Baseball Bat Louisville Slugger
Baseball Bat Louisville Slugger
Vintage Baseball Bat, Melvin Ott Autograph.
A good used 'Louisville Slugger' baseball bat by Hillerich & Bradsby Co. made in U.S.A. A nice bat with good strong trade branding 'Louisville Slugger, 125 M.O., Hillerich & Bradsby Co., made in U.S.A., Louisville, KY, Trade Mark Reg.'. The bat is endorsed by Melvin Ott with a facsimile of his autograph "Genuine, Melvin Ott, Reg. U.S. Pat.Off". A great display piece with lovely colour and patina. The end of the handle is stamped FORD 34".
Melvin Ott,
Born: 2 March 1909, Gretna, Louisiana, United States
Died: 21 November 1958, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Height: 1.75 m
Hall of fame induction: 1951
Number: 4 (New York Giants / Outfielder)
He was both the youngest player to hit 100 home runs and the first National Leaguer to hit 500 home runs.
Hillerich & Bradsby Company (H&B) is an American manufacturing company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces baseball bats. J. F. Hillerich opened his woodworking shop in Louisville in 1855. During the 1880's, Hillerich hired his seventeen-year-old son, John "Bud" Hillerich. Legend has it that Bud, who played baseball himself, slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch Louisville's major league team, the Louisville Eclipse. The team's star, Pete "Louisville Slugger" Browning, mired in a hitting slump, broke his bat. Bud invited Browning to his father's shop to hand-craft a new bat to his specifications. Browning accepted the offer, and got three hits to break out of his slump with the new bat the first day he used it. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ball players to the Hillerich woodworking shop. J. F. Hillerich was uninterested in making bats. He saw the company future in stair railings, porch columns and swinging butter churns, so for a brief time he turned away ball players. Bud saw the potential in producing baseball bats, and the elder Hillerich eventually relented to his son.
The bats were sold under the name "Falls City Slugger" until Bud Hillerich took over his father's company in 1894, and the name "Louisville Slugger" was registered with the US Patent Office. In 1905, Honus Wagner signed a deal with the company, becoming likely the first American athlete to endorse an item of sports equipment.
Frank Bradsby, a salesman, became a partner in 1916, and the company's name changed to "The Hillerich and Bradsby Co." By 1923, H&B was selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, and legends like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth (R-43), and Lou Gehrig were all using them. R-43 is the company model number for the bats used by Babe Ruth. Taken from Wikipedia
Dimensions:
1900-1949
Circa 1930's
Ash
United States
Melvin Ott
In very nice condition, but repaired, hence the whipping on the lower part of the handle.
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![](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://sportantiques.co.uk/cricket-1/bats/baseball-bat-louisville-slugger&media=https://seek-unique-co.s3.amazonaws.com/sportantiques-64hFGwj3-uEHU73t22/stock/6374181f89950_3_29160.jpg&description=Vintage Baseball Bat, Melvin Ott Autograph.A good used 'Louisville Slugger' baseball bat by Hillerich & Bradsby Co. made in U.S.A. A nice bat with good strong trade branding 'Louisville Slugger, 125 M.O., Hillerich & Bradsby Co., made in U.S.A., Louisville, KY, Trade Mark Reg.'. The bat is endorsed by Melvin Ott with a facsimile of his autograph "Genuine, Melvin Ott, Reg. U.S. Pat.Off". A great display piece with lovely colour and patina. The end of the handle is stamped FORD 34".Melvin Ott,Born: 2 March 1909, Gretna, Louisiana, United StatesDied: 21 November 1958, New Orleans, Louisiana, United StatesHeight: 1.75 mHall of fame induction: 1951Number: 4 (New York Giants / Outfielder)He was both the youngest player to hit 100 home runs and the first National Leaguer to hit 500 home runs.Hillerich & Bradsby Company (H&B) is an American manufacturing company located in Louisville, Kentucky that produces baseball bats. J. F. Hillerich opened his woodworking shop in Louisville in 1855. During the 1880's, Hillerich hired his seventeen-year-old son, John "Bud" Hillerich. Legend has it that Bud, who played baseball himself, slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch Louisville's major league team, the Louisville Eclipse. The team's star, Pete "Louisville Slugger" Browning, mired in a hitting slump, broke his bat. Bud invited Browning to his father's shop to hand-craft a new bat to his specifications. Browning accepted the offer, and got three hits to break out of his slump with the new bat the first day he used it. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ball players to the Hillerich woodworking shop. J. F. Hillerich was uninterested in making bats. He saw the company future in stair railings, porch columns and swinging butter churns, so for a brief time he turned away ball players. Bud saw the potential in producing baseball bats, and the elder Hillerich eventually relented to his son.The bats were sold under the name "Falls City Slugger" until Bud Hillerich took over his father's company in 1894, and the name "Louisville Slugger" was registered with the US Patent Office. In 1905, Honus Wagner signed a deal with the company, becoming likely the first American athlete to endorse an item of sports equipment.Frank Bradsby, a salesman, became a partner in 1916, and the company's name changed to "The Hillerich and Bradsby Co." By 1923, H&B was selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, and legends like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth (R-43), and Lou Gehrig were all using them. R-43 is the company model number for the bats used by Babe Ruth. Taken from Wikipedia){kind=link}