1965 Twins relief pitchers bats - needles in haystacks

[Mark17]

I collect GU bats of the 1965 Twins. One of the problems with trying to complete the "set" is, which players never had their own bats? I either own or have seen bats of all the position players and starting pitchers. The relief pitchers, however, are another story.

1965 Twins relievers were: Worthington, Klippstein, Pleis, Mel Nelson, Cimino, Roggenburk, Siebler, and Fosnow. Most of these guys had relatively short careers and few ML at bats, while Klippstein and Worthington, who had longer careers and finished up with the Twins, were terrible hitters (.137 and .125 respectively.) They seldom used a bat, were lousy with them when they did, and almost certainly just grabbed a team bat, or borrowed one from a teammate, on the rare occasions they needed to step to the plate.

For example, the Twins top reliever from 1964 through 1969 was Worthington. He averaged 9.5 at bats per season, and got exactly 5 hits total in those six years.

So, my thinking is that, until bats of Fosnow, Siebler, and the rest of these guys surface, it might be reasonable to assume they don't exist, and never did.

But, there are four exceptions... Although these guys may never have ordered their own bats, four of them: Worthington, Klippstein, Pleis, and Nelson, had one bat each made for the 1965 World Series by H&B. These may be the only bats that were made specifically for them, with their names on them. If bats of these guys are as rare as I think, those 4 specific bats would be needed to complete that '65 Twins team set.

I've been searching for these four specific bats for years now, not knowing if, after almost 50 years, if they even still exist, or if they are buried in collections where they will remain forever. But about a month ago, the Worthington surfaced, and I immediately bought it (from Zane Burns.) It cost a small fortune, but there, literally, is not another one in existence.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Al-Worthingt...-/190893105694

After it arrived, I thanked Zane, and he replied: "I have seen and owned several 1965 ASG Bats but this is the only
Twins WS Bat that I have seen." Coming from Zane Burns, who's probably owned and seen more bats than just about anyone, that's quite a statement.

Anyway, I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has, or has seen, bats of the relief pitchers listed above. Chasing needles in haystacks is difficult enough; it would at least be good to know if those needles ever even existed.
-Mark

[metsbats]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Joe-Nossek-G...-/190924492593


Hi Mark,

Did you see this one?

Not one of the pitchers you are looking for but thought you may be interested.

-David

[Mark17]

David,
Thanks for thinking of me. That bat (or one just like it) had been on ebay for a very long time now, and I see it finally sold last month. I've already got a very early H&B Nossek (1961-64 label period) which he signed for me. The 1965 Twins position players, with the exception of Sevcik, are out there.


After I started this thread, I wrote to the other two living relievers whom I thought might have gotten 1965 World Series bats (Pleis and Nelson.) Sunday morning I got a call from Mel Nelson, and we had a very nice chat. He didn't recall if he'd ever ordered his own bats. He said equipment manager Ray Crump would ask guys if they wanted any bats, and usually the pitchers would just get some standard models, like M110 and K55 (I was surprised he remembered those model numbers!) He said they might have the team name on them, or maybe Kaat's name or something like that.


So it sounded like he was just using generic bats all the pitchers were using, rather than his own. He didn't remember being issued a World Series gamer. The only bat he remembers is the commemorative Black Bat from that team, which he still has, and was not interested in parting with.

[TAV]

Mark,

I also collect 1965 Twins bats and have never seen a Worthington or any of the other Twins pitchers you noted - with the exception of Mel Nelson. I have a signed Nelson in my collection. I have asked a number of Twins collectors about the missing bats and received the same information, that there must be bats for the Twins that played in the World Series but the others probably don't exist.

I thought that Worthington bats would surface given his lengthy career but never saw any until I ran across your posting tonight.

By the way, I do not have signed Zimmerman or Uhlaender bats, so please let me know if you have an extra you would like to sell. Good luck in your efforts to track down the remaining Twins!

Tom