PITTSBURGH — Rob Shelling's vast collection of baseball bats is enough to make any memorabilia junkie drool with jealousy. There's one Babe Ruth swung while cracking a home run in the first MLB All-Star Game in 1933. Another Joe DiMaggio used during his 56-game hitting streak eight years later.
Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Lou Gehrig are all represented in the group of more than 150 bats, many of which never leave a private vault. Shelling, an orthodontist from Boca Raton, Fla., even has his own Instagram account (@TheBatVault) to showcase the lot.
Yet as incredible as Shelling's assemblage of wooden antiquities might be, there's one bat that stands out above the rest: the one Pirates legend Roberto Clemente used to notch his 3,000th hit 50 years ago. Not only for what it means to the Great One's legacy but also the story behind how he wound up with such a rare find.
"Having it gives me chills," Shelling said. "It's surreal. There aren't many stories that have this aura around them."
No, there most certainly are not. Few that can match the decades of questions that have followed the famed bat, either.
The inciting incident in the Clemente bat saga happened Sept. 30, 1972, against the New York Mets at Three Rivers Stadium, after Clemente lunged and hit a breaking ball off left-hander Jon Matlack for a double into left-center field.
As the story goes, Clemente had three bats with him in the on-deck circle — two Louisville Sluggers and an Adirondack with the label scratched away because Clemente had a contract with Hillerich & Bradsby, the former's parent company.
After getting some advice from Willie Stargell, "Pops" telling the right fielder to try a heavier bat, Clemente did — the older of the two Louisville Slugger models. He also left the field with those three bats, throwing into question which one was actually used.
Former Pirates public relations director Bill Guilfoile insisted at one point that he had the bat. So did longtime team photographer Les Banos. Even the National Baseball Hall of Fame has a bat that avid collectors believe isn't the real thing. Stories have proliferated for years about what actually happened to the piece of history.
Around five years ago, Shelling noticed a Clemente game-used bat that was being sold by Heritage Auctions.
Already with a lesser-known (but game-used) Clemente model in his collection, as well as one signed by every member of the Pirates' all-minority lineup from Sept. 1, 1971, Shelling began comparing the soon-to-be-auctioned item with any photo he could find online.
It didn't take long before Shelling's eyes lit up.
He began collecting bats in the late 1990s, oddly because of one he was given by former Marlins catcher Charles Johnson. What began as an obsession over autographs and pictures took on a different form, as Shelling felt a more personal connection with the (game-used) tools of the trade.
"I have a few Clemente bats, so I was looking at pictures to see if any of the bats I had were a match," Shelling said. "There aren't a lot of pictures of him where you can see the bat. I had seen most of them already. I knew that had to be one of them."
Once Shelling realized what was being sold, the next month or so was nerve-racking. Shelling made his bid and hoped no one else would notice. He declined to provide the amount he paid for the bat, other than to say it was considerably less than it should have been.
"Some people might say it's a lot," Shelling said, "but it's not a lot for what it is."
How Shelling knew this was the bat is equally as fascinating. Part of what he does to ensure authenticity of collectibles involves photo matching, much like a detective.
In this case, there's a tiny black mark to the left of the word "Powered" on the bat and the parent company's label. The wood-grain patterns and colors tracked. Pine tar, too. There's also a defect next to Clemente's signature and nicks that matched further down, closer to the handle.
The formal process was carried out by a company called Resolution Photomatching, which crafted a document of authentication.
"It was a really lucky find," Shelling said.
The authenticity of the bat was also confirmed by Duane Rieder, who's the executive director of the Roberto Clemente Museum and one of the foremost authorities on memorabilia belonging to the iconic player.
"I have the Les Banos bat," Rieder said. "I would like that to be the bat, but it's not. [The bat Shelling has] is definitely it. Believe me, I have nothing to gain from it. I can only lose."
The Clemente bat is obviously special, but it's only part of Shelling's Pirates collection. There's also a game-used bat from Paul Waner, signed by the entire team. Bats used by Honus Wagner and Barry Bonds, too. Shelling has a Ralph Kiner model that was used during the 1951 All-Star Game.
They all speak to his incredible passion for collecting, but none carry the special meaning of the historic one that delivered Clemente's 3,000th hit, the last before his tragic death in a plane crash that New Year's Eve.
Rieder said he monitors the same sort of auctions as Shelling but never saw the Heritage offering. If he would have seen it? "I would have bought that in two seconds," Rieder said.
The executive director of the Clemente Museum believes it was floating around Puerto Rico before someone saw an old game-used bat from Clemente and decided to put it up for auction — clearly not realizing its significance.
"It's kind of the last piece of the puzzle," Rieder said. "It's all making sense now. I've held the Hall of Fame bat. That's not the bat — it's a brand-new bat. So, let's tell the truth and get the real story out there."
