Bat Day at the yard. Anyone remember these team promotions?

[Dewey2007]

I'm almost 40 years old so I'm sure folks my age and older might remember this. I grew up in the Bay Area and in the 70's the Oakland A's used to have a Bat Day promotion. They would give away full-size green bats of players like Bando, Jackson, Rudi, etc. They were nice bats and as kids they came in handy for pickup games. Pretty solid bats from what I remember.

I'm sure other teams aournd the country used to have similar promotions. Does anyone out there collect these bats? I think they would be nice vintage collectibles these days. I wish I still had mine.

Please post pics if anyone out there has any of these bats or at least tell me you remember these team promotions so I don't feel so old!

[pietraynor]

I'm 40 & remember these well..The Reds did this nearly every year in the '70s & you could put together a pretty good collection if you wanted to..They were usually around 30", Red in color & I've also seen them yellow w/black lettering..I've seen all the stars, as well as players such as Driessen & Geronimo, etc. I saw a Bench Bat Day bat the other day at an antique mall for around $35 Mint condition..During the O'Rourke Sale of Riverfront Stadium items, I was able to pick up a couple of boxes of Reds Bat Day Bats, dated in the mid '70s that were leftover giveaways buried in the bowels of the stadium. Still have them today, players are Concepcion & Geronimo. They would make nice items for autographs or display. Brings back a lot of memories! A few years back, I picked up a scarce Rocky Colavito K.C. A's green Bat Day bat from a local antique store. Mint condition, sold for over $200 on ebay. Jay.

[bobw]

My father took me to most Yankees giveaway days during the late 1960's to the mid 1970's. This was before they plastered the sponsor logos all over the item. I buy them whenever I see any at garage sales or flea markets. I have multiples of some.

I have Tom Tresh, Mickey Mantle, Horace Clarke, Thurman Munson, Ron Blomberg, Bobby Murcer, Steve Whitaker, Bob Oliver, Frank Baker, Roy White


http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o186/bobw_photos/231_2133.jpghttp://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o186/bobw_photos/231_2132.jpghttp://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o186/bobw_photos/231_2131.jpg

[suave1477]

To the best of my knowledge the Yankees still have Bat day. I think they do it once or maybe twice a season.

[Chris78]

It seems like the bat days that I see now are normally for kids 14 and under. I know that I was able to buy at Scranton the Ryan Howard bats that they had at the 3rd base side stand a few summers ago, and I know that at the Harrisburg Senators I got a bat the last home game of this past season when you can pick a promotion of your choice. I normally go to the bobblehead games, but I will keep an eye on the promotional list for bat giveaways.