Baseball Player-Signed Oversized Bat
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GUEST:
A few years back my wife was walking in the mall, and she saw this bat in the comic store.
APPRAISER:
Unsigned.
GUEST:
Unsigned, and she says, "Let me get it for my husband because I... he loves baseball." She says that was the sorriest thing she ever did. (laughing)
APPRAISER:
I bet, right? This has taken some tremendous work on your part, hasn't it?
GUEST:
Oh, definitely.
APPRAISER:
How many signatures are on this bat?
GUEST:
Three hundred and fifty-seven.
APPRAISER:
Wow. And these are sorts of players from all sorts of eras, correct?
GUEST:
All eras, yes.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, so who was the first signature you got?
GUEST:
My first signature was Mel Allen. He was just as famous as Joe DiMaggio in that time.
APPRAISER:
Sure. Tell me, how did you obtain these signatures?
GUEST:
My son, I used to take him to the shows with me. Sports cards shows up in New York and New Jersey, and he loved it.
APPRAISER:
So which is your favorite signature on here?
GUEST:
My favorite is Stan Musial. Stan the Man, right here.
APPRAISER:
Who just recently passed, so was he one of your favorite ballplayers?
GUEST:
One of my favorites. I think he was the best ballplayer ever. Best hitter ever.
APPRAISER:
What did he do when he saw this bat?
GUEST:
Well, he looked at it, and he shook my... I shook... I shook everybody's hand that ever signed this bat.
APPRAISER:
Wow! That's cool.
GUEST:
And I loved it, I still love it.
APPRAISER:
There are dozens and dozens of Hall-of-Famers on here. Dozens. A lot of guys who aren't with us anymore. There are a lot of culty ballplayers on here I noticed. So you've really... you know, you've really kind of run the gamut with this thing. There's still a few spaces here, so is this something you're going to continue working on?
GUEST:
I'm always working on it.
APPRAISER:
So is there one particular signature you would love to get on this bat?
GUEST:
Yes, I would love to get Derek Jeter. I live Jeter, and I would love to get him.
APPRAISER:
When did you get this? How long has this taken to put together?
GUEST:
I'd say about '95.
APPRAISER:
What is the most recent signature?
GUEST:
The most recent signature I have was Bryce Harper at the Washington training camp, Dusty Baker, and Davey Lopes.
APPRAISER:
(laughing): You must stand out, you know.
GUEST:
A lot of guys that were excited signing it. Before they would sign it they would look over the bat. And at Atlantic City, Tom Seaver says to me, "take care of this bat," he goes.
APPRAISER:
He knows, because you know, he signs a million things, and he probably doesn't sign anything like this. So I kind of agree with Tom Seaver, I got to say, I think it's a very, very special bat. Now we see multiple-signed things all the time. But something that stands out as striking as this, the fact that it's a white bat that you can really see all the signatures on here, and you've done such a great job and so many interesting players. Do you happen to know how much your wife originally paid for the bat?
GUEST:
I think she paid like $60 for it.
APPRAISER:
We wouldn't insure it for anything less than $10,000.
GUEST:
$10,000. It's unbelievable, wow, very nice. I just love it. It's part of my life, really, it's part of my life.
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