BMH - Opinion on GWYNN Bat Please . . .

[R. C. Walker]

Have this Tony Gwynn K55 bat. Never seen "TONY GWYNN" on bat only signature model.

BMH, any thoughts or info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

[BoneRubbedBat]

Can you post a photo of the centerbrand also? Per the new Malta book, Gwynn's first signature model bat was shipped on 3/4/1982. He ordered the K55 model in 1981 and 1982, so this is potentially a very early Gwynn bat. Nice.

[metsbats]

Judging from the absence of the registered trademark after the "LOUISVILLE SLUGGER" under "TONY GWYNN" it looks to be an 80-83 era Louisville. The two top bats you can see have the Large Ovals.

Can't wait to see photos of the whole block letter bat.

This is probably one of the rarest Gwynn rookie bats out there!

A great find indeed.

David

[metsbats]

Judging from the absence of the registered trademark after the "LOUISVILLE SLUGGER" under "TONY GWYNN" it looks to be an 80-83 era Louisville. The two top bats you can see have the Large Ovals.

Can't wait to see photos of the whole block letter bat.

This is probably one of the rarest Gwynn rookie bats out there!

A great find indeed.

David


Just to clarify also the registered trademark is absent on 84-85 Louisvilles too.

[R. C. Walker]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. Here are some photos I have readily available.

[R. C. Walker]

One more question. What I found odd was the “TONY GWYNN”. During the early 80’s, wasn’t it more common to have just the last name on the bat? What would constitute the use of the full name?

[metsbats]

RC

The block letter Gwynn certainly is a large label 80-83 bat and one which was made up for him prior to signing a contract w/ HB. Wonder if BMH can tell us how many block letter bats were made before Tony signed w/ HB.

Yes I think it was more common for a players last name to appear in block letters during the 80's. This despite players with the same last name being issued block letter bats which may make it hard to tell which player the bat belonged. For example I have two MITCHELL bats one of Kevin and one of John both 86 Mets. The only telltale way of distingishing these bats are the model numbers and the player number on the knobs.

I've personally never come across any 80's bats with both first and last name until this Gwynn.

Thanks for sharing these photos.

David

[metsbats]

Can you post a photo of the centerbrand also? Per the new Malta book, Gwynn's first signature model bat was shipped on 3/4/1982. He ordered the K55 model in 1981 and 1982, so this is potentially a very early Gwynn bat. Nice.


According to the charts in Vince's book, only 12 bats were shipped during 1981 which according to Marcus's statement would be the only year Gwynn would have had block letter bats. So this would be 1 of 12 block letter Gwynns in existence. Wow!

[BMH]

I have him for 6 Hickory finish K55's and 6 Hickory finish C243's on 10-26-81.

I don't have Tony Gwynn in the computer as just "Gwynn", I can only get records for his full name. Don't know if that means he only ordered them as "Tony Gwynn" or not?

I do know he did an autograph change during his career. Don't know the exact date though, we have two autographs for him. His son also orders bats with his signature on them too.

[Nnunnari]

R.C. any interest any selling one of your early Gwynn bats? Let me know nunnari19@yahoo.com

I saw this bat on eBay and the block lettering looked odd to me, I wish now I would've given you a run for the bat if it turns out to be a legitimate gamer-nice find.

Nick