Ted Williams 01's in the mid 40's - BMH or Mike Specht help?

[matt]

Are Ted Williams 01 bats with 40's branding definitely personal orders or possibly team index orders, as in the 50's? I know that there are many 01 TW index models from the 50's, but thought there were very few index orders like this in the mid-40's.

I won the Louisville Slugger Museum Auction Ted Williams 01 which matches length and weight for 1946 (35 inch and 34 ozs) personal orders from the Malta book as well as the proper c-13 centerbrand. I did as much homework as I could before bidding, but am hoping to rule out an index bat . It seems that any valid Williams early model is likely an 01 or has no model number. I did my best research based on use and pulled the trigger here.

Can anyone offer any guidance?

Matt

[MSpecht]

Re: Ted Williams 01's in the mid 40's - BMH or Mike Specht help?

Hi Matt....

Here is some specific information from Ted Williams' personal H & B order records:

Throughour the early 1940's, Williams frequently (almost exclusively) used a Lefty O'Doul model bat, first fashioned for O'Doul in 1933. Williams' first documented order of the O1 model (the number given to Lefty O'Doul's 'new model' order of 6-2-1933) that would presumably have been labeled with the O1 model number was 2-7-1946. In 1946 he made six orders of the model (all presumably stamped O1) for a total of 98 bats, including 2 bats for the 1946 World Series.) Those bats were primarily 35 inches in length, with a few being 36 inches. Weights varied between 32 and 36 oz (the lighter weights were ordered towards the end of the season.)

The following season, 1947, he ordered 12 model O1 bats dated 3-28-1947, 35 inches / 33 oz. That was it for O1 orders until 9-16-47 when he ordered 3 bats 45 inches / 42 oz. Those were Ted Williams' last documented orders of O1 bats until a single order in 1955 when he apparently ordered 1 bat (O1) with O'Doul's signature on the barrel label.

The starting point in authentication is whether the bats matches the player's personal H & B order records, which, in this case, it does. Thus, the bat is presumed to have been ordered by Ted Williams for his personal professional use. Add the fact that Williams ordered a relatively large number of O1 bats in 1946 and 1947, 90 of which would, given accepted weight variation, match your subject bat, and the probability increases that it was manufactured for his use.

However, this model was a popular model used by many players beginning in the mid-1930s (pre-model numbers) and as O1 was identified as a Williams Pro Stock model, his name, (among others) would have been used (endorsement contract) for team orders, particularly Red Sox orders.

To go any further in further increasing the probability of the specific bat being manufactured for, and used by, Williams, an analysis based on Ted Williams' known game used characteristics would be necessary.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[matt]

Re: Ted Williams 01's in the mid 40's - BMH or Mike Specht help?

Mike -

Thanks for your helpful reply. I agree that this matches the personal records very well and is likely from 1946 rather than '47 but the bat must be from one of those two years. Indeed the MEARS census includes a virtually identical bat to mine with the same conclusion (personally ordered in '46 or '47) and a strong grade.

I will be looking into Williams use characteristics more carefully when i get the bat from Hunts, but I am intrigued that it has handle scoring, which I also found in the MEARS database for early Williams. Joe Orlando, president of PSA, also says that handle scoring was a Williams trait, but I cannot find a good photo. I guess hitting surface is a tough Williams use characteristic, as some of his bats with strong personal provenence (graded 10) have use on both barrels. However, many are consistent with a lefty, and to complicate it further, Willaims says in his books that he often batted label down...which would generate a right-handed set of use!

If anyone has seen williams bats with handle scoring, I would love to know or see them. Or if anyone else knows of reliable use traits, please chime in. I know he did not paint his number on the knob till the 50's. He also used tar and oil in the 50's.

Matt