Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

[MSpecht]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Here is a quick informal (and incomplete) survey---

Of approximately 70 authentications of 1976 H & B Bicentennial bats, including approximately 15 Hall of Fame bats and 55 non-HOF bats (stars and common players), 69 had the Bicentennial Logo without 'Powerized' between the Center Brand and the logo. Only one had the combination of the word 'Powerized' and the Bicentennial logo. That bat was manufactured for N Y Yankees outfielder Roy White in August or September of 1976. There were no special instructions in his ordering records regarding and branding. White would appear to be the 'common player' that provides an example of this branding.

Note to Big Klu -- Bench's records do not show any orders of Black finished bats in 1976. On a single order dated 8/17/76 however, 12 bats model A99C are documented with a hickory finish, which can sometimes appear to be a black finish. Those bats are documented as 35 1/2 inches / 33 oz. No special instructions as to branding appear in Bench's records during 1976.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Thanks Mike. Backs up what I said. They are out there, including some commons too. Obviously, it's not a common thing, but it happened. I would assume it would have happened earlier in the 1976 season during the adjustment period between 1975 and 1976, but who knows. I also think that not too many people have been checking or noticing that POWERIZED thing on 1976 bats that show up on ebay or in auction houses. I'll be paying closer attention now too, and try to find more examples.

[Trublubrucru]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

In a Milwaukee Journal article June 5, 2007, The owner of Hank Aaron's bat from his 755th home run is pictured with the bat and there is no Powerized.

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Yea, good luck finding a photo with powerized and the bell on it. That would very difficult to find.

[earlywynnfan]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Little late to the game, but the only 1976 bat I have is a Billy Williams model, and it has NO powerized.

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Some of you guys are missing the point here: He said one out of 70 something bats that have been authenticated by them had both the bell and the Powerized. So the chances of your bat having both is about 1 out of 75 or there abouts. I have 8 1976 bats-one of my bats has both. See what I mean?

[soxbats]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Mike, thanks for the great info, it is this kind of discussion that makes the board worthwhile. Before anyone suggests I am missing the point, I in no way mean to suggest that any bicentennial bat with the powerized logo is not authentic, I have handled enough vintage bats to know that there is no such thing as a labeling "rule."

Just to add my two cents, I am not sure that I would call Roy White a "common" player. He was a two time all star and, interstingly, he played on the 1976 Yanks who we all know played in the World Series that year and were swept by the Reds. It would be helpful to know if the catalogued White bat showed any use. Also, to the extent that bat experts have been opining about this trend, it would be helpful to know what the basis for their opinion was.

Were there a set of replica bats for the world series teams created? Did certain players think the bicentennial logo brought good luck and ask for it to be branded on bats in 77? Did players feel superstitious and ask for powerized to be added in 76? Did H&B want to protect the value of their trademarked word "Powerized" and decided to add it at some point in the season? Was this a playoff variation unique to the Reds and Yankees? Who knows, and that is the beauty of bat collecting.

To the extent we are collecting data on bicentennial labeling, I have handled several and never seen the "powerized" logo. I currently have bats for these absolute commons: Andy Merchant, Jack Baker and Ernie Whitt, none bearing the Powerized logo. Also, I note that Mears auctioned a super group of Reds 1976 Bats, none of which have Powerized (I don't know if these were in Mike's survey info).

I looked at my red sox 1977 yearbook and saw no examples with Powerized, (but that might have been affected by my drooling over the thought of having all those bats!). And Getty showed a few 76 H&B's (including Roy White) with no obvious evidence of Powerized.

Finally, a (very quick) trip through the topps 1977 set in the topps book showed 12 bicentennial bats by my eye, with no powerized.

However, if you look at www.MickeyRivers.com There is a picture of his 1976 All Star Game commemorative bat which has both Powerized and the Bicentennial logo so they knew how to load both dies in by the midsummer classic.

soxbats@aol.com
looking for obscure red sox bats from the 60's . . . Help!

[012562]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Jeff, great post. I agree, this is an interesting topic.

I started collecting bats in 1975, and probably have 15 or so Angels bats put away in storage with the bell symbol. Unfortunately, they are not accessible to check. Certainly, any Angels from 1976 would not qualify as stars unless there was a Nolan Ryan or Frank Tanana or Bobby Bonds bat (I have Bonds, and know there have been a few of his in the market). From recollection, I cannot ever recall seeing any with the Powerized on them along with the bell. My eyes are certainly opened now to check these when I might eventually unearth the bell symbol bats.

