Is this a GUU Member......Found this article surfing....

[camarokids]

I now this is a GUU member.....(pretty sure)......

Just can't remember your screen name.....

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...x-bat-man.html

How many bats do you need now???

[joelsabi]

I now this is a GUU member.....(pretty sure)......

Just can't remember your screen name.....

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...x-bat-man.html

How many bats do you need now???

thats a passionate and patient collector. thanks for the good read.

[5kRunner]

User ID is soxbats.

Pics in this thread are impressive..
http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...ead.php?t=7035

[sox83cubs84]

Incredible collection...definitely worth a highlighted SCDaily article.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[treant985]

Wonder which players he's still missing...

[soxbats]

Hi guys, thanks for the kind words. Yes I am a forum member, avid reader but not much of a poster. I am still collecting and I need 19 bats to complete the collection through this year. The ones that are left are mostly old toughies. As the collection slowly fills my rec room, there is a spouse driven family movement afoot to have the list stop at 2010, with the collection spanning a half century (1960-2010). I am fighting this effort.

Also, after 20 years of collecting game used bats, I am not as quick on the draw as I used to be. What very well may have been a Ron Jackson bat (played for the sox in 1960) was advertized for sale a few weeks ago in our beloved Collector to Collector pages for $20 and I was second place. I need to get back on my game and continue to scour my sources!

Dave M., we have transacted over the years and some of the guys I am looking for are old time Cubs that might be squirreled away in some monster 60's and 70's bat collection. Because the names are obscure, people don't even know they have the bats until they look. Dave, or anyone else, any help would be greatly appreciated. I am heartened by the fact that a number of these bats were auctioned from the Paul Hill collection (deserving of its own thread on GUU if someone knows the details) in the early 90s. Someday they may surface again.

Latest stats: Number of players (non-pitchers) 1960 to present 420. Needed to finish 19.

Here is my remaining list: Alvarado, Luis; Coughtry, Marlan; Didier, Bob;
Fanzone, Carmen; Gile, Don; Goggin, Chuck; Heise, Bobby; Jackson, Ron; Keough, Marty; Laroche, Adam; Mantilla, Felix; Mejias, Roman; O'Brien, Syd; Poulsen, Ken; Smith, George; Tasby, Willie; Velazquez, Gil; Webster, Ray

Best,

Jeff B.

[joelsabi]

Hi guys, thanks for the kind words. Yes I am a forum member, avid reader but not much of a poster. I am still collecting and I need 19 bats to complete the collection through this year. The ones that are left are mostly old toughies. As the collection slowly fills my rec room, there is a spouse driven family movement afoot to have the list stop at 2010, with the collection spanning a half century (1960-2010). I am fighting this effort.

Also, after 20 years of collecting game used bats, I am not as quick on the draw as I used to be. What very well may have been a Ron Jackson bat (played for the sox in 1960) was advertized for sale a few weeks ago in our beloved Collector to Collector pages for $20 and I was second place. I need to get back on my game and continue to scour my sources!

Dave M., we have transacted over the years and some of the guys I am looking for are old time Cubs that might be squirreled away in some monster 60's and 70's bat collection. Because the names are obscure, people don't even know they have the bats until they look. Dave, or anyone else, any help would be greatly appreciated. I am heartened by the fact that a number of these bats were auctioned from the Paul Hill collection (deserving of its own thread on GUU if someone knows the details) in the early 90s. Someday they may surface again.

Latest stats: Number of players (non-pitchers) 1960 to present 420. Needed to finish 19.

Here is my remaining list: Alvarado, Luis; Coughtry, Marlan; Didier, Bob;
Fanzone, Carmen; Gile, Don; Goggin, Chuck; Heise, Bobby; Jackson, Ron; Keough, Marty; Laroche, Adam; Mantilla, Felix; Mejias, Roman; O'Brien, Syd; Poulsen, Ken; Smith, George; Tasby, Willie; Velazquez, Gil; Webster, Ray

Best,

Jeff B.

jeff,

nice to see you post. love your collection and you passion.

best of luck and i will be on the look out.

regards

joel

[treant985]

Hi guys, thanks for the kind words. Yes I am a forum member, avid reader but not much of a poster. I am still collecting and I need 19 bats to complete the collection through this year. The ones that are left are mostly old toughies. As the collection slowly fills my rec room, there is a spouse driven family movement afoot to have the list stop at 2010, with the collection spanning a half century (1960-2010). I am fighting this effort.

