Roberto Clemente Game-Used Bat to Be Sold at Auction: Could Sell for Over $250K
Adam WellsJanuary 2, 2024
Joe Sargent/MLB Photos via Getty Images
One of Roberto Clemente’s game-used bats that has been autographed by the Baseball Hall of Famer can be yours when it goes up for auction next month.
Heritage Auctions has a preview of the bat, which was used during the 1971 season, up on its website:
“Extraordinary Hillerich & Bradsby signature model U1 finds the tragic Hall of Famer near the end of his career and life, an era that saw him revisit the pinnacle of the baseball world with victory in the 1971 World Series and enter the 3,000 Hit Club with his final base knock in regular season competition. The bat is instantly recognizable as a Clemente, sporting his trademark knobless handle and Ruthian dimensions of thirty-six inches (36″) of length and thirty-five and a half ounces (35.5 oz.) of weight.”
TMZ Sports @TMZ_SportsRoberto Clemente Game-Used, Signed Bat Set To Hit Auction, Could Fetch $250K | Click to read more š https://t.co/9ZeVrHonZB
Sports memorabilia expert John Taube is cited in the listing as assessing the bat to be in “excellent” quality with no cracks on the handle and “ball marks and stitch impressions on the barrel, which bears evidence of Clemente’s scoring on the primary hitting surface as found upon numerous other specimens from the heroic outfielder’s arsenal.”
The bat also comes with a letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA, along with a photograph of Clemente and the collector who the bat is autographed to. It is estimated to sell for at least $250,000.
Clemente’s bat will be auctioned off on Feb. 24 in Dallas, Texas. The Pittsburgh Pirates legend was a 15-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion. He was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1973.
