This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/24/2016
The 1955 Kansas City Athletics season marked the team’s first in Kansas City after playing the previous 54 years in Philadelphia. The A’s won 63 games – only the fifth time in 20 years that they won more than 60 games – and lost 91, finishing sixth in the American League standings, 33 games behind the A.L. Champion New York Yankees. This lot features a team-signed, game-used bat from that season swung by centerfielder Bill Wilson, who launched 15 home runs and drove in 38 runs in 273 at-bats. Wilson holds the honors of hitting the first home run in Kansas City's MLB history when he launched one on opening day of the '55 season at the A's home park, Municipal Stadium.
The 35-inch Louisville Slugger 'H43' Bill Wilson professional model model bat shows game use with contact marks throughout the barrel and a small one-inch crack in the handle, about nine inches from the knob. The bat, which has a vintage “A’s” logo label near the middle, boasts 28 signatures in black ink and fine-point black marker from various members of the team. The signatures are all grouped within the final 12 inches of the bat barrel to the right of the Hillerich & Bradsby engraving. Notable signatures include Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter as well as Clete Boyer, Lou Boudreau, Billy Shantz, Vic Raschi, Art Ditmar, Vic Power and, of course, Bill Wilson. The signatures all remain very legible and would rate 8-9/10 in our book. Wilson’s faded uniform number "34" is written into the knob of the bat in black marker over the "H43" model stamping.
Autographs pre-certified by PSA/DNA.