October Legends and Americana Ending November 14th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/15/2015
Throughout the summer of 1961 all eyes were on Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as the two Yankees chased Babe Ruth's home run record. As the games ticked by Mantle faltered, his many injuries taking their toll, leaving Maris to continue the chase alone. As he reached number 50 the stress of keeping up the pace and unwanted publicity began to wear on him, yet he battled on. As number sixty loomed, fans became hostile, not wanting Ruth's record to be broken. Still Maris slugged away and finally hit one more than Ruth's 60. The aftermath was anti-climactic: Ford Frick, the commissioner of baseball and an old pal of The Babes ruled that an asterisk be placed beside the record because it was accomplished in 162 games, not 154 like Ruth did. Asterisk or no asterisk, Roger Maris' 1961 season was one of the greatest in baseball history and this bat was there during that record breaking season. The Hillerich & Bradsby model O16 bat has been made game-ready, un-cracked and shows no game use. The bat has two mounting holes which have been professionally repaired. The O16 is 35 inches and weighs 34.9 ounces. "O16" is stamped into the knob and "Maris" has been written over it in red marker. The bat is in outstanding condition and although it does not appear to have been used in a game, it was made game-ready for Maris during that most spectacular 1961 season. Letter of Authenticity (1B06563) from PSA/DNA.