Mel Ott 1930's Game Used Bat Stolen at National!!!

[Game Used Bats]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to make the forum aware that a Mel Ott 1930's Game Used Bat was stolen from the JT Sports booth at the National yesterday. This item was at the booth for authentication and was recently purchased at the Hunt All Star Auction in Kansas City.

http://huntauctions.com/live/imageviewer.cfm?auction_num=37&lot_num=268&lot_qual=

The bat has been reported stolen and if you should see it offered for sale please contact myself or John Taube of Jt Sports.

Thank you for your time,

Anthony

RichardsonA742@aol.com

[UTeric3232]

man....it seems like something like this is happening at every big show as of late...sad

[jake33]

Interesting.

When an item like this is stolen? Where does it go? I assume it wouldn't get stolen for your own collection, so it has to float around and eventually it has to pop up somewhere.

I would think the person who stole it, stole it for someone else and would sit in a private collection that really couldn't be displayed. But then what? Would the bat jsut get destroyed by who ever has it to avoid being caught?

It is a one of a kind item. I am sure the national convention has security cameras and where ever the bat went, someone has to havea vision record of the the wareabouts.

Stuff like this makes the news and it makes our whole industry look bad to outsiders.

[sforaker]

Guys:

That was my bat. Obviously I am very upset about it and am doing everything possible, including notifying auction houses and dealers. John Taube has filed a police report. Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.

Scott Foraker
SFor9999@aol.com

[camarokids]

Sorry to hear about your bat Scott! Hope you get it back and whoever stole goes to jail!

[jppopma]

Scott, Were there any concerns about this bat after you purchased it? There is a chance that whoever consigned it to Hunt's may have not wanted to let Taube get a look at it for authentication.... just a conspiracy theory. Best of luck getting it back. John

[sforaker]

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes, guys. The bat was consigned by the 92 year old daughter of a former player that played in the era Mel ott played. The player had the ott bat and a Cobb bat that he passed along to his daughter. Now that she is 92, she decided to consign the bats to hunt, and I was the winning bidder. The hunt folks hand delivered the bat to John taube on Thursday afternoon and it was stolen from his both later that afternoon.

[tigerdale]

Scott,
I hope the bat turns up, I could only imagine how you feel. A bat like that sure seems like it would be hard to hide for any length of time...

[scottanservitz]

Scott,
I hope your bat turns up and the person who stole it pays a hefty price for their poor choice! Our hobby has a lot of people who will keep their eyes open to help a fellow collector when we can.

Scott

[both-teams-played-hard]

Criminals really take the fun out of everything.:(

[Dewey2007]

Sorry to hear your bat was stolen. Hopefully it turns up soon. Just curious, who was responsible for the bat up until the time it was stolen? Also, was it insured or are you on the hook for the cost of the winning bid?


Thanks for the thoughts and wishes, guys. The bat was consigned by the 92 year old daughter of a former player that played in the era Mel ott played. The player had the ott bat and a Cobb bat that he passed along to his daughter. Now that she is 92, she decided to consign the bats to hunt, and I was the winning bidder. The hunt folks hand delivered the bat to John taube on Thursday afternoon and it was stolen from his both later that afternoon.

[gadsden86]

Sad to hear. Hope you get it back. I'd be flipping out if i had an item stolen that was worth 42,000.
Do you have somekind of recourse if it isnt recoved? Like do you get any money back since it wasnt in your possesion ever since the auction house gave it to the authenticator.

[David]

I don't know, but assume the big auction houses and authenticators have an insurance policy to cover the stuff they handle, including from theft. In fact, I find it hard to believe they wouldn't.

[sforaker]

Thanks for the support. To answer the most recent questions, I had paid for the the bat and it had been delivered by Hunt Auctions to John Taube at his booth at the National last Thursday afternoon. John was then in possession of the bat and was responsible for it when stolen later that afternoon. There is reason to believe that it should be covered by John's insurance. However, as you can appreciate, this would not really cover the loss since it would be nearly impossible to replace an Ott game used bat with first party provenance. I am obviously hoping that the person that stole it comes to their senses and returns the bat.

Scott

[sforaker]

I have some great news. My Mel Ott bat that had been stolen at last year's National was recently returned! I am thrilled of course to have the bat back. In addition, I am grateful to my fellow collectors for the outpouring of support over the past year. I also feel a sense of forgiveness, that whomever was involved in taking it apparently had a change of heart and did the right thing in the end by returning it. Getting the word out via this forum and other means could only have helped.

It seems that these things rarely have a happy ending, but this one does. Thanks to you all.

Scott

[calmanagement]

Scott,

So glad the bat found its way back to you and impressed with how you handled the whole ordeal.

Charlie

[ChrisCavalier]

Scott,

So glad the bat found its way back to you and impressed with how you handled the whole ordeal.

Charlie
+1

-Chris

[ironmanfan]

I have to admit that I didn't see this happening, but am certainly glad it did....

[Misha]

So how did you get it back? Did someone anonymously send it back to John Taube? It sounds like there were no arrests made.

[commando]

This type of theft scenario is always interesting... In this day and age, if you ever have a one-of-a-kind item stolen, you need to spread the word fast and often. If the thief had the intention of selling the item when he stole it, he'll quickly realize that it ain't gonna happen now. The item will have been "branded" by the hobby. Heck, you couldn't even get $20 at a pawn shop for it without giving them identification, and now having a trail pointing right back to your door.

The thief could hold on to the item, but every time he looks at the bat he'll know that he's in possession of a stolen item that carries a felony charge because of the high value. I do commend the thief for sending the item back to the owner, versus just throwing it in a dumpster somewhere. I'm glad the ending here was a good one!

[sforaker]

Yes, someone sent it back anonymously to John Taube.