This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/31/2010
Offered is the earliest known J.F. Hillerich & Son bat that left the factory with a stamped name instead of a decal. The first player endorsement was Honus Wagner in 1905 and all the early player bats from the post 1905 thru 1911 era were decal bats and pre 1905 bats left the factory sans any player name and if a name is present, it was a block letter placed on the bat upon it's return. Chance had a contract with Spalding beginning in 1908 and they had the exclusive right to produce his signature model retail bats as well as his game bats. It is our surmise that Hillerich chose a script style block letter for this bat because of the contract with Spalding and that they added the word Model to further protect them from any Spalding lawsuit. The bat is hand turned and flame burned. The question arises as to whether they could have made a retail model bat for Chance. While possible, no other player model stamped bat from this era has ever surfaced and they did not have a contract to produce store models for Chance. In fact, there are no known store model bats produced by Hillerich during the 1897-1911 era aside from the few known signature model decal bats in their line that began in 1905 with Wagner.We graded and evaluated this bat as a professional model game bat based on the above assumptions and facts.
As to specs and condition: The bat is 33" and weighs 39.4 oz. It remains uncracked and has the traditional burned spots ie early flame burned surface treatment. There is a carving on knob and on the barrel, someone has carved the name "J.Hainline" There is no dead wood but there are some dents and bruises along with the swelling on both sides of the barrel. The Chance name fades off but the Frank L. Ch (ance) is strong but all of the name is readable. It grades and A5 with 5 base points, 3 use points and minus 3 for flaws (some of which could be recouped if restored properly). All and all, a really interesting bat and given that it is the earliest of this style with a players name factory stamped makes this one of the most unusual player models we have ever seen or offered. 00850