In the 80’s, as a kid, my family and I went to hundreds of baseball card shows. Our biggest project as a family was this bat. It’s a Rawlings 50th Anniversary of the Hall of Fame special edition. We took care to make sure that every player signed in blue sharpie, and we did our best to get them to sign in rows. We also got two balls, an American League and a National League ball, and we also have all these players on the ball of the league they represent in the Hall.
The bat has been in storage (with some other bats) at my mom’s house down in Philly. It was a big trip, as I talked about yesterday. It was my first time home in over two years, and it was the first time my mom had a chance to really get to know my wife. I also met my mom’s new partner. But the secondary goal of this visit was to bring this bat home.
Here’s who is on the bat:
Luke Appling
Yogi Berra
Lou Boudreau
Lou Brock
Ray Dandridge
Bobby Doerr
Don Drysdale
Bob Feller
Rick Ferrell
Whitey Ford
Bob Gibson
Billy Herman
Catfish Hunter
Monte Irvin
Harmon Killebrew
Juan Marichal
Eddie Matthews
Willie Mays
Johnny Mize
Robin Roberts
Frank Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Red Schoendienst
Enos Slaughter
Duke Snider
Warren Spahn
Willie Stargell
Billy Williams
Early Wynn
The memories associated with these autographs are priceless. These names represent my childhood in a very real way. This bat is a totem of a great time in my life. This bat is going to get passed down to a niece or nephew.
Wow, that’s awesome! What a great family project!
Lots of great memories in that bat, Matt. When I crack into the photo album, I’ll tell the story of how I got a photo wearing a Hall of Famer’s HOF ring…