The Yankees were blessed with three generations of outstanding catchers: Bill Dickey to Yogi Berra to Elston Howard. Howard was also the team's first African-American player, and after his playing days ended, Howard broke another color barrier when he became the first African-American coach in the American league. The catcher mentored another outstanding Yankees catcher, Thurman Munson and was instrumental in shaping the great 1970's championship teams.

     The Hillerich & Bradsby R16 model bat shows outstanding use and is un-cracked. The barrel shows some checking from repeated ball contact. Factory records show that Howard ordered the rare R16 model from 1954 through 1957. However, this bat is dated to 1959, and while it matches the length and weight of other models ordered by him that year, no R16 models appear in his 1959 records. PSA/DNA has concluded that this bat was manufactured for Elston Howard and not for pro-stock or team order. This bat comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA (1B10870) for the game use.

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