Mickey Mantle Used Bat

[sammy]

In the current Vintage Authentics auction there is a Mickey Mantle coach's bat, Lot 99.

Description:

Blonde H&B Louisville Slugger K55 signature model bat used by 500 HR Club icon Mickey Mantle most likely during Spring Training circa 1973-75 while working as a coach for the New York Yankees. The bat perfectly matches known player shipments to Mantle in February of 1974. It measures 33 oz and 35" exhibiting significant game use throughout with medium ball surface stitch, and rack marks across the barrel's surface with nice deep factory stampings. The handle remains intact with Mickey's #7 faded across the knob. This bat with nice use associated with coaching/instruction earns a final authentic grade of 7 overall.

According to the MEARS LOO, on 2-25-74 Mantle ordered K-55 model bats that weighed 37 oz and were 35" in lenght.

Two things.

How does this bat perfectly match known player shipments to Mantle in February of 1974 as stated in the auction?

Mantle ordered 37 oz bats and the one on auction weights in at 33 oz?

I seriously doubt this bat lost 4 ozs of weight in 22 years.

Do you think that is likely?

[JimCaravello]

Hi Sammy - Mantle only had one bat order in 1974. There was an order for one ( 1 ) Old Timer's bat - M110 model that was 35" long and 31 ounces. I have reviewed the bat you have questioned in Vintage Authentics auction. The MEARS cert is in conflict with itself and is wrong.

Let's start with Mantle's factory records first. There is not an order in February of 1974 for 35" and 37 ounce K55 bats. My copy of Mantle's Factory Records clearly show only the one order for Mantle bats in 1974 mentioned above. There is an order on February 25, 1971 for K55 model bats - 35" and 37 ounces - Four ( 4 ) bats were ordered. It appears that MEARS has confused 1971 with 1974.

Secondly - on the MEARS Cert - it clearly states the bat in auction is 35" and 33 ounces and does not match anything listed for Mantle in the 1973 - 1975 labeling period in his records. During the 73-75 labeling period, Mantle had only the one order in 1974 mentioned above.

The bat in question doesn't come close to matching the order from 1971 because of the four ounce weight differential - but then again, the bat in question is a 1973 - 1975 label bat and thus the MEARS cert is wrong and in conflict with itself.

To answer your question about weight loss ( and there are varying opinions on this ) - there is no way a bat from this labeling period loses four ounces. I don't care what any authenticator or bat expert tells you.......

This is truly sloppy work by the authenticator - not only is it sloppy, but its wrong and is negligent. The opening bid for this bat at $1,000 is ridiculous and there is already one bid.

On top of this, I have not seen this bat in person - but the grain and the quality of the wood do not resemble professional grade ash. I could be wrong on this, but from the pics, the bat looks very "storish model" or "promotional" to me. That's my opinion - not a fact. I would want to inspect this bat in person to give a final judgement on that comment - but nonetheless, MEARS has incorrectly graded and certified to the authenticity of this bat matching factory records and graded it A7 which is a travesty.

If I can be of further assistance, please let me know. Thanks, Jim

[Steve Jensen]

I just spoke with Troy Kinunen at MEARS and he confirmed the Mantle bat order based on the records he has in his possession. He pulled them and read them to me over the phone. The order was hand written and he said the only thing in question is wether the 2 (representing the month of February) could possibly be an 8 (august) because it somewhat sloppy writing. That had no bearing on their grading of the bat. MEARS stands behing there findings on this bat 100%. Any further questions, please feel free to contact MEARS directly as we will be supporting their findings on this bat. The LOA is posted on our website.

Best Regards,
Steve

www.vintageauthentics.com

[eGameUsed]

Jime and Steve,

At first when I saw this bat I was interested in picking it up. However, Jim points out some good aspects. Even if Jim does not have "complete" records, the COO still states the bat is 33 ounces and the records indicate 37 ounces. Do I need to e-mail MEARS to see if they are going to make any applicable corrections or is that the responsibility of the auction house to ensure items are accurately represented?

A note on e-mailing MEARS, Troy has e-mailed me several times asking my opinion of Astros items, which I have replied to ever time with information I have collected over the years. He has never responded to my questions or even replied with a coutersy "Thanks!" I find it pointless to e-mail them.

Thanks,

[sammy]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply.

I see that Steve from VA has replied too.

I agree with you in regard to the weigh loss.

There is no normal way for a 23+/- year old bat to lose 4 oz

Are there more then one set of records for Mantle bats, or what?

[Birdbats]

Here's a photo of the record entries in question:


It's clear the last order was placed in 1974, but I honestly can't read the date above it when the four 35", 37 oz. K55 bats were ordered. Troy says it's 1974, Jim says it's 1971. All that's certain is that the bat dates to the 1973-75 era, it's a K55 model, and it weighs 4 ounces less than the only recorded order of K55 bats placed after 1970.

If Jim is right, the bat at auction wasn't ordered for Mantle. If Troy is right, the bat somehow lost 4 ounces. Or, maybe that 37-ounce entry is supposed to be 32 ounces (a commonly ordered weight, per the records) and the tail on the two was too light to show up in copies.

Who knows? You be the judge.

