According to manager Joe Girardi, 38-year-old Derek Jeter played ball in 2012 as if he was 25 again - through May he was hitting the ball way above the .400 mark and by the time the season ended he’d moved into the Top 10 of all-time career hits. That summer, Jeter led the MLB with 216 hits and continued his hot hitting into the post-season. He was hitting .364 in the playoffs when a broken ankle ended his season.
This is one of the bats Jeter used during the 2012 season when he led all batters in regular season hits. More specifically, this bat has been photo matched to the June 20th game against the Atlanta Braves where Jeter connected for his seventh home run of the season in the first inning and 247th of his career. The Louisville Slugger P72 model bat shows tremendous use and there is a very slight crack in the upper handle. The barrel is covered in ball marks that include white leather ball scuffs and several deep stitch impressions. There are cleat marks visible along with scuffs and contact dings from being stored with other equipment. The order date “05/24/12” and length/weight “34.0/32.0” are stamped into the knob and there is a moderate coat of pine tar present on its handle. A real “been there” gamer with all the bells and whistle one would want to see on a Derek Jeter bat. The bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B13288), who have photo matched this bat to the June 20th game and has graded this bat a near-perfect GU 9.5 and Jeter signed LOA & COA from Steiner Sports for the game use.