Auction Item Details
Lot 254
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Lot Number: 254
Description: Important Ted Williams 1960 All-Star Game autographed professional model bat used for his final All-Star game appearance and base hit (Ted Williams Collection Provenance). Ted Williams illustrious playing career cannot be captured within words themselves. The statistics, accolades, and records all serve as a valiant attempt to provide context as to Williams legacy on a baseball field but simply can+t quantify his value to the history of the sport. Such information does however supply benchmarks by which to measure others within the history of the game. One of the more memorable portions of Ted Williams Hall of Fame career was his appearance in an incredible (19) All-Star Games which would have included at least 2-4 others had Ted not been courageously serving his country in WWII and the Korean War. Williams, as in all aspects of his life, did not merely -appear+ in the All-Star Games but rather he excelled. In 2002, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig acknowledged Ted+s All-Star prowess by naming the game+s MVP award the -Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award.+ His dramatic walk off home run in the 1941 contest remains to date one of the most iconic moments in the history of the Mid-Summer Classic. It is within that context that we are honored to present the final bat used by Ted Williams in All-Star Game play. Louisville Slugger 125 model bat measures 35+ long and weighs 31.5 ounces with model #W166 stamped on the knob end. The bat exhibits superb evidence of use including ball marks, rack marks, stitching impressions, and handle scoring. Stamped on barrel end, -1960 All Star Game Ted Williams Kansas City New York+. Williams has autographed the barrel in blue sharpie rating 10 out of 10. We were honored to conduct the Ted Williams Collection live auction event on behalf of the Williams family in 2012 at Fenway Park in Boston. Within that sale was included Ted+s other 1960 All-Star Game bat which also exhibited fine overall use indicative of regular season use after the All-Star Game similar to the offered specimen. The offered bat was only recently discovered within Ted Williams+s former personal residence in Florida along with an incredible handwritten note by Williams+s own hand. The note is written in pencil by Ted Williams on the back of a local safe company+s note paper and reads, -1960 Last Bat used single NY Kansas City+. Williams went 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance in the first 1960 All-Star Game played in Kansas City. In the second game played in New York, Ted collected a single in a pinch hit appearance which was also his final base hit in his All-Star Game career (14 total in his career). Based on its primary source and corroborating self-authentication it must in fact be also considered among the finest game bats of its era to have been discovered to date. Additionally, with inclusion of the handwritten note from Williams himself denoting its use and effectiveness in his final All-Star Game and for his final hit we can assuredly rank this example as the most significant Ted Williams game used bat to have been publicly offered. Superlative rarity with relation to the greatest hitter in Major League history. Includes auction LOA from JSA (signatures), LOA from Hunt Auctions (bat), LOA from PSA/DNA (Graded 10 out of 10), and letter of provenance from Claudia Williams: EX-EX/MTEstimated Price Range: ($100,000-$150,000)
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