Holiday Auction 2021 Dec 20-Jan 8/9
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/9/2022
Brooklyn fans dubbed Paul Waner “Big Poison” to differentiate him from his nearly identical but slightly smaller brother Lloyd who was called “Little Poison” - “poison” being Brooklynese for “person”, as in “dat big poison hit another home run off our bums today”. While the Yankees had their “Murderer’s Row” of Ruth and Gehrig, the Pirates of the same era had their own killer line up headed by Paul Waner. In 1928-30, the years this offered bat dates to, Waner hit a combined .335 and led the National League in runs and batting average, hits and runs in 1924. When he retired in 1945, his lifetime average was .333 and he was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1953.
The bat presented here is Waner’s Hillerich & Bradsby pre-model bat dating to the 1933-34 seasons. This bat displays outstanding game use with a crack on the handle that has been repaired with tape and small nails, with the tape having been removed. There are ball marks and cleat imprints present on the barrel. This bat is considered a pre-model bat due to the lack of a model number on the knob or face of the barrel.
According to the game experts at PSA/DNA who utilize the Professional Bat Ordering Records (PBOR) and Vince Malta’s book “A Complete Reference Guide Louisville Slugger Professional Player Bats”, “the bat displays a C-5G center band (pg. 20) that appeared on Hillerich & Bradsby professional bats 1933 through 1935. “Powerized” as it appears to the right of the center brand is a P-OT variation (pg.37) which appeared from 1932 through 1934. Therefore, as a Louisville Slugger professional model bat displaying a C-11 center brand and a P-4 “Powerized” we can place the bat to the 1933 to 1934 labeling period.” A great game used bat from one of the greatest hitters in the history of the Pirates franchise and this comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B25475) for the game use and has been given a high grade of GU 8.5.