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1974 Hank Aaron Game Used & Signed Bat Used the Day He Tied Babe Ruth's Career Home Run Record, PSA/DNA GU 10....
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$79,300.00
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Description
1974 Hank Aaron Game Used & Signed Bat Used the Day He Tied Babe Ruth's Career Home Run Record, PSA/DNA GU 10. After a long and dangerous summer during which his mailbox was filled with death threats and racist diatribes from those defensive of the Babe's career home run record, Hammerin' Hank pulled even with the Yankee legend in front of a packed Opening Day crowd at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. And, as reports have it, almost all of the 50,000 enemy fans stood and cheered the newly crowned King, demonstrating that the majority opinion among baseball fans was diametrically opposed to the vocal minority that had hoped to intimidate the ascendant Home Run King from capturing the sport's heavyweight title.Visiting clubhouse batboy Gary Kidney was among the Cincinnati residents who cheered the home team deficit while Aaron circled the bases in the top of the first inning, and it was he who scampered out to retrieve the record-tying lumber as the ovation roared. That bat, of course, was destined for Cooperstown as would be the next home run bat that would evict Ruth from his shared occupancy of the throne, although the baseball world would have to wait four days for that. The subject bat, sandwiched between those two monumental blasts, would remain for years in Cincinnati.
An included letter of provenance from Kidney is excerpted below:
"This Hank Aaron bat was game used by Aaron on Opening Day, April 4th, 1974, a game in which Aaron hit his 714th career home run tying the All Time Home Run Record held by Babe Ruth. This letter will confirm the authenticity of the subject bat as obtained by me on Opening Day, April 4th, 1974, a game in which Hank Aaron homered in the first inning, tying Babe Ruth's all-time home run record of 714 home runs. This is not the record home run bat, but a subsequent bat used by Aaron during the game..."
Like the bats that launched home runs 714 and 715, this is a signature model Hillerich & Bradsby A99 measuring thirty-five inches (35") in length and thirty-three ounces in weight, although, like all decades-old bats, it has lost a bit of water weight to settle at 32.3 ounces as of its August 2025 assessment by PSA/DNA. They characterize game use as "outstanding," referencing numerous ball marks on the left barrel and two colors of rack streaks that would indicate that it was put through its paces in spring training prior to making its regular season debut on Opening Day. A faded black marker number "44" appears on the knob and again in very faint marker on barrel end. A light handle crack suffered in one of Aaron's three plate appearances in that game subsequent to his first inning homer was a stroke of luck for Kidney, who smartly laid claim to the relic with which Aaron attempted to claim the record for himself.
Along with the aforementioned letter of provenance from Kidney, we will include photocopies of some newspaper articles that picture and identify Kidney as a visiting team bat boy and some candid photographs of him wearing various visiting team uniforms while engaged in his work. LOA from PSA/DNA, GU 10. Letter of provenance from visiting team bat boy at Riverfront Stadium. Full LOA from PSA/DNA.
Auction Info
2025 December 19 - 21 Winter Sports Catalog Auction #50081 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
19th-21st
Friday-Sunday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 34
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,175
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
22% of the successful bid per lot.
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