Summer Premier Auction 2018

In the early 1980s the Baseball Hall of Fame began issuing brown bats in commemoration of each Hall of Fame induction year. The bats, produced by H&B, are similar in design to World Series black bats and bear the date of the induction, as well as the names of the inductees, stamped in gold along the barrel. These bats were only available through the Hall of Fame and were limited in number. Presented here is an incredible complete run of brown Hall of Fame induction bats from 1936-2011, plus 2013 and 2016 (72 in total). Each bat is in NM-MT or better condition and all but one are still in there original plastic sleeves and shipping boxes as issued by the Hall of Fame. All but six of the bats share the same edition number, 157. The six bats that are not number 157 are: 1936 (#311), 1979 (#311), 1982 (#311), 1984 (#454), 1987 (#311), and 1988 (#259).

The original owner took advantage of the Hall of Fame's subscription service for these bats, securing #157 for each of the bats made available. We suspect that there are no complete sets of matched bats available in the marketplace, as there was a time that the Hall of Fame would not sort numbers for subscribers, they would just send a random numbered bat. This HOF policy has since been changed and the winning bidder can secure all future induction bats with #157 as our consignor has made arrangements with the Hall of Fame to transfer his subscription to the winning bidder. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a nearly matched set and a diligent collector could probably locate the six #157 bats that are not included in the set. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity!