After three years at USC and a starring role on the 1984 Olympic Team, Mark McGwire became one of the most sought-after free agents in baseball. The Oakland A’s drafted him after the Olympics, and he spent the next two years developing his home run swing in the minors. By August of 1986 the A’s had seen enough and called McGwire up to The Show. In just 18 games he made a big impression, slugging the first 3 of what would eventually be 583 career home runs.

Used during that brief but explosive 1986 debut, McGwire’s 1986 Rawlings 256B model bat is un-cracked and shows evidence of outstanding use. There are numerous ball marks with stitch impressions on the left and back barrel along with blue ink and red and green bat rack paint streaks. The handle has been scored to enhance the grip and a light coat of pine tar applied. The model number “256B,” order number “351,” and year “6” are stamped into the knob and the weight “32 ½” is handwritten in blue ink. “MAC” has been handwritten on both ends in black marker and the slugger has signed the barrel twice, once in strong black marker and again in ink, completing this rookie year McGwire gamer. This bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B16829) for the game use and has been graded a perfect GU 10 and a COA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication for the signature.

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