Babe Ruth 100th Anniversary Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2014
In the fall of 1964 Roberto Clemente was riding high - the 29 year-old was in the prime of his career - his .339 average was tops in the National League and in November he would return to Puerto Rico to manage the San Juan Senators and finally marry his beloved Vera Zabala.
To cash in on his fame as the best Latino ballplayer in the game, Clemente invested in a malt beverage named "Carolina" after his Puerto Rican hometown. After the '64 season Clemente embarked on a PR tour to promote the drink and that's where this game used and signed bat comes in. In black ball point, Clemente personalized the bat to his business partner's daughter Lurdes Mesa. The Hall of Famer has also dated the bat "New York Oct. 6 - 64" and added "CHAMPION BATTER 1964 NATIONAL LEAGUE PIRATES PITTSBURG". Included with this bat are three black and white 8x10's circa 1964 of Clemente with his business partner and holding a bottle of "Carolina".
The bat itself is a Hillerich & Bradsby G105 and its 36" length and 35.6 oz weight match 2 separate orders placed on September 15 and 18, 1964. With those records and the date added by Clemente we can narrow this bat to being used at the tail end of the '64 season as Clemente added the last hits that gave him the batting championship. The bat shows light use with a few ball marks on the right barrel. The model number G105 is stamped into the knob over which his eternal number "21" has been hand written in black marker (appears to have been traced over to darken it).
In short, this is an incredibly attractive bat that not only has been game used and signed by one of the game's most beloved players, but can be definitively dated to a season he won the batting championship. Letter Authenticity from early bat collector Michael Montbriand who did the original research on this bat and documented its provenance. PSA/DNA has thoroughly reviewed the bat and issued it a grade of GU 8 and JSA has issued their Letter of Authenticity for the signature. Game used or signed Clemente items are exceedingly rare - this bat combines both with an impeccable provenance - it just doesn't get any better than that.