Monday, August 17, 2009

Hall of Fame Weekend: Commemorative Bat

I've written two entire posts filled with Hall of Fame merchandise, but I haven't included the only item that I went to Cooperstown knowing that I had to have.

About 15 years ago I was visiting the house of a family friend, and noticed a framed brown bat on the wall. It was a Hall of Fame Commemorative bat from the year Tony Lazzari was inducted, who was actually a relative of the family friend. He was telling me how he had to get in line early in the morning to purchase the bat, and I knew right then that I had to get one whenever Rickey finally went into the Hall.



I got in line in front of the Hall of Fame at around 6:45am on Saturday morning, and was given the above ticket, indicating that I would indeed get a bat! I was about 20th in line, and was glad that they were handing out the tickets, so that I wouldn't have to stress out about them running out.





The bats are official full-size Louisville Sluggers, and include the incoming Hall of Famers signatures along with the Hall of Fame Logo.



The bats are limited to only 1,000, but there are much less than that actually available. The first 500 are sold via subscription to the same people every year, and from what I was told, there's a waiting list to become one of the subscribers, similar to those wanting Packers season tickets.



The remaining 500 bats are usually sold on induction weekend, but that was not the case this year. The Hall created a $1,000 induction weekend package which included premium seats to the induction ceremony, and one of the commemorative bats, among other perks. As a result, there were only 58 bats available for sale that morning. I'm glad I got there early!

8 comments:

TikiBird said...

Only 58 bats for sale to "the commoners" seems pretty ridiculous! I'm glad your planning for 15 years or so helped you get one! :)

Hendersonfan said...

I heard about the bat being available to Members via presale, so I joined and got one. I am #545. I also planned this trip for about 15 years.

ManOfSteal said...

Congrats on getting a bat Hendersonfan! Mine is still in the box, but I've got to get it displayed somewhere eventually. Do you collect cards as well? If so, I'd love to work out some sort of trade if you're interested. Just send me an e-mail.

Hendersonfan said...

Yes, I collect cards and jerseys, as well as anything else Rickey. I also got the "stat bat" from the HOF, limited to 500.....it's navy blue. I've wanted to make a site like this for years, but not sure how to go about it all. I have some photos on FaceBook, Photobucket and some other stuff. Also have a few contacts that I met during Induction Weekend. Shoot me an email.

ManOfSteal said...

Hey Hendersonfan,

I'd love to e-mail you, but your e-mail isn't in your profile. You can e-mail me through the contact link on my home page, or at bnabbott at sbcglobal.net. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hendersonfan said...

Emailed you last night, I didn't think about my email address not being on the profile. Oh well, you should have it now.

Anonymous said...

Could someone please tell me where or from who, if even possible, I could purchase the Henderson/Rice limited HOF bat? Thanks for any advice!

ManOfSteal said...

Your only real option right now is to keep an eye on eBay. As I mentioned in the post, there were less than 100 left available for sale at the Hall, and those ran out quickly that morning. I saw two for sale on eBay before the induction (from people that are on the subscription list), but I haven't seen any posted since. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.