How to fit a 32" bat in a 16" box?

Cut it in half.


Longtime collectors know about the Fleer auction, where they sold off tons of inventory for proofs, autographed sticker sheets, and other stuff. But one event that apparently was not publicized at all was Upper Deck's sale of all their game-used material when they lost their baseball license. I remember hearing vaguely about it back when in happened almost 10 years ago, but I don't really know anything. Not sure if it was a public auction or they sold stuff out to other card makers or what. About 9 years ago I found this stuff for sale on ebay and won it. There was some description in the auction about where it came from but I can't remember. Now I can't find anything on the web about it. Anyway, it's become one of my favorite items in my Sizemore collection. I've been wanting to make this post for years, and with all the extra time at home, here you go.



You can see the pieces line up


Helpfully labeled


I don't know why but I love mundane stuff like this, the nitty gritty of modern card production. This is the label for the ziploc bag the little pieces came in.


I happen to own an identical gamer in one piece.


I also have what may be the barrel card this bat gave its life for. The space between the G and the E are a bit off, and the edges of the wood don't match but could just be the way they it run through the saw or if it got cut or sanded down to fit into the window. There are a couple streaks on the surface of both the sliver and the card that look contiguous. I've seen the other 2 barrel cards made for this set, but I no longer have the pictures of them. As I recall, one of them had the name "GRADY SIZEMORE" in the block letters when they don't have a signature. Not sure what the other looked like. But I'm pretty sure my card came from this bat. Either way, I think it's a neat item, and I've never seen another like it.

Interesting. As soon as I saw the missing nameplate, I was planning to ask if you happen to have had the card from it. Question answered.

It is too bad more stuff is not documented better. I have saved a lot of scans of limited cards, but almost all of it Garvey. I also have never taken the time to organize them either, so I couldn't find a specific one if I had to. Along those lines, I swear I saw a kids toy bat, ball & glove set that sold years back, but can find zippo on the item, can't find my picture or any proof it ever existed. I sometimes question my own memory for this particular item.