Kirk Gibson's bat, which he used to make Vin Scully go bonkers, was sold at auction recently for $576,000. Game used baseball memorabilia is a hot commodity that many collectors pay big money to own. It brings up an interesting question though: why was this bat not 1)In the Hall of Fame and 2)Not at least in the private collection of Kirk himself?? While I cannot answer either of those questions, doesn't it seem wrong that this bat is in the hands of private collectors?? This bat is part of baseball history and lore. This is the bat from "I don't believe what I just saw!" for crying out loud.
There were four other artifacts of Gibson's being sold at the same auction, all of which were purchased by the same people who purchased the bat. They sold collectively for $1.19 million, and included Gibson’s home run bat, his game-worn LA Dodgers jersey ($303,277), batting helmet ($153,389), National League Most Valuable Player Award ($110,293) and World Series trophy ($45,578). Only a bat signed by Babe Ruth, which he used to hit his first home run as a New York Yankee sold for more in auction than Kirk Gibson's bat. In 2004, that bat sold for $1.265 million.
Certainly, legendary baseball memorabilia being sold in auction is nothing new. Mark McGwire's #70 home run ball sold for a cool $3 million to Mr. Todd McFarlene of the sports action figure dynasty. I would like to ask Mr. McFarlene how he feels about that transaction now; post steroid admission by McGwire. Multiple Barry Bonds home run balls from his chase to pass Hank Aaron's career record of 755 have sold for 6 figures. Some of these include #73 ($456,000) from his historic 2001 season, #700 ($102,000) of his career, and #756 ($752,000) of his career which set the all time record. That ball sold for nearly $1,000 a home run accumulated. Ironically, Todd McFarlene was also the purchaser of the #73 home run ball in auction.
Based on these Bonds values, it becomes important to notice that two things probably occurred. The value of historic baseball material might have been devalued from this time period due to the overwhelming emergence of information regarding the widespread use of steroids. While there was some growing suspicion during the time some of these balls sold, the lower values might be attributed to the fact that people disliked Bonds as a person. Many people viewed Mark McGwire as a likable player, and there was not as much suspicion of steroid use by players in Major League Baseball when his #70 sold for $3 million.
I just have to wonder the process by which the Hall of Fame acquires items for display. I cannot think of any reason why the Hall would not have this bat in it's possession. There could be 1,000 reasons, all of which are invalid to myself as a fan of baseball. This is not just a bat, this is a bat from what I would say was one of the top 25 moments in baseball history. It should be on display for everyone who is an astute fan of the game to behold. When money becomes more important than historical preservation of the game, every fan loses out.
Portions of information for this post were acquired from a Yahoo! sports article.
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