So many shady looking Mattingly bats

[BULBUS]

Jim, thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Wow, only 18 of these bats were made! I wonder how many are left? I am looking to sell it, but I would like to do some more research on it.

I have a question about Mattingly writing 23 on the knob. About when did he stop doing it? I know at some point his bats were disappearing and he started using retired numbers. My 1987 bat has the number 5 on it.

Regarding that M110. Isnt it a little too heavy for Mattingly? Didnt he mostly use 32oz bats? My Mc44 is 32oz, so is my T141. Do the records show that weight? I wish I kept the pictures, but I bought and sold an unfinished M110 w/ foil stamping on Ebay. Absolutely no use. Vintage Mattingly autograph in the same location. I sold it because it was too heavy and knew it wasnt a real gamer. I dont like the fact that you dont see any use on the barell. The pine tar doesnt look old. In my opinion, I would stay away from that bat.

[Yankwood]

Again, this is what I meant by "shady looking".

[JimCaravello]

Hi Bulbus - regarding #23, I have seen Mattingly bats in the 90's with #23 on the knob that were very good Mattingly gamers. I owned a two tone cooper from the early 90's with #23, as well as a Louisville Slugger with #23. When Mattingly started using 3, 5 and 7 as numbers on the knob, he didn't abandon #23, so you will see examples of #23 into the 90's.

Regarding the weight of this bat, there are weights indicated in the records and he ordered as heavy as 32 ounce bats. The bat in question is 34.6 ounces, which is a little heavy. There is pine tar on the bat which in my opinion would add weight to the piece. Would it add 2.6 ounces, I can't tell you unless I could see the bat. The bat was probably heavy to begin with and was probably more than 32 ounces from the factory. Since MEARS and others do not agree with my opinions on weight variances, my initial response to your question did not challenge the weight and I really do not want to touch on that topic here and start the questions and debates all over again. Most people think that 1 or 2 ounces in weight differential is ok. The authenticators believe this. I do believe the pine tar could have added some weight to the bat.

Now, to the pine tar - yes, it looks different, but once again, I would have to see it in person and I didn't comment on it to begin with, because I have the upmost respect for the authenticator of this bat. He has seen a tremendous amount of Mattingly bats from this period. What you should Ask American Memorabilia for is the full COA so you can read it - or to be quite honest, I would call John Taube and ask him about the bat - I bet he remembers it and can answer any questions you may have about the weight, the tar, the use on it, etc.

Frankly, I don't like the piece not because of the things you have mentioned - I am not fond of foil stamped bats from this period and would personally not buy the bat because of that. If the bat was not foil stamped and had a nice deep engraving, I would probably call John about the bat and ask him about the weight and the pine tar application.

Its hard to sit here and second guess the authenticator on this bat without seeing it or reading the details of the COA - AND - John's integrity goes beyond all others ( in my opinion ) as an authenticator of bats - and I am sure he can answer any of your questions.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions regarding Mattingly. Thanks, Jim