Barnacle Bill Terry bat

A couple of years ago, Liam, a Burren Shores beachcomber located on Ireland's west coast, came across a most "unusual & special" find. A baseball bat. It washed in on the beach right in front of his home. Liam said "It had a few goose barnacles attached which would indicate a long distance voyage, besides not that easy to come by one in Ireland!" Liam noticed that the "Bill Terry Model" manufacturer stamp was clearly visible, "but less so, my research tells me that Bill Terry was deserving of having a bat named after him."

H&B King of the Field Bill Terry Model baseball bat

Referred to KeyMan Collectibles by a friend, Liam reached out to me for information on the bat. The "King of the field" No. 13 was an inexpensive store model bat sold in the H&B catalog for many years. Using the H&B center brand, the bat can be loosely dated to the 1932-1952 bat label manufacturing period. The earlier models made before 1934 had "King of the Field" inside the center brand oval. In 1935 the H&B catalog illustrates the bat with the "H&B" center brand logo. The bat is not listed in 1938 but in 1939 The "King of the Field" bat was then designated with the catalog No. 14. The Hillerich & Bradsby Co. No longer used the catalog No. 13. This "Bill Terry Model" King of the Field No. 13 baseball bat can be dated to 1935-1937.

"Of course there is no way of knowing 100% where it entered the water" said Liam. "I regularly find fishing gear from that side of the Atlantic, stuff that I have been able to trace back to its owner. Another indicator of a long voyage is the presence of Goose Barnacles, again I find them regularly on debris & plastics from USA & Canada."

"The bat was pretty much in the condition you see in the picture when I found it apart from the attached goose barnacles, very little else was on it. I let the goose barnacles fall away in their own time & the only restoration I did was apply a light coat of orange wood oil."

Barnacle Bill Terry King of the Field Beachcomber Baseball Bat

It is more conceivable that the baseball bat traveled up the Gulf stream off the east coast of the U.S., across the north Atlantic, and drifted to Ireland, than the bat coming up from France or Spain. I'm not an oceanographer but I believe it's a one way street. I think the currents run south. Either way it was in the water a long time, and found it's way to Liam's home....."Been practicing my "swing" said Liam "it's safely stowed by my bed just in case it gets called into action..day or night.

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