October Legends Closing October 27,2018
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/27/2018
While other stars of the game shined bright and then faded away, Detroit’s Charlie Gehringer was a model of consistent excellence. The second baseman broke in with Ty Cobb’s Tigers in 1926 and went on to record averages of .317, .320 and finally .339 in 1929. That last season he also led the AL in hits, double, triples, runs and stolen bases. Opposing players and teammates all marveled at Gehringer’s quite demeanor – his manager Mickey Cochrane once quipped: “Charlie says “hello” on Opening Day, “goodbye” on closing day, and in between hits .350.”
Gehringer went on to win the MVP Award in 1937 and capped off his 19-year career by being voted to the Hall of Fame in 1949. This autographed bat pre-dates Gehringer’s playing days as it is a 1916-1922 professional model Hillerich & Bradsby bat. The bat’s barrel shows where it once had side-written notations, but this is no longer legible. The bat shows excellent use with a handle crack, and best of all, Charlie Gehringer has added his beautiful and flawless signature to its barrel in black fiber-tip marker. This bat comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA (1B13536) and a LOA from JSA (Y19011).