1960 Roger Maris Game Used Bat....

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1960 Roger Maris Game Used Bat. Richard Hooper still feels guilty about it to this day. Just a teenager when Roger Maris came to his Syracuse hometown for a benefit game after the 1960 World Series to help out his friend, boxing Champ and town resident Carmen Basilio, Hooper was given the opportunity to visit the American League MVP in the dugout. After a brief photo opportunity with Maris, Hooper spotted one of Maris' bats leaning against a dugout wall, and the temptation was too strong to resist.

Presented is the 1960 Roger Maris game used bat Hooper swiped that October day in Syracuse. To be fair, Hooper's conscience got the better of him and wrote to the Yankees offering to return the bat, receiving two letters back from the Bronx. The first, dated October 10, 1961 is apparently from Maris (though secretarially signed), thanking the boy for doing the right thing and instructing him to mail the bat to Yankee Stadium. We expect that this letter was written without Maris' input, however, as a second letter, undated, is from Bill Ackman, the head of Yankees Special Services, who passes on Maris' message that the boy may keep the bat.

It's a Hillerich & Bradsby signature model O16, exhibiting evidence of outstanding use from that glorious and heartbreaking season which ended with Mazeroski's walk-off homer. Ball marks and stitch impressions coat all sides of the barrel, and cleat marks are evident on the left. Blue and red bat rack marks streak the pale ash. The length and weight of thirty-five inches and thirty-two ounces are correct for Maris' ordering records during his AL MVP season.

The outstanding use paired with the remarkable provenance of letters sent on Yankees stationery and photos of Hooper in the Syracuse dugout with Maris qualify this as one of the most attractive Maris bats to reach the hobby in recent memory. As a late-season gamer from an American League MVP and Championship season, the historical importance is difficult to overstate. Graded GU 7. LOA from PSA/DNA.