BMH - Opinion on GWYNN Bat Please . . .

[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