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1962 Roger Maris Used Batting Experiment Bats (Browning, Cobb, Baker and Ruth-all PSA)
Spring 1962 in Fort Lauderdale. The reigning MVP and NEW single season home run king Roger Maris steps up to the plate as a test subject to determine which bats are better for crushing home runs, the newer, lighter ones such as Maris' own, or the older models with dimensions used by Ruth, Cobb, Baker and Browning? Hillerich & Bradsby helped to make sure this experiment would happen by reaching into their archives and making up new bats to the specifications of old timers such as Pete Browning (37 In. 46 oz.), Ty Cobb (34.5 In. 42.5 oz), Frank "Home Run" Baker (34 In. 41 oz), and Babe Ruth (35.5 In. 44 oz). For the newer bat, Maris would use his own (35 In. 33 oz. - this bat is not included in the lot). You, like Maris, would imagine that after the season he had, that the newer, lighter bat would out perform the other four by a large margin, interestingly enough that wasn't the case, in fact it was quite the opposite. Maris' own bat came in last in the furthest distance hit in both, furthest hit ball and in total feet. The Ty Cobb bat took the crown in both single ball distance and total distance. After the conclusion of the experiment (which MIT discredited), Maris was asked about switching bats for the '62 season to which he replied "when a bat can come through with sixty-one homers in a season, I'm not in the market for replacements. Majority of the fascinating story is mentioned in The Baltimore Sun "This Week Magazine" issue published on May 20th, 1962. Offered are the four older experimental bats. All the bats show use, especially with pine tar remanence on the handles. Each bat comes its own LOA and was photo matched by the Baltimore Sun. Also included is an issue of the magazine.
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