GaryMrMets
10-21-2005, 01:16 AM
Shoeless Joe's favorite bat - 'Black Betsy' - to be auctioned
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Shoeless Joe Jackson's favorite bat - his prized ``Black Betsy'' - is about to hit the auction block.
The bat, made of hickory and weighing a hefty 40 ounces (1.1 kilograms), will be sold by Sotheby's on Dec. 10, the auction house said.
Jackson batted .408 in 1911 and finished with a .356 career average. He told a Greenville, South Carolina newspaper in 1932 that he received the bat in 1908.
``I've had it ever since and it's never been broke,'' Jackson told the paper, ``although it is getting old now and I expect it (to break) at any time.''
In 2001, the bat sold at auction for $577,000. The highest price paid for a baseball bat was $1,265,000, fetched by the bat Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923.
Jackson is among the eight Chicago White Sox players involved in a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series. Those eight - known as the ``Black Sox'' - were banned from baseball for life.
The White Sox haven't won the World Series since 1917, and haven't played in it since 1959. But this year, the White Sox will take on the Houston Astros beginning with Game 1 on Saturday.
10/20/05 20:31 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Shoeless Joe Jackson's favorite bat - his prized ``Black Betsy'' - is about to hit the auction block.
The bat, made of hickory and weighing a hefty 40 ounces (1.1 kilograms), will be sold by Sotheby's on Dec. 10, the auction house said.
Jackson batted .408 in 1911 and finished with a .356 career average. He told a Greenville, South Carolina newspaper in 1932 that he received the bat in 1908.
``I've had it ever since and it's never been broke,'' Jackson told the paper, ``although it is getting old now and I expect it (to break) at any time.''
In 2001, the bat sold at auction for $577,000. The highest price paid for a baseball bat was $1,265,000, fetched by the bat Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run at Yankee Stadium on April 18, 1923.
Jackson is among the eight Chicago White Sox players involved in a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series. Those eight - known as the ``Black Sox'' - were banned from baseball for life.
The White Sox haven't won the World Series since 1917, and haven't played in it since 1959. But this year, the White Sox will take on the Houston Astros beginning with Game 1 on Saturday.
10/20/05 20:31 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.