Winning the World Series is the crowning achievement in the career of any big league ballplayer. Getting to the Fall Classic is one thing, but winning it is the ultimate thrill of victory. Since the inception of the World Series in 1903, 63 different American League ball clubs have earned the distinction of being called World Series Champions. Following a lengthy baseball tradition, members of the World Series championship squads – along with affiliated team executives and dignitaries – were each presented with commemorative Hillerich & Bradsby Co. (H&B) Louisville Slugger "black bats" to commemorate their outstanding achievement.
This lot features 24 different black bats chronicling 24 different seasons’ worth of N.L. winning World Series championship teams. All of these bats were on display at the recently closed San Diego Hall of Champions.
Several of the H&B Louisville Slugger-branded bats feature the team’s name – for instance, “TORONTO BLUE JAYS WORLD CHAMPIONS - 1992” – in green block lettering on the barrel. The bats are then stamped with an array of gold facsimile signatures and block letter names all around the barrel revealing the players, coaches, team execs, etc. The facsimile signatures are reported as being those players who were under contract with H&B, while block letter names were team members not under contract. The practice of green stamping the team names was started in 1971. With the exception of small burrowed holes in the knobs and tops of each of the barrels for display purposes, all 24 bats are in near-mint condition with pleasing gloss, bold gold stampings and a generally like-new appearance.
The 24 victorious teams represented in this lot are the 1952 New York Yankees, 1953 New York Yankees, 1956 New York Yankees, 1958 New York Yankees, 1961 New York Yankees, 1962 New York Yankees, 1966 Baltimore Orioles, 1968 Detroit Tigers, 1970 Baltimore Orioles, 1972 Oakland Athletics, 1973 Oakland Athletics, 1974 Oakland Athletics, 1977 New York Yankees, 1978 New York Yankees, 1983 Baltimore Orioles, 1984 Detroit Tigers, 1985 Kansas City Royals, 1987 Minnesota Twins, 1989 Oakland Athletics, 1990 Oakland Athletics, 1991 Minnesota Twins, 1992 Toronto Blue Jays, 1993 Toronto Blue Jays and 1996 New York Yankees.
Includes Letter of Provenance from the San Diego Hall of Champions.