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Twenty years ago, the Athletics made history when they won an absurd 20 games in a row, thanks in part to a legendary at-bat from Scott Hatteberg.
The first baseman hit the clinching home run to get the 20th win against the Royals. After that game on Sept. 4, 2002, a representative of the National Baseball Hall of Fame asked Hatteberg for the bat he used to hit the homer. But apparently, he didn’t want to give it up.
The A’s celebrated that 2002 team on Sunday during Oakland’s game against the Yankees. During the broadcast, Hatterberg told the backstory of the bat. He said a few days before the game, “This garage bat company came in and gave me this beautiful bat. It looked like furniture.”
When Hatteberg came to the plate against pitcher Jason Grimsley in the bottom of the ninth inning, Hatteberg decided to use it in what he called a “no-win situation.”
“So I take the furniture bat, and I hit the biggest home run of my life,” Hatteberg said of the famed walk-off blast.
While the team celebrated in the locker room, a Hall of Fame representative requested the bat. But instead, Hatteberg pulled a fast one on him.
“Then I reached into my locker and I gave that man a Louisville Slugger,” he said.
He eventually told the story to author Michael Lewis, who included the anecdote in his best-selling book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. From there, folks at the Hall of Fame caught wind and were not happy with Hatteberg for lying. They sent the Louisville Slugger back, but he never gave them the cherished “furniture bat.”
To this day, Hatteberg says it’s preserved in his man cave.
