1994 Ken Griffey Jr. Signed Game-Used Home Run Bat - Career Home Run #156

Sold For:

$2,963

Year:

1994

Auction:

2012 Spring

Lot #:

1230

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

Ken Griffey Jr. Louisville Slugger signature-model ("C271") bat used by Griffey to hit his twenty-fourth home run of the season in 1994. The provenance for this bat is provided directly by Griffey, who has inscribed the bat and also signed a certificate of authenticity issued by Unique Sports Inc. Griffey's inscription, executed in silver paint pen on the "sweet spot" of the barrel, reads "Home Run #24/6-7-94/Ken Griffey Jr. #24" (with the second number "24" referencing his uniform number). As Griffey noted, his twenty-fourth home run of the 1994 season, which was also his 156th career home run, took place on June 7th at the Kingdome in Seattle in a game against the Cleveland Indians. The home run, a two-run blast to center field with one man on, came at the expense of Indians starter Dennis Martinez and gave Seattle a 5-4 lead at the time. Seattle went on to win the game 9-5. The bat displays heavy use along its entire length, including numerous deeply embedded ball and stitch marks (with ink transfers), a ten-inch "H" crack halfway up the handle, and an eight-inch-long application of tape, applied in a crisscross pattern, extending upward from the base of the knob. The bat also displays a few minor chips to the black finish. Griffey finished the 1994 season with a league-leading 40 home runs, 90 RBI, and a .323 average. Those numbers helped him finish second in the MVP balloting behind Frank Thomas. Griffey retired in 2010 as one of only nine players in history to amass 600 or more home runs, with his total of 630 ranking fifth all-time heading into the 2012 season. This is an exceptional, personally documented Griffey Jr. home-run bat dating from early in his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career. Length: 34 inches. Weight: 30.6 ounces. LOA from James Spence/JSA and Ken Griffey Jr./Unique Sports Inc. Reserve $500. Estimate $1,000/$2,000. SOLD FOR $2,963