any thoughts on this Hank Aaron bat?

[bscott]

Any opinions on this Hank Aaron bat?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1965-1968-R43-HANK-AARON-GAME-USED-BASEBALL-BAT-35-33_W0QQitemZ260088574912QQihZ016QQcategoryZ60596QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Does the "R 43" line up with factory records?

The seller says the bat has been "on display in a glass case for 30 years."

And what about the pine tar? Did hank use this much pine tar?

A diamond in the rough or just another old bat?

-bscott.

[Birdbats]

Just another old bat. First, it's misidentified as a 1965-68 -- it's actually a 1973-75 model. And second, Aaron didn't order any R43 bats after 1963 (34"). His last order for a 35" R43 was in 1957. Perhaps it's an index bat ordered for minor league use by the Braves?

[MSpecht]

Hi-

Just to piggyback on Jeff's post a bit, below is a previous post regarding Aaron's personal H & B records from the 1973-1975 label period. Ultimately, this is almost certainly a team index bat that has little, if any, chance of ever having been used by Aaron.

For those who do not want to pay the freight for an authentic Aaron gamer, this bat does represent a professional model bat, manufactured by H & B between 1973 and 1975, of a model ordered during the very early part of Aaron's career (see below), in dimensions used by him on this model and other models during various times in his career. This particular bat, however, does not match factory records for Hank Aaron based on the date of manufacture and his documented ordering patterns throughout his career.

Anyway, here is the previous post:

"Here's what you are looking for with The Hammer's 1973 - 1975 H & B bats:

Between 2/9/73 and 9/9/75 Arron placed approximately 23 orders with H & B totaling approximately 280 bats. Every order was for Model A99 with a length of 35 inches. Weights varied between 32 and 34 ounces. Almost all orders were for Wide Grain wood, with the weights marked on the knob in pencil.

Good luck....Remember that you will often find Aaron Model R43 bats in auctions and for sale. Aaron ordered R43 bats in 1955, 1956, and 1957 only (except for one order of four in 1963), however R43 is Aaron's Pro Stock bat, and was the model for many, many team ordered index bats that never were in Aaron's hands at all."

Mike Jackitout7@aol.com (Jackitout7@aol.com)

[bscott]

wow.
thank you both for the info.

it never ceases to amaze me how knowledgeable the crowd really is here at GUU.

-bscott.