As chronicled in the Boston Globe, dated July 20, 1948, Babe Ruth was the guest of honor at Braves Field for a home run contest called “Battle of the Champions” that pitted Red Sox Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr and teammate Vern Stephens against Ken Keltner and Joe Gordon of the Cleveland Indians. The winner of this contest would be awarded a sterling silver Babe Ruth Trophy that would be given by none other than Babe Ruth himself.

For Bobby Doerr, the future Hall of Famer was also mindful of the history of baseball and its great players. Knowing Ruth was going to be in Boston, Doerr special ordered a Babe Ruth Hillerich & Bradsby R43 model bat from Louisville Slugger to have ready for Ruth to sign it. Doerr’s foresight paid off as Ruth signed his distinctive signature on the barrel in black ink. The signature is light, but his grandiose signature still beams off this golden bat. What makes this all the more significant is that Ruth would pass away a few short weeks later on August 16th. This is a tremendous piece of baseball history that comes with a LOA from Steve Grad of Beckett Authentication (A75877) and a LOA from the family of Bobby Doerr.

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