Tony Gwynn bat

[shoremen44]

I am not a Gwynn collector... but I remember reading somewhere that Gwynn would color in the MLB logo on his bats...

if so... this is a pretty cool bat


http://cgi.ebay.com/Tony-Gwynn-Padre...item19b98acdaa

[Neal]

That is cool, if that was the case.

That also seems like a nice price for a HOF and 3K hit club member

[Birdbats]

The lack of handle tape scares me a bit. Any hardcore Gwynn collectors have an opinion?

[metsbats]

Here's a portion of an 1997 interview with Gwynn regarding his bats


Gwynn: I start right there. It'll be 33 inches and 30 1/2 ounces. Actually, I started out 32 1/2, 31, and about five years ago I decided I wanted coverage on the outside part of the plate so I went up a half an inch to 33, but I dropped a half an ounce to 30 1/2. And in the last four years I've had pretty good years. The only thing I do to my bat is put some tape around the handle to build it up a little bit because I broke my finger about six years ago and can't really close it the way I want to. Other than that, the same bat, same Louisville Sluggers.


This auction bat is from 1999-2000 so the lack of tape does concern me.

[metsbats]

Also the bat is advertised as 1997 but the MLB logo didn't appear on LV sluggers until 99-00.

[CampWest]

I have been looking to add a Gwynn bat, but do not consider myself an expert, so I did not previously post on this thread, but did email with Bert directly... Anyhow, I'll go ahead and share my non-expert opinion. I saw this auction a couple minutes after it was listed, and was initially pretty excited. Then I quickly hesitated because 1) no handle tape, 2) too high of a grain count, 3) little/no pine tar. For the amount of ink transfers, I'd expect at least a moderate coating of tar. The knob markings look good and all, but I just cannot get past those three "concerns". Now my larger concern is its been out there for a while at what would be a really good price if genuinely used by Gwynn, I think a Gwynn collector would have bought it by now if it were unquestionably valid.

Like i said, I'm not an expert, but those are my thoughts.

[momen55]

perhaps a bp bat? there are alot of colors on there.

[CampWest]

perhaps a bp bat? there are alot of colors on there.

I was curious about what looks like some red ink transfers... BTW, looks like its been pulled, no sale at least not a sale registered with ebay.

[10thMan]

I have Gwynn Bats from 1986-2001 that have Taped Handles. I have an `84 Rawlings that I need to look at again, to see if Tapes been removed. It Does have an early sig, & is Authentic. All The Bats I`ve seen & liked from 1997 to 2001 have Tape, or had it at one point. ALL of the Bats I`ve owned from 1998-2001 have Tape.

I spoke to Tony Gwynn about several Bats I have, one is a 1998 (issued) with a short Tape job, signed, Pine Tar & a gold hand painted Ring below the center label. He said quicky "I did that, I get Bored" also mentioned he liked to color in the MLB Logos, such as on the `99 models.

I have had him look at several Bats, he`s always been nice & asked where I got them, how much I paid. He even looks at Baseballs & smiles when I brought him a Coleman NL Model, & a 1984 Allstar to sign. He doesn`t just scribble & hand it to you, he`s very smart & curious.


Sean

[Nnunnari]

Just saw this post. I almost bought this Gwynn because I do believe it's legit. Ron, of California Sports Inv, is one of the best in the business, he gets most of his stuff straight from the players. I do believe it's a bp/spring training bat however due to the lack of tape and deep seam marks. The colored in mlb logo also looks good, this would've been a nice cheaper version of Gwynn's "colored" mlb bats.


Nick