Antique show on the town plaza, now and then

[mikesglove]

Walking into town for coffee this beautiful Sunday morning, I noticed an antique fair in the plaza. Hadn't been to one in eons. By some weird alignment of the stars I also had about $200 on me at the time. So I was ready. Unfortunately, it was about 10 AM so I knew my chances were about zero for that great find. But still, walking the aisles was fun. Watching people moving briskly forward with their heads turned ninety degrees to the left or right as if on a divine mission. A couple weaving side to side trying to cover all the booths while on the move, effectively blocking my way with perfect NASCAR strategy. There were gloves but nothing to make me grab my wallet as fast as I could.
I was conversing with Rob recently about glove collecting and mentioned I have had less than half a dozen truly great baseball items. "Numero Uno" was acquired at this antique fair some time ago. It was not a glove but a bat. Sticking out of a dealers old golf bag was an assortment of clubs and various size baseball bats. I picked the longest bat out and was happy to see it was a full length H&B Ted Williams model. I paid the $40 and figured I could resell it for $75-$80. I don't collect bats and know zip about them. The marking of "01" on the knob instead of the "36" inch puzzled me but I figured I would worry about that later. I brought it along for info to a sports memorabilia dealer/acquaintance of mine and when his mouth dropped open I knew something was up. He never gets excited.
I Eventually sent it to Dave Bushing for authenticating as a 1959 Ted Williams gamer bat and sold it at auction through Scott Jaimet of "Oregon Trail Sports Auction". Scott is quite the character. Anyway, the bat paid for a re-roof of my house and a new garage door. After all those countless hours spent at fleas and antique shows with nothing to show, this was pretty sweet.

[softball66]

Mike SUPER FIND! Had a friend who found an Edd Roush game in an antique mall two years ago. Help him out the same way.
I think odds are pretty good finding a game bat of a player, certainly more so than a game glove. Lot of game bats used and lots broken and just passed on down.
Couple of game bats showed up here six months ago, among some store bats. Just goes to pay attention.
CONGRATS

p.s. didn't know Scott was still around with Oregon Trail. Haven't heard from him in a decade or so.

[ebbets55]

Scott Jaimet of Oregon Trail died years ago.

JD

[mikesglove]

Wow, sorry to hear about Scott Jaimet. He was a funny dude! Dave Bushing told me Ted Williams ordered a bunch of different model number bats in 1959 to try them out in spring training. In Dave's opinion, this bat did not make the cut. It showed only a little game use and was given away, discarded or whatever.

[murphusa]

His son runs an antique business and offers some sporting goods now and again