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Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Bill Terry was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954. In 1999, he ranked number 59 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The Giants retired Terry's uniform no. 3 in 1984; it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of AT&T Park. Nicknamed "Memphis Bill", he is most remembered for being the last National League player to hit .400, a feat he accomplished by batting .401 in 1930.
Bill Terry made his major league debut in 1923 with the New York Giants and played his first full season in 1925 when he hit .319. Playing his entire career with the Giants before retiring in 1936, Terry posted seven seasons with 100 or more runs, six seasons with 100 or more RBI, six seasons with at least 200 hits, and nine consecutive seasons batting .320 or higher, from 1927 through 1935. He also showed some pop, posting three seasons with at least 20 home runs, including a career high of 28 in 1932.
Arguably Terry's finest season - and certainly his most historic - was 1930 when he scored 139 runs, hit 23 home runs, had 129 RBI, hit .401, and was The Sporting News NL MVP. He remains the last National League player to have hit .400 or higher (the feat has been more recently accomplished by Ted Williams in the American League). Terry retired with 1120 runs scored, 154 home runs, 1078 RBI and a .341 batting average.
This vintage bat was originally sourced from the Hillerich & Bradsby factory tool room where it was made in 1922 at the request of Hall of Famer Bill Terry. This bat was made to serve as a model, or pattern, for the manufacture of subsequent orders of bats for Terry. This bat has the notation "W.H. Terry 5-24-22" written in vintage grease pencil. This marking is known as "side-writing" and was most commonly used by Hillerich & Bradsby employees to identify bats that were either returned to the factory by a player requesting that additional bats be made to the same specifications, or to identify the date that a new model (or modification to an existing model) was made for a player at the player's request. When the bat was delivered to the company after mailing, or manufactured from the player's request, it was so identified by writing, in artists' grease pencil, on the bat.
A review of Bill Terry's personal Hillerich & Bradsby factory records confirms that a new model, dated 5-24-22, was made at Terry's request. The model was to be manufactured using a Hornsby bat (likely sent in to H & B) and is noted in Terry's records as follows: "New Model Made dated back from 8/26 Hornsby on End / 40 oz." This bat is the specific bat made from that request. The bat was apparently made around 8/26/22 but dated back to 5-24-22 for factory identification purposes. It is 35 inches in length and weighs approximately 39 ounces at this time. The bat shows lathe marks on both the knob and barrel end, with a small sanded nub present on the knob. It has retained a dark, rich patina commonly seen on bats from that period. The side-writing is easily viewed and completely legible, making this bat a great opportunity to obtain a historical Bill Terry lathe bat that is perfect for display and is specifically documented in his personal H & B records.View Lot Detail page