dimaggio D29 bat!

[momen55]

mike;
i need some help. i recnetly bought a dimaggio bat that is a D29, small knob, 35"/32oz.
now in looking at the records, he ordered 35" in 48-49, but description is having the large ruth knob.
36" had small knob but ordered in 47. now in seeing these inconsistencies i tend to believe that not all orders were recorded. can you shed some light on this please because to me it matches the records.

[momen55]

Re: dimaggio D29 bat!

mike or bmh;
here are some pics

[MSpecht]

Re: dimaggio D29 bat!

Here is what the records say--

DiMaggio's records between 1933 and the end of his career in 1951 show a couple of things.

Until 1935 his orders were pretty evenly split between 35 inch and 36 inch bats. following that, his orders were for 36 inch bats better than 95% of the time.

The index drawings of four separate models he had manufactured to his specifications are each indexed at a length of 36 inches. that means that 36 inches was the "default" length of his order for any of those models--- a deviation from that length would have to be specifically requested.

During the time period of this bat's manufacture, the entries in Joe DiMagguio's personal records (relative to D29 and D29L models are as follows:

6/6/47 His original model use D29 36" 35 oz 6 (bats)
7/3/47 D29 36" 35 oz All Star bats 2 (bats)
7/18/47 His original with also "D29" 36" 35 oz 6 (bats) there is also a notation that is too blurry to read
9/17/47 D29 Ruth knob 36" 35 oz 4 (bats)

Orders on 9/25/47 and 3/19/48 are the same as the 9/17/47 order, except that the 3/19 order was 35". On 3/23/48 his order was designated D29L 36" 35 oz , which was the shorthand notation for a D29 model with a Ruth (large) knob.

Yankee team orders list Joe DiMaggio bats (which presumably would be D29 and D29L Pro Stock models) as one of 11 players models listed as index on 1/17/46. . A typical team index order would read as follows: "12/4/46 assorted 34"-36" 72 bats." Such an order would be filled with assorted Yankee H & B contract player signature model bats in assorted weights and lengths between 34 and 36 inches. These bats would be available for use by any player in the organization including the player whose name appeared on the barrel.

One other note-- while the hand written cards 1930-1981 used for recording shipped orders are generally complete and accurate, it is likely that some bats obtained by players (say, during a personal trip to the H & B factory) were not recorded on these specific records.

With this bat, it appears to be a professional model bat manufactured by H & B between 1947-1948 with use by a player who cannot be identified. Although documented as ordered by DiMaggio very infrequently, 35 inch bats were very uncharacteristic of his use pattern after 1935. His orders of Ruth (large) knobs exclusively is documented after july, 1947. While the characteristics of this bat were seen on DiMaggio - ordered bats, the exact combination of model, knob type, and length is not documented in his personal records, but does appear in records of Yankee team index orders.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com