Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

[camarokids]

I moved from St. Petersburg, FL to Indianapolis on November 1st. We moved into our new house Nov. 10th.

I now have the space to display almost all of my collection. Instead of being stored in a closet, my bats will soon all be on display. I just started this past week putting my collection up.....

I already received two, nine bat, bat racks, but have placed an order for 2o , 10 bat, bat racks, so all my bats will be off the floor. Plus more autographed 8x10's to hang up....

I have one question......

Should I keep the bat racks natural (with clear stain) or paint them white?

[dcrules01]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

I would just stain them but thats me..I think that would look sharp and congrats on the move and all the room you have now..That is one helluva bat collection ..

[markize]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

david, what color are the walls & trim in your room where the bats will be displayed? if the walls are a color, and the trim is white, you may want to consider white for the racks-it may help the racks look like they are a part of the room, and make the bats stand out more. just an idea. mark

[camarokids]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Thanks DC and Mark,
I saw pics of someones racks that were painted white and it made the racks look like they were part of the wall.

But then I was thinking if I paint over them I am covering up the natural beauty of the maple wood.....

The walls are of off white and the trim is a bright white...

So I am not sure at this moment what to do.....

I cut down a couple of the pics to post on here

[markize]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

david,

you are right about covering up the maple. in addition, if they have any type of finish on them (polyurethane, etc) you will need to sand them a bit to remove the sheen. otherwise, the paint will chip, and flake off over time. good luck, and get some pics up when they are done!!

mark

[grenda12]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Id definitely would keep the bat racks natural.

[skyking26]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Definately NO PAINT...

[russyurk]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Welcome it Indy.....Keep the wood natural.

[camarokids]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Welcome it Indy.....Keep the wood natural.

Thanks,
Are you a local up here?

Looks like I am going to go natural.....

[skyking26]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Get those baseballs out of the window before everything fades on them...

[AWA85]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

I was thinking the same thing when I saw that picture, get some blinds up also!

[camarokids]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Get those baseballs out of the window before everything fades on them...

Thanks,
Are you referring to the four balls up in the window?

If so? Those four balls are not autographed, they are just BP balls....

I am getting blinds for the daylight windows though.

My autographs have always been stored out of light till now.

Should I be concerned? as long as they are not getting direct sunlight, they should be ok?

[ndevlin]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Yeah, even light from an indoor lamp can damage auto's. I would keep the area fairly dark until you want to look/show off your items. I also buy the UV ball cubes just to make sure.

A friend of mine met Cool Papa Bell a bit before he died and got SEVERAL items signed, including pictures and postcards that he got framed and hung in his office.

Yep, when he moved offices, he took off his Cool Papa items off the wall and they were completely faded. I mean, you really had to look for his auto, it was really that bad.

Ever since then I take extra care of my auto's. Lesson learned through someone else!!!

[skyking26]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Yeah, even light from an indoor lamp can damage auto's. I would keep the area fairly dark until you want to look/show off your items. I also buy the UV ball cubes just to make sure.

A friend of mine met Cool Papa Bell a bit before he died and got SEVERAL items signed, including pictures and postcards that he got framed and hung in his office.

Yep, when he moved offices, he took off his Cool Papa items off the wall and they were completely faded. I mean, you really had to look for his auto, it was really that bad.

Ever since then I take extra care of my auto's. Lesson learned through someone else!!!

Back in the late 90's, I bought a gorgeous 16x20 of Kingman and Schmidt outside the cage in Philly standing together. I still have it today. The piece was dual signed, but the photographer I bought it from must have had it in direct sunlight, as both sigs were faded almost completely. Anyway, I hauled the piece to Chicago on a week when they were both there, had it resigned and brought it back to my room with the COVERED window. Looks great. It's amazing what natural light will do to sharpie or ink sigs. Destruction.

That was the only time I'd met Schmidt. I won't race to another opportunity. Hell of a player though...

[camarokids]

Re: Give me a New Home, where my bats can roam.....

Get those baseballs out of the window before everything fades on them...

Problem solved, I put the baseballs back into a storage tote, out of the light....

I will have to invest in a display case with tinted glass or something.....