Just as Babe Ruth’s prodigious talents began to ebb in the early 1930’s, Lou Gehrig stepped from the Bambino’s shadow and assumed his place as the game’s great slugger. From 1932 till he was joined by Joe DiMaggio in 1936, Lou Gehrig hit close to 200 home runs and averaged just shy of .350. This explosive display of power would normally be at least partially attributed to the Louisville Slugger Lou usually swung, but in fact, Gehrig, like many other stars such as Ruth and Foxx, had made the switch to bats made by Hanna Manufacturing Company.

     The Athens, Georgia company had developed a finish called "Steel Tempered" that protected the wood from checking, the swelling and separation of the wood grain due to repeated ball contact. Hillerich & Bradsby eventually developed their own finish to curtail checking and Gehrig and the rest of the game’s biggest names switched back to Louisville Sluggers. But, for that one period when Gehrig was arguably the game’s leading slugger, he used Hanna bats, and this exquisite example is one of them. This Hanna model 11 Gehrig professional model bat shows outstanding use with a handle crack. As one would expect to find on the bat used by one of the game’s greatest sluggers, there is some checking on its back barrel. Both the handle crack and the checking have been professionally repaired. The barrel carries several nicks from general wear and storage. The knob end has a “36” weight stamp. This weight stamp marks this bat as a professional model as opposed to a store model which lacked this designation. The barrel is stamped with “GEHRIG TYPE” and the center brand is the attractive Hanna “Barite” bat design. Although no Hanna ordering records have survived, there are several markers on this bat which has led PSA/DNA to date this bat to the 1934 period. Among them are the “36” ounce weight stamp which falls within the specification range of the bats ordered by Gehrig during this period of his career. Gehrig’s Hanna 11 model was made to the specifications of his earlier Hillerich & Bradsby G76, and this bat matches those specs. The bat has a warm brown tone and the stamping remains dark. A museum worthy bat used during the period Lou Gehrig emerged from Ruth’s shadow and made his own individual mark on the history of the game. This bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B12969) for the game use and has been graded a GU 7.

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