The Philadelphia Phillies never thought trading away their 20th round pick from the 1978 MLB Amateur Draft would come back to haunt them like it did. The lucky recipient of Ryne Sandberg was the Chicago Cubs. After appearing in 13 games with the Phils in 1981, Ryno became a fixture at second base for the Cubbies for the rest of his Hall of Fame career, earning nine straight Gold Gloves and ten consecutive NL All-Star nods. In 1984, he was named NL MVP and in 1990 he led the NL with 40 home runs.

Featured here is quite possibly the earliest Ryno gamer in the hobby, dating to 1978-79 when he had yet to be called up from the minors by the Phillies. Sandberg’s death from prostate cancer in July initiated a run on his autographs and game-used memorabilia. Bats and jerseys are in high demand, especially early-career examples with his signature. This Hillerich & Bradsby 'U1' professional model bat (34" and 32.5 oz.) shows outstanding use with ball marks and stitch impressions on the barrel. The handle had been spiral-taped to secure a now-repaired handle crack, but the tape was removed leaving a shadow of where it was applied. The knob end has the word “Save” written in black marker. The U1 model, with its unique ridge-less knob and hollowed out cup end, was a favorite of Roberto Clemente’s towards the end of his career.

Much later than he swung this U1 bat, Sandberg added his lovely autograph on the barrel with “HOF 05” inscribed in bold 9.5/10 blue marker. Bat expert John Taube of PSA/DNA has given it a GU 9 grade. The autograph comes with a COA from JSA and a full LOA from PSA/DNA.