Babe Ruth H&B Bat

[KCGHOST]

Anybody have any insight on this bat??

It's been in a friend of mine's family for decades but no one recalls how they acquired it.

BabeRuthBat.jpg

[Nimrod]

This would be a pre-1931 LS as there is no "powerized" logo.From the picture it doesn`t look like a retail store bat.I would be curious as to the length and weight of the bat.I was looking at Ruth autographs and observed that he almost always(but not always)signed his name Babe Ruth rather than "Babe"Ruth.I have seen several exceptions though.When he made his signature for H&B,as you can see,he did sign the Babe as "Babe".The autograph on the bat could very likely have been made my someone forging his name and using "Babe" because of the stamped name not realizing that Ruth very rarely used the quotation marks.If the length of the of the bat is stamped on the end of the knob,then that would indicate that it is a retail store bat.If there is a R43 stamped on the end of the knob,then the bat would not have been made before 1943 and would be a replica of a pre-1931 Ruth bat.That bat is certainly worth investigating!!Who knows,it might be a treasure.If that bat is 35" or 36" in length and weighs close to or over 40 oz.and has merely a tiny little hole at the end on the knob then I would lean toward it very likely being one of the Babe`s own bats and very possibly his actual autograph.

[Dude Paskert]

Any idea of the length and weight?
125 was the LS major league grade wood, I don't know if there are any other indicators that would give clues as the whether it could have been a ML bat.
What's left of the sig does resemble Babe's.
Seems that would be worth bringing to a reputable memorabilia expert for an opinion.

[KCGHOST]

Makes me wish I owned the bat. I'll have my buddy check into it.

[Nimrod]

Makes me wish I owned the bat. I'll have my buddy check into it.

Please,if not too much trouble,post any information you get in regards to length,weight,and maybe your friend could take picture of the end of knob for viewing.Just a casual view of that picture tells me that this bat along with signature is enough for me to believe that it IS the real McCoy until proven otherwise,not the (usual) other way around.

[KCGHOST]

I'll do my best.

[KCGHOST]

Okay. more info. The bat is 34 inches long and weighs 33 ounces. On the end of the knob is a 34.

My friend gave me more information:

"From previous inquiries, I learned that this is not a game bat. It has a 34 on the knob (one of attached photos). I have also tried to have it authenticated, but with no success. One response said that Babe's wife did some of the autographs in those days. I can't find that paperwork right now, but I have attached an auction notice fore another bat with a bunch of history as well as a photo of the bat in question in 2009.

What I haven't told you yet is my family's connection to major league baseball. My great-grandmother's brother was Johnny Kling who was the catcher for the Chicago Cubs during their heyday in 1907-1913 time frame. He played with the famous Tinkers, Evers, and Chance.

Where the story gets more interesting is that Johnny Kling owned the Kansas City Blues back in the early 30's.

I have always surmised that this connection would have made possible the opportunity in 1927 for my family to get this bat as a souvenir. I find it hard to believe that given these circumstances, the bat would not have an authentic autograph but it is all supposition."

Schutte-RuthBat-4.jpg

[Nimrod]

As far as the bat itself,because of the length being imprinted on the knob,that would indicate that the bat was a retail store type.It is a VERY strange,hybrid creature so to speak.That is,the knob situation screams out "retail store"bat,but the label with it`s "125",instead of "BR40" would indicate that it would be pro-stock??!!The bat is somewhat in Ruth`s range as far as weight and length,but falls a bit short of his usual orders of bats.Because there is no "powerized" logo and due to the fact that the O in "Co." on the label reaches to the bottom of the C,the bat would be pre-1931 bat and would not be a special replica of any sort.So 1927 would be fit the bill.While not likely to be a game-used bat,it is very unusual.That fact combined with the autograph(if it is authentic)would strike me as that bat being very special.Even without the autograph and even though the bat was not game-used by Ruth,that club is very out of the ordinary!Apparently,Johnny Kling was out of the ordinary.Read up on him a bit.He was a heck of a pool player as well as being a fine catcher.As owner of that Kansas City team,he brought about desegregation of the ballpark.He also has a cool name.

[KCGHOST]

Okay, I just sent an inquiry to H&B to see what they might tell me. Not real optimistic they will reply.

[Dude Paskert]

Okay, I just sent an inquiry to H&B to see what they might tell me. Not real optimistic they will reply.

There is a poster from LS, actually a member of the Hillerich family, who frequents the wood bat threat in Baseball 101...might be worth posting it there to see if he picks up on it and has information for you.
I doubt that Ruth ever ordered 34" and that being on the bat at all does indicate a store bat, as mentioned above...I think that some store bats even then were 125 wood, just as LS still has 125 and 180 bats (plus all kinds of new designations).
I have an old LS youth bat that has a "Ducky Medwick" signature...I have a hard time believing it's real because I know that he HATED that nickname (actually "Ducky Wucky" to be complete, as in "Isn't he the ducky wucky?"). I'll have to take a shot of it and post it someday. There are a lot of curious old bats out there if one cares to poke around for them.

[KCGHOST]

There are too many threads in 101 involving wood bats to sort out which thread you are specifically talking about. If you had the poster's username it would save me a lot of time.

[Nimrod]

There are too many threads in 101 involving wood bats to sort out which thread you are specifically talking about. If you had the poster's username it would save me a lot of time.

I`ll bet Dude is referring to poster "BMH".He knows all the LS models and the H probably stands for Hillerich.I was thinking about the fact mentioned about Claire Ruth signing the Babe`s autograph in some instances.That would have to be baseballs,photos,etc.,mailed to Ruth,a bat would most likely be signed in person,thus it would be Babe doing the signing in the flesh.There are supposedly comparatively few bats signed by Ruth.Would not consider it likely that someone would MAIL a bat to Ruth for his signature.(Joe`s sister Maria Dimaggio also used to sign Joe`s name on articles mailed to his address).

[Dude Paskert]

Nimrod is right, I was thinking of BMH. The particular thread he haunts in 101 is the stickied "Discussion on Wood Bats".