Using his own philosophy to “keep your eye clear and hit ‘em where they ain’t," Willie Keeler became one of the greatest hitters of the Deadball era. Before Ty Cobb, Willie Keeler was second only to Cap Anson in career hits, winning back-to-back batting crowns in 1897 and 1898. Pitchers found that Keeler was almost impossible to strikeout, averaging more than 60 at-bats between whiffs, and his at-bat-per-strikeout ratio is still the Major League record. Contemporaries called him “Wee Willie” due to his diminutive build, yet for 18 big league seasons he effortlessly managed to out-hit men twice his size.

     While starring for the Orioles in the 1890s, Keeler originated the “Baltimore Chop”, in which he would “chop” the ball into the ground hard enough to make it bounce high above the infielder’s head. While the fielder was waiting for the ball to fall into his mitt, Keeler would use his blinding speed to beat the throw to first. In 1897, Keeler set the record for longest hitting streak with 44 games, a mark that held until Joe DiMaggio topped it in 1941. Keeler also held the record for most consecutive seasons of 200 hits with eight, unbroken until Ichiro surpassed it almost a century later. In 1903 Keeler was a member of the first New York Highlanders squad, and as such recorded the first hit in the history of the Yankees franchise.

     As one of the most dangerous veteran hitters in the game, Keeler joined newcomer Ty Cobb in 1908 in signing a contract with Spalding to produce autograph model bats for their own game use and also for retail sales. Contemporary photos confirm that major league players used Spalding autograph models in games, and in Keeler’s case, it is a bit easier to determine that this bat was used by the Hall of Famer himself and not a store model - its length. See, they didn’t call Keeler “Wee Willie” for nothing - at 5’ 4 1/2” he’s the shortest player enshrined in Cooperstown, and as such, he also swung the shortest bat, 30.5 inches, just a half inch longer than the MLB minimum. Spalding catalogs show that store models bearing Keeler’s endorsement were only available in lengths varying from 31 to 35 inches, with no half-inch models sold. The store model weights ranged from 36 to 39 ounces, again, different from this model’s 35.7 ounce weight.

     PSA/DNA has also determined that this bat’s specifications of 30.5 inches and 35.7 ounces are consistent with bats ordered by Keeler from Hillerich & Bradsby. Other details that are indicative of a professional model are that all known retail model Spalding bats from this period featured logo stamping on the knob end. This example features lathe marks indicative of hand rasping of the knob and barrel end, a procedure intended to reach a player's specified bat weight. Also, the high quality of ash used in the manufacture of this bat points towards a professional, rather than retail, bat. The bat itself is un-cracked and shows outstanding use with many ball marks visible on all sides of the barrel. There are some deep cleat imprints on the back barrel and the knob end has what looks to be an “L” or “7” carved into the wood. A small piece is missing from the knob and there is some checking from repeated ball contact, but none of this distracts from the beautiful display quality of this Deadball gamer. A museum-worthy bat if there ever was one. The bat comes with a full LOA from PSA/DNA (1B14193) for the game use and has graded this bat a GU 6.

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