1967 saw Roberto Clemente leading the NL with a .357 batting average and 209 hits. Now 33 and a well-respected veteran of the game, Clemente was expected to repeat his award-winning season, but it was not to be. Instead, 1968 was the season Clemente proved how determined and resilient a player he was. During the off-season, Clemente had injured his shoulder doing work around his house. He started the 1968 season fighting to hit above .230, making many sportswriters claim he was through as an elite player. However, giving up was not in Roberto Clemente’s bi-lingual vocabulary. After the All-Star break he went on a tear and brought his average up to just below the .300 mark by the season’s end, setting the table for his .345 average in 1969.

Clemente used this bat during that period in which he overcame his injury and saved both his career and reputation as one of the greats of the game. Using Clemente’s ordering records from the Louisville Slugger archives, this bat can be narrowed down to a single order placed for three bats on July 2, 1968. The Hillerich & Bradsby U1 model bat is un-cracked and shows light use. A few ball marks with stitch impressions and ink transfers can be found on the front, right and left barrel along with black and blue bat rack paint streaks. The model number “U1” is stamped into the knob with the weight “39” hand written in pencil. Clemente’s immortal number “21” handwritten in black marker on the knob completes this incredible 1968 gamer. The bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B02679) for the game use and has been graded a solid GU 8.

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