Jeff
http://www.birdbats.com

[JimCaravello]

Hi Jeff - please look at my scan. It is clear that the record scan you posted has been copied several times and has blurred over time. If you look at my record, it is clear this K55 order is from February 25, 1971. In addition, it is clear that the order was for 37 ounce bats. The weight differential should have been the first clue the authenticator should have used to dig into this record deeper to see if it was correct. A loss of four ounces on a 73-75 bat is a lot - and I think even MEARS would agree to that. Also - the bat is not a perfect match to Factory Records even if the order was from 1974, which it is not.

If MEARS is using the example you have posted, then I could see where they could have made a mistake. If they are using a copy as clear as mine, then they made a mistake. There is no way you can interpret my K55 record other than from 1971. My records came directly from Karen Devoto at Louisville Slugger and was not copied several times.

Thanks, Jim

[ChrisCavalier]

Hi Jeff - please look at my scan. It is clear that the record scan you posted has been copied several times and has blurred over time. If you look at my record, it is clear this K55 order is from February 25, 1971.

There is no way you can interpret my K55 record other than from 1971. My records came directly from Karen Devoto at Louisville Slugger and was not copied several times.

Thanks, Jim

I have two comments to make here. One is regarding the factory records and the other relates to the auction description.

1) Regarding the factory records:

Over the past year I have personally acquired copies of a number of the Louisville Slugger records including those of Mickey Mantle. Notably, the copies I have are similar to Jim's and have not been copied numerous times. With that said, it seems very clear to me that the K55 orders are from 1971, not 1974. I would also have to say that Jim and I are not the only ones who feel this way. If you look at Vince Malta's charts in the "Bat Player Charts" section of the GUU site you will see the following line under "Post Career" orders (according to the charts, the (4) K55 35"/37 oz. bats were ordered by Mantle in 1971):

Post-career: 1969- 24-M110 35”/32.oz., 12-P104 35”/32oz., 12-Mc13 34”/33 oz., 1970- 12-M110 35”/31 & 32 oz., 1971- 4-K55 35”/37 oz.

In addition, when looking at the big picture, it certainly seems more logical that, when you remove the noted “Old Timers Day” order from the equation (that order was intended for something other than a coaches bat), the chronological sequence of ordering bats in 1969, 1970 and 1971 makes more sense than him ordering bats in 1969, 1970 and then 1974 (thereby skipping 1971, 1972 and 1973). The 1971 order also seems more logical given his stint as a first base coach in 1970.

Please note that I am not saying this was done intentionally. In fact, if the copies of the records being looked at by the authenticator were more similar to those posted by Jeff Scott than the ones posted by Jim Caravello then it may help explain the discrepancy. However, when everything now known is considered, I think it is hard to refute that this additional information indeed has a tremendous impact on the perceived probability of this being a genuine Mantle coaches bat as the "7" grade would suggest.

2) Regarding the auction description:

I am actually at a loss about the statement in the auction description that "The bat perfectly matches known player shipments to Mantle in February of 1974. It measures 33 oz and 35"...". Although I think the new information provided about the records shows the LOA is likely mistaken regarding when Mantle placed the order, the LOA comments section does say the K55 order was for 37 ounce bats.

My question is this, even if you overlook the error in the date of the order, how can Vintage Authentics possibly state "The bat perfectly matches known player shipments to Mantle" when this bat is 4 ounces lighter than the presumed order on record as stated in the LOA?

Does anyone else feel that statement in the auction description is justified? Personally, I just don’t see it.

Sincerely,
Chris Cavalier

[sammy]

VA has removed the statement that this bat "perfectly matches known player shipments to Mantle in February of 1974".

The final Grade has not changed and remains an A 7.

Current Description:

Blonde H&B Louisville Slugger K55 signature model bat used by 500 HR Club icon Mickey Mantle most likely during Spring Training circa 1973-75 while working as a coach for the New York Yankees. The bat matches known characteristics for Mickey Mantle coaches bats with a key feature being the faded #7 on the knob. While not found in Mantle's personal ordering records, it does measure appropriately at 33 oz and 35" and exhibits significant game use throughout with medium ball, surface stitch, and rack marks across the barrel's surface with nice deep factory stampings. The handle remains intact with Mickey's #7 faded across the knob. This bat has nice use and is associated with his coaching/instruction era after the Mick's playing career. It earns a final authentic grade of 7 overall.

[Steve Jensen]

Thanks for the updated and visual info regarding the Mantle post career bat. We spoke with MEARS yesterday afternoon about this. We have decided to remove all mention of the bat "perfectly matching personal ordering records regarding this bat" This is our updated description on our website:

Lot 99
Blonde H&B Louisville Slugger K55 signature model bat used by 500 HR Club icon Mickey Mantle most likely during Spring Training circa 1973-75 while working as a coach for the New York Yankees. The bat matches known player characteristics for Mickey Mantle coaches bats with a key feature being the faded #7 on the knob. It measures 33 oz and 35" exhibiting significant game use throughout with medium ball surface stitch, and rack marks across the barrel's surface with nice deep factory stampings. The handle remains intact with Mickey's #7 faded across the knob. This bat with nice use associated with coaching/instruction earns a final authentic grade of 7 overall.

MEARS has assured us that based on their grading standard, this bat remians an A7 due to the fact that the 35 inch, 33 ounce bat was the bat he predominantly used post career. The 37 oz. bat was definitely and unusual order for the Mick and serves as the exception. The bat can not be pinpointed to a specific documneted record but it definitely falls within the length & weight requirements for Mantle. We have notified the current bidder of the update to this lot and will be monitioring future bids to do the same.

Best Regards,
Steve
www.vintageauthentics.com