James Anthony “Ripper” Collins played nine seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. As part of the “Gashouse Gang” St. Louis Cardinals in 1934, Collins played in a career-high 154 games and also hit a career-best 35 home runs in helping to lead the Redbirds to the World Series Title that year. Collins regularly signed his name “Rip” Collins, even though he was referred to as “Ripper”.

     This Hillerich & Bradsby bat was made for Collins as he was starting up his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in the early 1930’s. This Hillerich & Bradsby bat shows outstanding use with a handle crack. The side barrel has the side-written pencil notation “JW McAvoy 6-19-“. Though the date is illegible, the center brand dates the bat to the 1928-1931 period. Who JW McAvoy is we have no idea, but he liked the feel of Rip Collins’ bat enough to send it to the factory to be duplicated. This bat comes with an LOA from PSA/DNA (1B14120) for the game use.

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