1922 Ty Cobb Game Used Bat, PSA/DNA GU 10--His Last .400 Season!...

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1922 Ty Cobb Game Used Bat, PSA/DNA GU 10--His Last .400 Season! Perhaps the most fascinating psychological study in the long history of professional baseball, Tyrus Raymond Cobb came into this world with the chip of a fallen Confederacy already firmly installed upon his shoulder, his southern resentments still burning decades after the flames of General Sherman's march through his home state of Georgia had been extinguished. "He was still fighting the Civil War," reported Tigers teammate "Wahoo Sam" Crawford, "and as far as he was concerned, we were all damn Yankees."

Cobb's youthfulness and southern sensibilities made him a prime target for rookie hazing during his first year in Detroit, driving his resentments even deeper into the grain of his being. Manager Hughie Jennings looked the other way at first, "because I wanted to satisfy myself that Cobb has as much guts as I thought in the very beginning," he explained. When pitcher Ed Siever confronted Cobb over a dropped ball in a Tigers loss, Cobb pinned Siever to the ground and rained blows down upon him, then sat awake all night in his Pullman berth with his gun on his lap during that night's train ride to Chicago. Years later, Cobb would recall, "Those old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat."

And so while the popular stories of intentional spikings and fatal pistol whippings may be more folklore than fact, the bottled rage and gritted teeth determination of The Georgia Peach were entirely real, establishing Cobb as the definitive superstar of baseball's down and dirty Dead Ball Era.

The emergence of Babe Ruth and the lively ball signaled a tectonic shift in the sport's landscape, but the developments only hardened Cobb's resolve, and he had begun to view himself as one of the last defenders of the original game by the time he put this battle-scarred lumber through its paces. The experts at PSA/DNA characterize game use as "outstanding," referencing plentiful ball marks as well as pock marks inflicted by Cobb's famed and feared spikes.

Beyond the spike marks, the bat exhibits further key Cobb traits in the form of stains on the barrel resulting from his habit of spitting tobacco juice there, and the shadow of eleven inches (11") of grip tape that was removed by Cobb and used beyond that removal, as spike marks in the wood of the handle would indicate. A three-inch gap in the pine tar on the uncracked handle is a perfect match to numerous representations in the PSA/DNA population, a result of Cobb's gapped grip as seen in photographs of the legend at the plate.

But perhaps the most exciting attribute of this spectacular specimen is its derivation from orders made in 1921 and 1922 for approximately a dozen bats fitting the specifications of this thirty-four and a half inch (34.5") and forty-one ounces (40.7 oz.) Hillerich & Bradsby signature model C28. Excerpted from the PSA/DNA letter:

"With approximately 12 bats for the 1921 and 1922 season, it's clear the bats were used during Cobb's 1922 season in which he hit .401...To date, this is the only Ty Cobb bat we have examined that can be placed to a season in which Cobb batted .400 or more. This aspect and the outstanding player characteristics displayed place this Ty Cobb bat with the finest Cobb bats that we have had the pleasure to authenticate."

It could be said that only bats used by Ted Williams, or the impossibly rare home run "notch" bats from the arsenal of the Babe, as conspicuously bear witness to the idiosyncrasies of their master. This is a piece for the most discerning of collectors, a relic that allows its owner to join hands with the first member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. LOA from PSA/DNA, GU 10.