Chuck Klien GU bat

[earlywynnfan]

Have you guys seen this??

http://cgi.ebay.com/1933-CHUCK-KLEIN-GAME-USED-BASEBALL-BAT-Triple-Crown-Yr_W0QQitemZ120038036172QQihZ002QQcategoryZ50125QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've never seen a bat with the patent info under a player's name. Has any one seen this before?

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[BoneRubbedBat]

Ken,

I have seen some "star" bats dating back to the -teens with barrel stamping such as this. The things that worry me about this bat are:

1. The knob does not appear hand-turned.

2. The Powerized and Oil Tempered appear to be foil-stamped. All of the 1931-33 era bats in my collection have a very similar stamping depth of the centerbrand and Powerized.

3. Someone asked a question about guaranteeing authenticity, and the reply was "NO! I don't know who used this bat. The buyer takes a chance on this bat passing or not passing authenticity."

This has the makings of a store bat, and I don't think it is worth the $850 reserve the seller has advertised.

Just my $0.02

[bat_master]

Marcus:

Great info about the Chuck Klein bat. I've had it in my watch list for several days now, likely right from the beginning. Since I don't have a lot of experience with pre 1950s bats I'm very glad you posted the info you did and at the time that you did. This information will pretty much keep me from bidding and hopefully enough people will take notice and this bat won't go as high as a true Klein gamer should (would) go for.

Thanks Marcus!

Tim

[earlywynnfan]

Thanks! I actually had no interest in bidding; I'm at the stage where if i see something potentially great, someone will outbid me if it's real, and if i win it, something must be wrong with it!

I also shy away from sellers who obviously have a good idea of the hobby, as in what's a good deal or not, and if they're putting a bat worth thousands on ebay with no minimum bid and "all sales final", well, that sends me a mighty big message! (for example, that warren spahn bat that ended last week; looked great, but i didn't like the vibe. of course, I probably missed out on the steal of the year!)

Regards, Ken

[BoneRubbedBat]

Here are a few examples.

[bat_master]

Thanks! I actually had no interest in bidding; I'm at the stage where if i see something potentially great, someone will outbid me if it's real, and if i win it, something must be wrong with it!

I also shy away from sellers who obviously have a good idea of the hobby, as in what's a good deal or not, and if they're putting a bat worth thousands on ebay with no minimum bid and "all sales final", well, that sends me a mighty big message! (for example, that warren spahn bat that ended last week; looked great, but i didn't like the vibe. of course, I probably missed out on the steal of the year!)

Regards, Ken

Hi Ken,

I took a shot at the Spahn bat. In the end Andy Benish was the winner so hopefully he'll let me take a look at it sometime. As with most older bats unless there is absolute proof or documentation then I think they can be hit or miss depending on how much information is included in the listing.

Like the "Babe Ruth Autographed" bat I purchased last week for around $100 (with Frangipani certification no less) I took a shot on it and am still not sure if it was a hit or miss. In the end, while I'm about 90% certain that the autograph is fake the bat was still a 1921-31 sidewritten H&B. No mention was made of the sidewriting in the auction at all.

Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump said it best, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." He just may have been describing bat purchasing on ebay...who knows???

Thanks for the read.

Tim Byington
t_byington@yahoo.com

[BoneRubbedBat]

You can see some samples of the "Reg US Pat Off" underneath the barrel signature on two Ruth bats in the current Mastro auction, lots #919 (model 250) and 921 (model 125).

[ghostkid]

Excellent information Marcus. I, for one, sure do appreciate the information you share with the bat collectors on this forum. I have been watching this Klein bat for several days. Just a short time ago I revisited the auction to decide if I wanted to get serious about the bat. After reading your posts, I believe you are exactly right and that this one is likely not exactly what it seems to be on first glance.

Kevin

[corsairs25]

Marcus,
You make a persuasive case. But a question about point #2: what is it about the knob that leads you to think that it was machine turned? Is it the flatness of the knob? or some other feature? Mark L

[earlywynnfan]

Marcus,

Thanks for the info and the scans. But what I meant was that I had never seen "Reg US Pat Off" under the name on the BARRELL, not the middle label. Is this marking customary?

thanks, Ken

[BoneRubbedBat]

Ken,

The barrell stamping is consistent with other "star" players from the era. Most common players and minor leaguers would have block letter names only, or signature models with TRADE MARK beneath. Here is a photo of the Ruth bat, current Mastro auction lot 921, as referenced above:

[BoneRubbedBat]

Mark,

In reference to the knob, hand-turned knobs usually leave a trace of the lathe "nubs" on both ends of the bat, but is usually more apparent on the knob end. Here is a photo of a few knobs:

[stkmtimo]

Mark,

In reference to the knob, hand-turned knobs usually leave a trace of the lathe "nubs" on both ends of the bat, but is usually more apparent on the knob end. Here is a photo of a few knobs:

Marcus,

If those are your bats in the picture, just wondering what the paper attached to them says - is that an identifier like Marshall Fogel has on some of his Hall of Fame gamers?

Thanks,
Tim

[BoneRubbedBat]

Tim,

Those are my notes on the bats. I have been documenting each bat in detail. The cards contain the era, sidewritting, stamping, centerbrand measurements, letter and number heights, and other information. I am in the process of entering all of the data into a spreadsheet.

[JimCaravello]

Looks like Troy Kinunen of MEARS bought the bat??