BiCentennial Bat Oddity ?

[ironmanfan]

I was looking at some Orioles pictures offered on eBay and found one of Tommy Harper, who only played for the Orioles in 1976 (as a DH)....Since his bat is evident in the photo, I thought it would be cool to see the H&B "Liberty Bell" logo which was used solely that year......Interestingly, the bat that Harper in the picture is devoid of such logo, while interestingly the photograph dates the picture to June of that season. One thought is perhaps the picture isn't really June, but earlier in the season due to the long sleeves & the jackets worn by the people in the crowd....

Just thought it was interesting.....

[Dewey2007]

Good catch Bill. That is pretty interesting. My bet would be on old bat from the year before and maybe it's not even his.

I was looking at some Orioles pictures offered on eBay and found one of Tommy Harper, who only played for the Orioles in 1976 (as a DH)....Since his bat is evident in the photo, I thought it would be cool to see the H&B "Liberty Bell" logo which was used solely that year......Interestingly, the bat that Harper in the picture is devoid of such logo, while interestingly the photograph dates the picture to June of that season. One thought is perhaps the picture isn't really June, but earlier in the season due to the long sleeves & the jackets worn by the people in the crowd....

Just thought it was interesting.....

[ironmanfan]

appears as if the name on the bat is a "non contract" block lettering one...does anyone know if Harper had a H&B contract?

[Dewey2007]

Good point. I have a non-contract Harper H&B from the late 60's and I have a Adirondack Harper from the early 70s so he definitely used both brands. I have not seen any H&B's from later in his career so not sure.

appears as if the name on the bat is a "non contract" block lettering one...does anyone know if Harper had a H&B contract?

[momen55]

Good catch Bill. That is pretty interesting. My bet would be on old bat from the year before and maybe it's not even his.

it has the model number on the barrel, not an early bat. from my understanding, not all 76 bats had the logo.

[soxbats]

I have two harpers per 1976 that are both non contract, on that just says HARPER and the other that says TOMMY HARPER.

Soxbats@aol.com