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Rock Strongo
My mind spits with an enormous kickback.
Mickey Mantle corked bat goes on auction block
X-ray on bat used by Yankee great Mickey Mantle show it was corked, says expert - NY Daily News
X-ray on bat used by Yankee great Mickey Mantle show it was corked, says expert
Say it ain't so, Mick! A doctored bat has surfaced that was once used by the legendary slugger and will be auctioned off by Grey Flannel Auctions. Opening bid is $5,000.
The Mick may have used a corked bat in the waning days of his Hall of Fame career.
An auction house says they’ve gotten their hands on a doctored Mickey Mantle bat — and they’re selling it to the highest bidder starting at $5,000.
It’s a 35-inch long, 32.6-ounce Hillerich & Bradsby Co. ash baseball bat manufactured in 1964 with “a light coat of pine tar at the mid handle,” according to the description on the Grey Flannel Auctions website.
But on closer inspection, authentication expert John Taube noticed a tell-tale spot on the barrel.
“The finish in the area has also been touched up to mask the circular area,” Taube reported. “Alterations of this nature indicate the barrel has been drilled and filled with cork.”
And an X-ray confirmed it.
There have long been rumors that the Yankee slugger sometimes used a corked bat, but up till now “none of the bats have surfaced,” the site claims.
Corking a bat, which supposedly makes it lighter thus enabling the batter to swing faster, is illegal in Major League Baseball.
But Mantle, who hit 536 homers before retiring in 1968, isn’t the first hitter to be accused of that.
Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa was suspended for eight games in 2003 for using a doctored bat. And last month, a cork-filled Pete Rose bat was sold for $8,000 at auction.
X-ray on bat used by Yankee great Mickey Mantle show it was corked, says expert - NY Daily News
X-ray on bat used by Yankee great Mickey Mantle show it was corked, says expert
Say it ain't so, Mick! A doctored bat has surfaced that was once used by the legendary slugger and will be auctioned off by Grey Flannel Auctions. Opening bid is $5,000.
The Mick may have used a corked bat in the waning days of his Hall of Fame career.
An auction house says they’ve gotten their hands on a doctored Mickey Mantle bat — and they’re selling it to the highest bidder starting at $5,000.
It’s a 35-inch long, 32.6-ounce Hillerich & Bradsby Co. ash baseball bat manufactured in 1964 with “a light coat of pine tar at the mid handle,” according to the description on the Grey Flannel Auctions website.
But on closer inspection, authentication expert John Taube noticed a tell-tale spot on the barrel.
And an X-ray confirmed it.
Corking a bat, which supposedly makes it lighter thus enabling the batter to swing faster, is illegal in Major League Baseball.
But Mantle, who hit 536 homers before retiring in 1968, isn’t the first hitter to be accused of that.
Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa was suspended for eight games in 2003 for using a doctored bat. And last month, a cork-filled Pete Rose bat was sold for $8,000 at auction.