I think John Taube has a large collection of the bell symbol bats. Maybe somebody could persuade him to have a close look.

At one time I had a used Rod Carew All Star Game bat from Philadelphia in 1976 that had the bell symbol. Again, I cannot recall that bat having the Powerized.

Back to Nolan Ryan for a moment. I have some photos of Ryan taking batting practice in 1976 while wearing shorts and swinging a bell symbol bat. He must have been taking some cuts during early BP since he does not have on a jersey. Unfortunately, I cannot tell if the bat is a Nolan Ryan model or not from the photos. I have never seen a Ryan bell symbol bat, although I have seen a Ryan bat with the 1977-1979 labeling.

On a related subject to the 1976 bats, I have often wondered about the small dash between the GENUINE and the bat model number on the barrel of the bell symbol bats. I only recalling seeing that in 1976, and then again on a very few of what I think were 1977 bats. Does anybody know any details behind the use of this small dash? I don't know that I have seen that issue discussed or documented previously.

Tom Duino

[metsbats]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Tom,

I've reached out to John via an email regarding his take and experiences with this 76 BiCent variation.

[ironmanfan]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Some of you guys are missing the point here: He said one out of 70 something bats that have been authenticated by them had both the bell and the Powerized. So the chances of your bat having both is about 1 out of 75 or there abouts. I have 8 1976 bats-one of my bats has both. See what I mean?

I'm not statistician, but I know you can't say that the chances are 1 in 75 based on just that. In other words, if I add the five BiCentennial Orioles bats I have and the Rick Dempsey that is on eBay currently, the odds are "now" 1 in 81??

I would need to see photographic evidence of a star player having both..

I'm interested to see if we can get more information from Taube....

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

What you guys are forgetting too-is if it has the powerized and the bell-that's only part of it. Does it match his factory ordering records and the player's use characteristics too? I know on my Bench it matches his facotry ordering records perfectly. 35.5 inches and 32.5 ounces. B278 cupped. I believe he ordered about 50 of those that season. Does it have the 12 inches of pine tar on the handle Bench usually had? Yea, great pine tar. Does it have ball marks, red bat rack streaks, cleat marks, etc.? Yes to all. It even has #5 written in red pen-like the Reds used sometimes in the mid-70s. Got to look at the whole bat fellas. Again I've seen enough Bench bats to know it's a great gamer and the Powerized and the bell doesn't bug me at all. I know some collectors can't get past something that might be slightly different than the norm, or what is generally accepted in the hobby, but like Dave Grob says,"Don't be afraid to rethink your thinking." Obviously it's a rare thing to have both, but we've barely started looking and we already got photo evidence of a Aaron, bench, Rose, and White. And all 4 bats match their factory ordering records. Now that we're looking for those things on the 76 bats, I'm sure that we will find some more too. I'll contact Dave Grob and Zane Burns too and see what they've have seen too.

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Ironman-I'm not a statitician either-but Mike says out of their 70 bats-one had both. I have 8 76 bats and one has it. So 2 out of 78. Some others posted after that, so that skewed the numbers some. I'm just guessing the average % by what people have posted. Take Care.

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Just got emails back from Zane and Dave Grob. Both have seen them. Zane says he has seen several over the years. Dave sent me a photo of the 76 Roy White (good but not a superstar player). Also, notice the Reds picture from 1976. Rose with his Adirondack, Morgan with his bicentennial, and Bench with a 1976 bat with NO BELL. It's a 76 bat because it has the model on the barrell. That's all I'm trying to say-nothing is 100% in this hobby. Half you guys would freak out and yell fraud if I told ya Bench gave me that bat pictured in the 1976 and I tried to sell it as a 1976 bat. You say,"It can't be-it doesn't have the bell!" Well, photos don't lie fellas. As I slowly find more 76 bats with both or other variations I'll post them on here for all the doubters. Here's the pic's Grob sent me.
I remember Zane also had a Tony Perez 1976 bat with no bell-right from the Reds gift shop with 1976 date on it. That's another variation. I'll see if Zane still has a picture of it.

[jbsportstuff]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

You do have to be careful when collecting 76 Reds bats of the stars. The gift shop sold these with the centennial and all the right markings....however weight/length wouldn't match the shipping orders.

[33bird]

Re: Question about Hank Aaron 1976 bat on ebay

Dave Grob just posted a little news article on this subject today on Mears. Check it out:
www.mearsonline.com/news