This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/22/2019
Ted Williams is quite possibly the greatest hitter in baseball history. OK, now that the Yankees fans have thrown the catalog across the room in disgust, let me explain. A few years back, we ran a blog on the Mile High Card Company website (it's still archived there) about "The Splendid Splinter," explaining that while his career statistics trail behind "The Babe" in most respects, he was victimized of almost five seasons of playing time due to military obligations. In an admittedly unscientific attempt, we tried to hypothesize what Ted Williams' career body of work might have been had he not missed those years, using an average of statistics from the years prior to and following the gaps where he missed time as objectively as possible while allowing for minor injuries. Our conclusion was that Ted Williams would have likely hit close to 700 home runs while retiring as the all-time leader in runs, runs batted in and walks, and posting a lifetime batting of around .346, fifth only to Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Lefty O'Doul. And Williams didn't have the luxury of Lou Gehrig batting behind him every single game for over a decade. No slight to Babe Ruth of course, just presenting a different perspective. At any rate, the Red Sox had to know they had a future legend in their midst when Williams batted .366 with 43 homers as a 19-year old for the Minneapolis Millers. He moved up to the parent club in 1939, and this museum-quality game-used bat was in the hands of the great Ted Williams during his rookie era 1939-40 time period, before the nicknames "Splendid Splinter" and "Teddy Ballgame" came into play. No, at that time, he was "The Kid" and he quite literally was a kid. This very bat was offered for auction many, many years ago and, according to the previous auction house, was obtained directly from Ted Williams at that time. Clearly, we cannot confirm that Williams was the consignor but all of the characteristics of the bat are that of a Ted Williams gamer and the small facsimile signature on the barrel matches Louisville Slugger factory records for the time period and is a telltale sign that this stick is a rookie-era bat. Plenty of game-use is evident with a handle that was cracked and repaired and a multitude of nicks and bat rack marks. At approximately 35 inches and 33 ounces, it's a big stick for the typical teen but not for a 6'3" slugger pushing 200 pounds. A truly phenomenal piece of timber, and from a baseball standpoint, a monument to one of the game's standouts and arguably the greatest hitter in the game's 150+ year history. LOA from John Taube - PSA/DNA with a grade of GU 9.