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The saga of Bo Jackson's 1989 All-Star Home Run Bat
I consider myself knowledgeable in two areas; The Houston Gamblers of the USFL, of which I am the team historian, and sports cards from the decade of the 1980s. To become more educated on both, I am constantly acquiring newspapers, magazines and video to add to my reference library.
This is how I learned the early whereabouts of Bo Jackson’s 1989 All-Star home run bat.
Surprisingly, the information was found in the July, 1990 issue of Baseball Cards Magazine. Writer Ken Tingley conducted an interview with Peter Clark, the registrar of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In this interview, Tingley states the following: "Bo Jackson gave the bat he hit a home run with at this year's All-Star game (1989) to the Hall of Fame, as did Terry Steinbach in 1988."
Now there's an interesting bit of information. The Hall of Fame received the bat almost immediately after the game itself! With the interview being over 20 years old, however, it could not be assumed that the bat still resides in the Hall today. It was necessary to contact the Hall and verify that the bat is still indeed in their archives.
Peter Clark, the registrar of the Hall of Fame for 40 years and person who granted the original interview for Baseball Cards Magazine, retired from his position in September of 2009. His replacement and longtime colleague is Susan MacKay, who I spoke with just a few minutes ago.
MacKay researched three separate databases and confirmed that the Hall is currently NOT in possession of the bat. She confirmed the bat was not stolen, and the Hall does still have the cap Jackson wore during the 1989 All-Star game. I asked it the bat may have been given as a temporary loan at the time, and MacKay agreed that this is the most likely scenario. As a final question, I asked if there's the chance that the bat may have been "lost in the shuffle" over the past twenty years and is still there somewhere, and MacKay did not believe so.
So there you have it. I enjoyed speaking with MacKay and tracking the bat's early history, but ultimately wasn't able to hammer down it's location today. So let the controversy resume. As a former investigator and current historian, I know not to post information until it has been verified with up-to-date, credible evidence.
Bring your bats (and evidence) to the table and let's figure out where this thing is!
Anthony
I consider myself knowledgeable in two areas; The Houston Gamblers of the USFL, of which I am the team historian, and sports cards from the decade of the 1980s. To become more educated on both, I am constantly acquiring newspapers, magazines and video to add to my reference library.
This is how I learned the early whereabouts of Bo Jackson’s 1989 All-Star home run bat.
Surprisingly, the information was found in the July, 1990 issue of Baseball Cards Magazine. Writer Ken Tingley conducted an interview with Peter Clark, the registrar of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In this interview, Tingley states the following: "Bo Jackson gave the bat he hit a home run with at this year's All-Star game (1989) to the Hall of Fame, as did Terry Steinbach in 1988."
Now there's an interesting bit of information. The Hall of Fame received the bat almost immediately after the game itself! With the interview being over 20 years old, however, it could not be assumed that the bat still resides in the Hall today. It was necessary to contact the Hall and verify that the bat is still indeed in their archives.
Peter Clark, the registrar of the Hall of Fame for 40 years and person who granted the original interview for Baseball Cards Magazine, retired from his position in September of 2009. His replacement and longtime colleague is Susan MacKay, who I spoke with just a few minutes ago.
MacKay researched three separate databases and confirmed that the Hall is currently NOT in possession of the bat. She confirmed the bat was not stolen, and the Hall does still have the cap Jackson wore during the 1989 All-Star game. I asked it the bat may have been given as a temporary loan at the time, and MacKay agreed that this is the most likely scenario. As a final question, I asked if there's the chance that the bat may have been "lost in the shuffle" over the past twenty years and is still there somewhere, and MacKay did not believe so.
So there you have it. I enjoyed speaking with MacKay and tracking the bat's early history, but ultimately wasn't able to hammer down it's location today. So let the controversy resume. As a former investigator and current historian, I know not to post information until it has been verified with up-to-date, credible evidence.
Bring your bats (and evidence) to the table and let's figure out where this thing is!
Anthony
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