This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/29/2010
Jocko Conlan became best known to baseball fans when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball Veterans in 1974, only the fourth umpire chosen and the first NL umpire since Bill Klem in 1953. Conlan played organized baseball beginning in the minor leagues in 1920 and eventually made it into the major leagues with the Chicago White Sox in 1934 where he played two seasons. How he made it into the profession that landed him in the Baseball Hall of Fame is another matter. During a game against the St. Louis Browns in 1935, umpire Red Ormsby fell ill due to the heat. In those days, only two umpires covered typical regular-season games, and a player with a reputation for honesty might be pressed into service if one umpire became incapacitated. Conlan was asked to fill in. The following year Conlan made the transition from player to umpire complete, beginning in the minor leagues.
This bat represents one of only two surviving examples that date to his days as a player. The center brand of this bat dates it to the mid-late 1920's and, as evidenced by the following side writing "Athletic Supply 5-15-29" written in grease pencil at the H&B factory on top of the barrel in a sanded area, this bat was then shipped back to the factory for duplication and recorded by H&B employees for future orders. It was quite common to have a player ship his bat back using local sporting good shops as they often had little satellite shipping departments in small towns. Since it was returned at the start of the 1929 season, it is reasonable to assume that the bat, which now has an 8" handle crack, was used in 1927 or 1928 while Jocko was playing for the old Newark team. The bat measures approximately 35 5/8" in length and weighs 35.8 oz presently. It is made of the dark black hickory which was a very hard wood. The predominant game use in terms of deeply embedded ball and lace marks is found on the bottom and back of barrel. This is very consistent for a left handed hitter of which Conlan was a well known lefty from his days in using his left hand to make calls at the plate. The handle at one time had 6 rings of 1/2" white tape at approximately 1" intervels in a spiral pattern along with what appears to be some very light pine tar remains. Conlan appears in block lettering on the barrel end of the bat and while there were several Conlan's in the minor leagues, none of them came up until 1930 leaving Jocko as the only player from the era of this bat to have played at that time. In addition, MEARS examined a side written John Conlan bat # 258498 which shows the same general bat dimensions , length and approximate weight. The deep factory stamps are as crisp as the day they were made. The bat was awarded a MEARS A7 with 5 base points and 3 use points but knocked back 1 point due to the handle crack. No points were given for the side writing, even though it is H&B factory, since Conlan's name does not appear. If you collect Hall of Fame game used bats, I am sure this is one bat not currently in your inventory. MEARS LOA. 01032 This item has a reserve. The estimate for this lot is between $1250 and $7,250. The reserve is below the estimate.
This lot has a Reserve Price that has not been met.