Louisville Slugger 125 Hillerich & Bradsby Bat - What exactly do I have?

[sdpadrescollector]

Hello,

I recently purchased a baseball bat from the thrift store for $5 plus tax. At first glance it is a wooden Louisville Slugger bat, Model H117, with the facsimile signature of Joe Brovia. I know next to nothing about bats but for some reason my gut told me to buy it. The bat has a crack in the handle so I was thinking it is slightly possible to have a game-used bat but I wasn't sure if it was a 'real' bat or one a person can purchase in the store.

Doing some research in the past 2 hours I came to the conclusion that the bat is from the 1950-1960's era and not a store model but a 'pro' version. Joe Brovia was a star in the minor leagues and Pacific Coast League, played less than a season with the Reds in 1955. 'H117' is marked on the knob of the bat, 35" long, the '&' is below the '1' in '125', it says 'REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.' under the oval, there are NO registered symbols, it says 'POWERIZED' and does not say' SPECIAL', and it has 'GENUINE', facsimile signature of Joe Brovia, and 'LOUISVILLE SLUGGER'. The only downside of the bat is that there is a crack on the handle, the tape on the handle is pulled off and it looks like someone put 3 finishing nails in the bat inbetween the logo and the facsimile signature.

My question to the baseball-fever community is:
- do you think this is a game used bat?
- rough value of the bat?
- good buy?
- am I right in saying that the bat is from the 1950-1960 era and is the version not available in the store?

[sdpadrescollector]

Here are some additional images...

[RuthMayBond]

He only played one year in the bigs

http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/brovijo01.shtml

but I'd say a 50+ year old game-used ML bat is a steal for $5 :dance:highfive::bowdown::thumbsup::faint::cool: :applaud:

[sdpadrescollector]

So is it safe to say that it is in fact a 'game-used' bat by Joe Brovia?

[steve rogers]

I see what appear to be cleat marks and bat rack marks. I'm no authenticator but if I were a betting man I'd say it's a gamer. I don't think they sold too many Joe Brovia bats in stores. Nice find.

Scott

[Dalkowski110]

Awesome bat! Brovia was a real slugger in the Pacific Coast League and supposedly stayed there because he liked the weather (although he did horribly in a brief MLB trial...the "I like the weather" excuse becomes a little old circa 1940). Regardless, he is one of the Minor Leagues' more recognized stars and really, along with Steve Bilko, the last of the great PCL sluggers. I envy you!

[sdpadrescollector]

Hey, from what I dug up on Joe Brovia he was a great player in the PCL but in the MLB his was utilized as a pinch hitter with a batting average of a little over .100.

What do you think the value of the bat is?

Don't see too many of these on EBay. I don't plan on selling it since it is probably the best gut feeling I acted on (like RuthMayBond said, $5 for a 50 year game used bat, can't beat that).