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Trying to find info on this bat

HBlairHBlair Posts: 12
in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum
A friend gave me this bat. He was told it was game used. Is this possible...probable? Any way to find out by what player? Any info would be a big help...image

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Thanks for looking,

Blair

Comments

  • lbcoach20lbcoach20 Posts: 883 ✭✭✭
    From the labelling of the bat it dates from the 1986-89 era. It is a pitchers' bat as the labelling Houston Astros on the barrel is usually where the player's name would go. Many pitchers did not have a contract with Louisville Slugger and hence would use any bat the team would order that they liked. The only player on the Astros with the number 39 was Bob Knepper during this time frame, so it would probably be his bat. The stamping on the knob GB I am not really sure about....possibly Game Bat? In essence it is a pro model bat from this time frame probably used by Knepper. Hope this helps.

    Scott
  • HBlairHBlair Posts: 12
    it does and thank you very much. I have another item I am trying to learn something about but will put it in another post... maybe you will know something about it also...lol
  • HBlairHBlair Posts: 12
    The Man I got this from (a good friend) swears up and down he got it from George Brett... I have not seen the G. B. on any other bats. I know my friend is from Missouri. He gave me the bat and really has no reason to lie to me about it but the Houston Astros on the bat is really throwing me also in some research I found that George Brett wasn't known for using an S2.

    The story that he tells is that he was friends with a man who knew George and the two of them went to see him at a game in the late 80s. They were standing outside the park talking to George after the game and his friend said to George, I want one of your bats, George opened a bat bag he was carrying and gave him this bat. the friend left the bat in my friend's truck that night. A few days later my friend reminded him about the bat and his friend told him to just keep it he would get another one... (LONG story made short)

    anyway my question is... does anyone know what the chances are that George Brett would have had an Astros issued bat? and is it even remotely possible that the GB stands for George Brett as my friend claims... sorry in advance for the ramble but I love a good mystery and this has me intrigued.
  • IronmanfanIronmanfan Posts: 5,504 ✭✭✭✭
    Blair:

    No chance whatsoever

    1-800-STORY

    sorry
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  • cpamikecpamike Posts: 5,566 ✭✭✭
    Hello Blair,

    First off, welcome to the boards. image

    Your question is a difficult one for anyone to answer I think, but you may try sending a letter to Brett re-telling him the story with a picture of the bat and see if he has any recollection of using that type of bat. That is the only way I can think of to get to the bottom of it. There are guys on the board that send signature requests through the mail (TTMs) and they may have an address you can use and let you know how receptive Brett is to fan mail.

    Take care and good luck getting to the bottom of this mystery.
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  • alifaxwa2alifaxwa2 Posts: 3,104 ✭✭✭
    From the pictures, that bat doesn't even look used. Does it have any contact marks on it?
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  • HBlairHBlair Posts: 12
    lol... ok thanks... both of you and that is a great idea. If anyone knows an address it would be a big help...


    Thanks for the welcome. I am a small time dealer and collector who loves the history of the memorabilia. It's funny I have never been a big sports fan but am an avid history buff. I have only been collecting and dealing for about 2 months and fell into it by accident. A kid came up to me at a flea market where I was selling (I have been a dealer in American Indian Jewelry and art for a LONG time... higher end gallery type stuff). The kid had a box FULL of cards he wanted $20.00 for. no one else would even look at them. I asked if I could see them and the first cards I pulled out were the 1975 Topps Nolan Ryan and 1975 Topps Hank Aaron.... I bought the box...lol. turns out the box was full of vintage cards, inserts, mem, sig. etc almost 300 in total and not sure how many dollars worth. I put them out on my tables for sale and now I have people bringing me cards and memorabilia every weekend. I have probably 10,000 cards now about half from the 1950s and 60s and am trying to learn about them as fast as possible... reading the forum is helping. I also just started listing a few things on Ebay... we'll see how that goes
  • HBlairHBlair Posts: 12
    it does have some marks on it but not sure what to look for... I'll try to get some photos of the marks...
  • MeteoriteGuyMeteoriteGuy Posts: 7,140 ✭✭
    I own maybe two dozen well certified game used bats....but not an expert at all.

    A few thoughts...

    It doesn't look used at all to me...it may have what we call rack marks. Not sure if anyone would count that alone as "use."

    George Brett had one of the biggest egos in baseball and thought he owned the Royals. I can't imagine him ever using that bat.

    I do have a Ray Knight game used bat...used by teammate Mike Heath (#8) and it actually does have "R" and "K" on the knob.

    image

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    Mark
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  • HBlairHBlair Posts: 12
    well it WAS given away...lol... thanks for muddying the water...lol
  • ga5150ga5150 Posts: 743 ✭✭✭
    To further muddy the waters-no number 39 with the initials G.B.


    A check of the all time roster for the Houston Astros with the initials of GB shows the following:

    Glen Barker OF 1999-2001 #29 and #24
    George Bjorkman C 1983 #20
    Geoff Blum 3B 2002-2003, 2008-2010 #27
    George Brunet P 1962-1963 #33

  • fur72fur72 Posts: 2,348 ✭✭
    39 ounces and its CB = Craig Biggio

    Kidding no idea. GB = Game bat?

    Very interesting story though.
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  • Tedw9Tedw9 Posts: 1,424 ✭✭
    Cool bat, but I would say no chance of Brett using it.

    Most players have their own ways they make a bat ready for them to use. Brett was known for using a lot of pine tar (anyone remember the "pine tar bat" home run?), and from what I can see there is NO pine tar on that bat.

    Now, George could have picked that bat up from a fellow player, liked the feel and weight and decided to keep it to have some made like it for himself. But that's reaching a little bit.


    If I were you, I would post this over at Game Used Universe, those guys are experts. Take a ton more shots, of the whole bat, and post them over there. I'm pretty sure they will tell you the same thing we all are telling you. Great story, great bat, but not used by Brett.
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  • lbcoach20lbcoach20 Posts: 883 ✭✭✭
    I am on that site and I can tell you most certainly it was not used by Brett. Also, Louisville Slugger didn't stamp anything on the knob unless the team ordered it or put it on somehow. I am sticking to my opinion that Knepper used it as the team name is where the player name would be if the bat was ordered for a specific player. So I am going with the game bat designation. But otherwise, not a Brett. Sorry.

    Scott
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