe Ruth, as these members of the Hall of Fame's inaugural class represent a study in contrasts on several fronts, most notably their public personae and the manner in which they wielded their bats.<BR><BR> The peculiarities of Cobb's batting style are clearly evident in the forensics of the offered specimen, placing it into the hands of this legend with the same degree of certainty that the Hillerich & Bradsby factory side writing does. Before we move on to a discussion of this physical evidence, we'll again present a brief tutorial on the concept of factory side writing. For several decades it was common practice within the professional leagues for players to return their favorite bats to the Hillerich & Bradsby factory for the purposes of duplication, at which point the receiving clerk would apply a grease pencil notation to the barrel noting the player's identity, the date, and sometimes the team, the weight of the bat, or other such specifics. The appeal within the collecting community is quite obvious-this “side writing” provides the most solid provenance imaginable, and stands likewise as a testament to the player's own particular fondness for the bat in question. In this case we find a faded but still quite legible “T. Cobb 5-5-24,” with a smaller “Detroit” printed below. It is noteworthy that this exact bat can be cross-referenced to H&B ordering records, with a February 17, 1925 request by Cobb entered with “HIS 5-5-24 LATEST/35-36 ounces.”<BR><BR> But, again, while these official records supply the most airtight provenance, Cobb himself unwittingly provided his own means of authentication while holding this signature model Hillerich & Bradsby in the batter's box. We'll first point to the dense speckling of short gouges at the end of the bat's barrel. Cobb's fabled razor-sharp spikes are the cause of these marks, applied as he knocked the dirt from his soles, a regular part of his at-bat regimen. At the opposite end of the bat we find another key piece of evidence in the form of two darkened rings upon the handle, spaced approximately six inches apart. It is Cobb's wide-spaced grip, and his rather distasteful but apparently effective habit of spitting tobacco juice into his palms to gain traction, that accounts for this trait. When these issues are factored together with the H&B side writing, the result is one of the most perfectly attributable Hall of Fame game used bats known in the hobby.<BR><BR> Unquestionably a perfect ten bat from the viewpoint of provenance and player traits, our authenticators felt compelled to deduct a point and a half for repaired deadwood on the barrel, held in place by five vintage nails. Most bat collectors would see even this as a positive. This grain separation, with a flat spot at the center, is the result of heavy use and yet another perfect trait for Cobb, whose deadly accurate swing centralized contact to a specific region of the barrel. It is unknown whether the repair nails were applied subsequent to the bat's active life, or if Cobb did his own handiwork, as it was common practice during the era for ballplayers to mend and continue to use bats through this method.<BR><BR> In every regard, our authenticators and top bat experts can do nothing but shower this remarkable artifact with praise. Vince Malta and John Taube, who assign a grade of GU8.5, trumpet the “evidence of outstanding use.” Dave Bushing is even more effusive, proclaiming the bat to be “of the greatest importance and the finest example extant.” We certainly feel no compulsion to argue. There is no question but that this is one of the most important and desirable survivors of the storied career of Tyrus Raymond Cobb, and a great American treasure as such. <I>LOA from Taube & Malta. LOA from Dave Bushing.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Bats, Clubs, Sticks, Swords, Rif (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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