2019 Summer Premium Live and Catalog Auction Lots 1-82 Close Aug 1- 83-end close 8/10
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/1/2019
This stunning gamer straddles three of Roy Campanella’s greatest seasons, 1951 through 1953. The big catcher had already lived a baseball lifetime before he even reached the majors, playing more than 10 years in the Negro Leagues as well as in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Campanella’s arrival in 1948 ushered in the greatest era in the history of the team’s tenure in Brooklyn, and from that point until the team left after the 1957 season, the Dodgers won five pennants and their sole World Championship. On a team with tremendous star power and talent, it was Roy Campanella who coaxed pennant-winning pitching performances from Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Johnny Podres along with the rest of the Brooklyn staff.
Besides his work behind the plate, Campy’s big bat tore apart opposing pitching, and his 1951 and 1953 seasons rank among the greatest ever posted by a Dodgers’ player. In 1951 Campanella hit .325 with 33 home runs, then hit 41 in 1953, and the Dodgers catcher took home the NL’s MVP Award in both of those years. Between 1951 and 1953 he hit .303 and clubbed 96 home runs as Brooklyn won two pennants and just missed a third in the fateful 1951 playoff against the Giants. Used by Roy Campanella during two MVP seasons, this 1951-1953 Hillerich & Bradsby G80 model bat is un-cracked and displays outstanding use. There is some checking from repeated ball contact on the back barrel that has been professionally restored. The barrel is covered with many ball marks with stitch impressions.
Bat rack paint streaks can be seen on all sides of the barrel including the top, the green ones being from Campy’s home park of Ebbets Field. A light coat of pine tar still clings to the lower handle and the model number “G80” is stamped into the knob end. The ash wood has aged to a deep brown that compliments the dark center brand and barrel stamping. A perfect Boys of Summer gamer from two of Roy Campanella’s MVP-winning seasons. The bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B04675) for the game use and has been graded a near-perfect GU 9.