LOT #57664 |
Sold on Nov 18, 2022 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
1910-14 Ty Cobb Game Used & Signed Bat from the Legendary Eddie Maier Collection, PSA/DNA GU 10--Photo Matched to Two Images!...
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Sold on Nov 18, 2022 for:
$1,620,000.00
Bid Source: Internet bidder
Get one of these:
Explore Available Items
Description
1910-14 Ty Cobb Game Used & Signed Bat from the Legendary Eddie Maier Collection, PSA/DNA GU 10--Photo Matched to Two Images!UPDATE: Accompanied by Resolution Photomatch LOA.
It's one of the most extraordinary game used bats in private hands, a hefty slab of age-toned ash that contains the most productive five consecutive seasons of the man whose .366 career batting average stands among the most untouchable in the full expanse of professional sports. Move that bracket of five seasons up or down and the combined average drops from the outrageous .396 pace of Cobb's production from 1910 through 1914. Two of his three seasons above the two-for-five mark--.419 in 1911 and .409 in 1912--appear within the production span of this battle-scarred relic, as does an American League MVP Award (1911). It should go without saying that each and every year saw Cobb claim the batting championship. This was Cobb as his razor-sharp prime.
And, speaking of razors, check out the heavily pock-marked upper barrel, where Cobb smacked the dirt off his notorious spikes, a trait that the glowing PSA/DNA letter characterizes as a distinct Cobb characteristic. They also make note of the handle tape--virtually always lost and leaving behind just a ghost of its former location on the few surviving Cobb gamers--as a classic characteristic of the Georgia Peach's arsenal, as seen in plenty of period photographs.
Game use is truly outstanding, the grain of the J.F. Hillerich & Son dash-dot-dash specimen so punished that two dozen nails tack down the wood where it swelled from hundreds of impacts inflicted over months if not years of work. The letter also confirms that the length of thirty-four and a half inches (34.5") and weight of thirty-nine ounces (39.2 oz.) are perfectly consistent with other Cobb exemplars within the PSA/DNA database. The barrel lacks any stamped player identifier, but this is correct for the era. Furthermore, the certitude of attribution to Cobb that this bat provides is far beyond that which any facsimile signature branding could possibly muster.
The PSA/DNA letter references two photographs of Cobb with this bat in his hand, those photo matches available to view in close detail at our online listing. First is an image of Cobb with the bat at his side, a Type 1 example of which appears within this auction as lot 57642. That photo was shot at Comiskey Park in Chicago around 1912-13. The letter states, "The grain pattern on the front of the bat from the handle to the center brand is a perfect match."
The second image is one that most of us have likely seen before, a September 6, 1913 photograph by the iconic Louis Van Oeyen of Cobb with the brilliant and doomed "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. Each man holds three bats, but the subject bat is the one with the concentric "V" patterns that stands tallest on his right shoulder. A high-resolution modern 10x8" print of that photo will be included in this lot.
The thrills continue with Cobb's personally handwritten statement of authenticity, an inscription in remarkably bold black fountain pen ink (8/10) that reads, "To Mr. Maier From Ty Cobb, Sept. 18th, 14." Advanced bat collectors will know that surname well, as Eddie Maier was perhaps the earliest pioneer of game used bat collecting. A passionate advocate of our national pastime, Maier was the owner of the Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League, representing a small railroad town five miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Maier would ultimately sell the club to silent film star and accused murderer Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in 1919.
But Maier's passion for collecting never wavered, and when his collection was released by this family to the collecting hobby in 1993, there were examples from such Cooperstown immortals as Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Frank "Home Run" Baker, Tris Speaker and Sam Crawford among them. The ironclad provenance of the Maier Collection, and the autographs that help provide that unimpeachable assurance of authenticity, establish its contents as the most desirable of all early twentieth century gamers.
Certainly the added allure of two photo matches establishes the offered specimen as perhaps the most unassailably validated game used bat of the pre-war era. LOA from PSA/DNA, GU 10. Multiple photo matches. Full LOA from PSA/DNA. LOA from Resolution Photomatching.
Auction Info
2022 November 17 - 19 Fall Sports Catalog Signature® Auction #50059 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
November, 2022
17th-19th
Thursday-Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 37
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 8,574
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms