No one in baseball had a more unorthodox batting style than Mel Ott, yet from 1928 through 1945 he led the New York Giants in home runs every year. Somehow his unique stance of lifting his forward foot prior to impact helped his slight 5’-9” frame generate enough power that he led the NL in homers six times in his career. His bat helped the Giants win a World Championship in 1933 and pennants in 1936 and 1937.

     This bat, with the 36.0 length and 37.1 ounce weight does not appear in Ott’s personal order records in the Louisville Slugger archives, a database that only recorded specific models ordered by a player. This archive did not record the bats which had different finishes, sizes, weights and treatments that were produced and sent to a player for trial. PSA/DNA has determined that this pre-model Mel Ott professional model was produced for Mel Ott and used by the Giants legend during the 1939-1943 seasons. This dating is determined by the combination of the bat’s center brand and “Powered” stamp, which dates this to the 1939-1943 period. During that stretch, Ott hit 121 homers, including 30 in 1942 which won him his sixth and final home run crown. The Hillerich & Bradsby bat shows excellent use with a professionally repaired handle crack. Just as you want to see on the bat of the National League’s best hitter, the barrel shows many ball marks on the right, left and back sides. Ott’s cleat imprints are seen on the right and left barrel. As is common with bats used by Mel Ott during the late 1930s - early 1940s, the right barrel, left barrel and handle have been scored. This is a tremendous gamer from one of baseball’s greatest hitters and a founding father of the 500 Home Run Club. The bat comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA (1B04124) for the game use and has been graded a GU 8.

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