Alert: Bogus Fred Lynn bat up on eBay

[angrymuppet]

http://cgi.ebay.com/RED-SOX-GAME-USED-BAT-FRED-LYNN-Angels-Gamer_W0QQitemZ8786256171QQcategoryZ60596QQssPageN ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/RED-SOX-GAME-USED-BAT-FRED-LYNN-Angels-Gamer_W0QQitemZ8786256171QQcategoryZ60596QQssPageN ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Just wanted to make you all aware of this eBay game used bat auction.

This is not a bash on the seller as he may not know, but the proported alleged original owner of the bat (Fred Lynn), had this to say:

"That bat has my signature on it but I can't ever remember using that model. They should have shown the butt of the bat as it would have had my number on it. I could have ordered the model for a teammate but not for me. Used an M110 or K75 when I was with the Sox and didn't use Louisville after I left Boston. It might have been purchased in a sporting goods store. Don't know for sure." - Fred Lynn

It is always cool when you can go right to the source for the final word. Thanks Fred!!!

Mike

[MSpecht]

First, let me tell a quick Fred Lynn story. At a California Sports Collector's Show a good while back, in the early 1990's, , I had a 1975 Red Sox Lynn jersey to get signed. The jersey was an away jersey with a large grass/dirt stain across the stomach and chest. It was a great Lynn gamer, which conjured up images of him shiding across the outfield to make another standout catch. When I got to him, Lynn looked at the jersey and smiled, saying, "That dirt is from Washington....everything always got stained badly in the stadium there." He then proceeded to sign the jersey in nice, large, bold Sharpie. I thought, "This is great -- perfect provenance and a good story to tell about the jersey." The problem was, of course, is that there was no team in Washington in 1975...or 1974, or after 1971. What does this show? Only that players can be faulty in their memories, and the information they may provide cannot always be taken as gospel.

However, Fred was correct in his comments about this bat. There is no documented evidence in his personal H & B factory records that he ever ordered Model P72 at any time between 1973 and 1990, or thereafter. Also, as he indicated, Model M110 was a bat he often ordered throughout his career, as he said, while Model K75 was ordered by Fred only in 1973 through 1975.

That being said, however (as Simon would say), the comment that he never used Louisvuille Sluggers after leaving Boston after the 1980 season is probably not correct. H & B factory records show eighteen separate orders totaling approximately 315 bats shipped to Lynn between 1981 and 1984 as a member of the California Angels, and 5 separate orders totaling approximately 119 bats shipped to him in 1985 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. What was he thinking ? Well, there were no further orders of Louisville Sluggers from Lynn after June, 1985, and he played another five years with Baltimore, Detroit, and San Diego. So at some point, possibly as long as the final five years of his career, he apparently stopped using Louisville Sluggers..... just not ias early as 1981 when he left the Red Sox.

Anyway, Fred Lynn was one of my favorite players to watch. If more of today's players played the game like Fred Lynn and Paul O'Neill, I think the game would be better for it.

One final thought-- Lynn also says that the bat described in the auction may be a bat he ordered for another player. This is a point that I have brought up before, and bat collectors have mixed opinions on. I have had players tell me directly that they have ordered bats for teammates, and I have had non-star players tell me that they have asked big-name players on their team to order bats for them. Why ?? The belief was that star players got higher quality wood used for their bats by H & B and Adirondack.

That being said, however (I must be watching too much American Idol), take this scenario -- Mike Lum asks Joe Morgan to order him a dozen Model G108 bats, 35 inches, 32 ounces, wide-grain, Flame Treated finish. Morgan says "Sure," and places the order with H & B as if it was his own. the bats are shipped to Morgan, with his name on the barrel (because, after all, the point is to get H & B to use 'super-star wood' on these bats so Mike Lum gets better bats than he usually gets on his own orders). Morgan gives the bats to Lum, Lum says, "Thanks," and amuses Morgan's kids with some magic tricks (Lum was a great amateur magician) and proceeds to use the bats. BUT, wouldn't that order show up in Morgan's factory records ? You'd think! So here is an example of a star player, Fred Lynn, confirming again that players ordered bats for teammates (that sometimes were not consistent with their own personal ordering patterns), which I believe accounts for some of the completely uncharacteristic orders found throughout H & B records

That is not the case with the bat in this auction, however, as it does not show up in the records as having been manufactured and shipped to either Lynn, Baseball Miscellaneous, Anaconda-Kaye, Ike Company, Legends of Sports, or any other team or promo company. The conclusion ? Probably a team index bat (see previous posts from Jim Caravello and I) that was shipped to the Angels for use by any player -- Major League, Minor League, etc, -- that cared to use it, but probably not by Fred Lynn.

Good Luck in future collecting.

Mike