Here is my remaining list: Alvarado, Luis; Coughtry, Marlan; Didier, Bob;
Fanzone, Carmen; Gile, Don; Goggin, Chuck; Heise, Bobby; Jackson, Ron; Keough, Marty; Laroche, Adam; Mantilla, Felix; Mejias, Roman; O'Brien, Syd; Poulsen, Ken; Smith, George; Tasby, Willie; Velazquez, Gil; Webster, Ray

Not to give the spouse extra ammo, but of course a 50-year collection would be 1960-2009, since both years are inclusive!

Do you require that the bats be from their red sox time? It seems like, for bats from the 1960's, it'd be really hard to stay true to the team-bat requirement.

But I see that you have Adam LaRoche on there, so of course that makes me think you're only looking for bats used while as a Red Sox.

[joelsabi]

As the collection slowly fills my rec room, there is a spouse driven family movement afoot to have the list stop at 2010, with the collection spanning a half century (1960-2010). I am fighting this effort.

Best,

Jeff B.

Hi Jeff,

Curious. What is the general feeling about your collection with you family? Is there support in general and they just want you to curb the display area? Is there anyone in your camp at home? how much space does your collection take up in your house?

[soxbats]

Treant985, I received several emails from fellow forum members noting that my math was faulty and that the half century was up in 2009. I thought this was a support forum!! Now I have to block this site from my home computer and surf only at work!

When I started collecting I adhered to the “bat from time with the Red Sox” rule, but, as you note, I quickly found that many of the older bats were impossible to find at all, regardless of year. After missing a few, I decided that I would get any bat I could and then try to upgrade when the opportunity presented itself. That way I miss no bats and still can “stay in the game” by trying to upgrade all my bats. If I waited for the 19 I need to pop up, I might never buy any bats. Because most are common players, I never have a ton tied up in any one bat. While I usually lose money when selling the bat upgraded from, it is worth it to avoid the frustration of a miss. For me, I upgrade in the following manner (1) any bat, (2) bat from red sox years, (3) red sox years with correct uniform # on knob, (4) significant year with red sox (such as a WS year).

Even the newer guys are tough because there are team names all LVS bats and players are moving so much. Laroche is a great example. He played 6 games with the sox and I doubt there were any red sox bats made for him. In that case I look for a non LVS (no team name) from the relevant time period. I would guess that 90% of my bats are 2 or higher on my upgrade scale.

Joel, I joke about my wife’s reaction on the board and with my friends, but in reality she is incredibly supportive and always has been. Of course, I was a collector when we met, so she knew what she was getting into, just not on the current scale. I also have 3 kids, the oldest an 11 year old boy who loves baseball, so he and his brother enjoy the collection too. In fact, I’m not sure they understand how unique the collection is because it has always been around for them. The collection is known to many in my community and often people with Boston fans for friends or relatives will ask to stop by and see the bats. I also have a number of autographed pictures, posters and magazines that I have collected since I was in grade school and now display along with the bats. It’s funny, if I had 500 star trek figures I would be strange, but 500 bats are historic.

For many years my collection was in storage as I moved from apartment to apartment and small city row home. In 1999 we moved to the burbs and bought a fixer upper. While it needed a lot of work, it had a large third floor that we eventually renovated and houses my collection. I admit that when we were looking at houses I was thinking about an area that could house my collection. It has grown to fill the rec room, but my wife and I have an unwritten agreement that it will not leave that floor. In fact, there is not a scrap anywhere else in the house. Having the ability to display the entire collection has exponentially added to the enjoyment. It has also allowed me to add security so that nothing walks out like it might in a storage unit.

Some day I hope to lend the collection to the Red Sox for display in a hall of fame at Fenway. I have been in (limited) contact with the club in this regard and hear rumors occasionally about this project. Until then, I add the new names and hunt for needed players and upgrades. Many of our forum members are a huge help.

Thank you for your interest.

Jeff
soxbats@aol.com