This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/1/2012
By 1944, “The Beast” was winding down his fabled career. Only two other humans had ever joined him by hitting 500+ homeruns, Babe Ruth and Mel Ott. The Chicago Cubs called upon his services for the 1944 season, and he then finished his career in 1945 with the Phillies.
Jimmie Foxx game used bats are coveted by all game used collectors, and high grade examples are always most preferred.
Ending his career at 534 homeruns, Foxx hit his final 7 homeruns during the 1945 season while in Chicago, and this bat would have been available for those final at bats.
Examination of the centerbrand reveals this bat was manufactured by Louisville Slugger during the 1944-45 era.
The length is 35”, and is factory documented as a preferred length repeatedly requested by Foxx during his career. The current weight of 34 ounces also is factory recorded in his H&B factory records. His personal bat records document his wood was shipped at 32 – 36 ounces for the later years of his career.
Stamped on the knob is F3, a model documented as being used in 1933 & 1934. Foxx’s personal H&B records do not document this model being used again, as he later switched to a modified F2 model. But, in the 1945 Philadelphia Phillies Team Index records, a Jimmie Foxx model is recorded, with the model, length, and weight remaining unrecorded.
Although the F3 model is unrecorded during this bats labeling period, the length and model were used by Foxx during his career.
Regarding game use, the bat exhibits heavy game use consistent with patterns examined on other Foxx bats examined by MEARS. The use is found evenly distributed on all surfaces of the bat. Ball marks and seam marks are also present on multiple surfaces of the bat. Rack marks are found on the handle extending towards the centerbrand.
The handle was once cracked and now has been professionally repaired.
Grade MEARS A8: 5 points were awarded for the model, length, and weights being consistent with team index records, 3 points were assigned for heavy game use. LOA Troy R. Kinunen / MEARS