Auction Item Details
Lot 752
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Lot Number: 752
Description: **UPDATED DESCRIPTION** Scarce "Shoeless" Joe Jackson professional model baseball bat c.1911-1915. About Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth once said, "I copied Jackson's style because I thought he was the greatest hitter I had ever seen, the greatest natural hitter I ever saw. He's the guy who made me a hitter." As Ruth's words illustrate, Joe Jackson was regarded by his peers as one of the greatest pure hitters in the game. During a relatively brief 13 year career, Jackson amassed over 1,700 hits, a .517 slugging percentage, and hit for a lifetime average of .356, which ranks as the third highest in Major League history. Unfortunately, Joe Jackson was banished from Major League Baseball by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis along with seven other White Sox players after being implicated in fixing the 1919 World Series. Although the repercussions remain the same, the general consensus among baseball historians is that Jackson in fact did try his best during the 1919 Series (batting average of .375). Whether or not Joe Jackson merits enshrinement into the National Baseball Hall of Fame is certainly open to debate. The fact that he was one of, if not the greatest pure hitter in the history of the game, is not. Offered is an extraordinarily rare Joe Jackson professional model baseball bat c.1911-15. The Louisville Slugger "double dash dot dash" model bat measures 35.5" long and weighs 40.6oz. The bat exhibits evident use incl. ball marks, grain swelling, and cleat marks. Two toned "Black Betsy" style bat retains its original surface and patina, which are virtually unique to Jackson's weapon of choice. The knob end and handle area have a small bit of finish loss from apparent moisture exposure, which could be easily restored, but was left intact to show the bat in its fully original state. This particular bat was obtained by Thomas. J. Hauer of Roxbury, MA. The young Hauer had been employed with the Boston Braves and Red Sox during the early to mid teens. The bat and an assortment of other baseball related items were kept by Hauer after his marriage at his address in Dorchester, MA. Over the years, many of the other baseball items were given away to Hauer's nephew and other young baseball fans in the family. Thomas Hauer's daughter, Marguerite M. Joyce (maiden name Hauer), recounts, "...For some reason what does come to mind when I think back on those years is the name Rabbit Maranville and a wonderful heavyweight Boston Braves sweater with buttons on the front and a large emblem of an Indian on the front that I wore for many years while sledding in the winter....". Included with the bat is a period photograph of Thomas Hauer wearing the aforementioned sweater, which is consistent with the Boston Braves sweaters of the period. According to direct family history, the bat was given to Thomas Hauer by Joe Jackson while he was working for the Braves and Red Sox. It is important to note that the vast majority of Joe Jackson professional model game bats that enter the marketplace date to his post Major League barnstorming career. To date, there are only three documented playing career era Joe Jackson game used baseball bats known, inclusive of the offered example. UPDATED DESCRIPTION: Based on further research within the family of Patrick Joyce we believe to have narrowed the likely time period in which the offered Joe Jackson baseball bat was used. The Joe Jackson bat was given to Patrick Joyce's grandfather, Thomas Hauer,(who was born in November 1893) when he worked for the Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves. In the summer of 1911, Thomas Hauer would have been approximately 17 1/2 years old and 18 1/2 years old in the summer of 1912 (an appropriate age for a clubhouse employee). Hauer was married in August of 1915 and it is quite likely that after the year 1912 he moved on to a full time job at age 19 or 20 (1913 & 1914)since he would be married in 1915. It is more likely that he would have been in contact with Joe Jackson before the 1913 season. The combination of my grandfathers age in the years 1911 & 1912 and the limited time frame that Hauer may have had occasion to receive a bat from Joe could fairly easily lead to a reasonable expectation that the bat may well date to to 1911 or 1912 specifically which would constitute the earliest known Jackson game bat to have entered the marketplace. Monumental rarity with impeccable primary source provenance that is being offered for the first time publicly by Patrick H. Joyce, Jr. Includes LOA from Hunt Auctions, Inc., LOA from MEARS Authentication which has assigned the bat its highest grade of A10 and notes it to be "perfect in all respects for a Black Betsy game bat as used by Joe Jackson in the era.", original photograph of Thomas J. Hauer wearing a period Boston Braves sweater, letter of provenance from Marguerite M. (Hauer) Joyce, and letter of provenance from Thomas Hauer's grandson, Patrick H. Joyce, Jr: EX
Estimated Price: ($75,000.00-$125,000.00)
