THE NEW YORK YANKEES - BASEBALL BAT SIGNED CIRCA 1996 CO-SIGNED BY: TIM "ROCK" RAINES, WILLIE RANDOLPH, CHRIS CHAMBLISS, ANDY PETTITTE, DEREK JETER, JOE GIRARDI, DAVID WEATHERS - HFSID 283010

NEW YORK YANKEES (1996)
Commemorative baseball bat signed by 7 members of the World Championship team
Baseball Bat signed: "Derek Jeter", "Joe Girardi", "David Weathers/#52", "Andy Pettite/#46", "Willie Randolph", "Tim 'Rock' Raines/#31" and "Chris Chambliss". 33.5-inch wooden bat made by the Cooperstown Bat Co., bearing commemorative emblem of the 1996 New York Yankee World Championship team. Signed in sharpie by 5, including 5 players and 2 coaches. In 1996, the New York Yankees won their first World Championship since 1978, defeating the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2. With most of the same players under manager Joe Torre, the team would win 3 more titles from 1998-2000, inviting comparisons with the great Yankee dynasties of the past. Shortstop DEREK JETER was AL Rookie of the Year in 1996. Never wearing any other uniform, he would compile more hits than any Yankee in the team's storied history by 2009, on his way to what will surely be a first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Pitcher ANDY PETTITE was the Yankees pitching ace in 1996, going 21-8 and finishing runner-up in the voting for the Cy Young award. A Yankee most of his Major League career, Pettite, like Jeter, would still be a key component of the 2009 World Championship team. JOE GIRARDI caught more games than any other Yankee over his four years with the team (1996-1999), and would return to pinstripes as Joe Torre's successor and manager of the 2009 world champs. WILLIE RANDOLPH and CHRIS CHAMBLISS were coaches in 1996, but each had a glorious history with the Yankees. Six-time All-Star Randolph was the Yankees second baseman from 1976 to 1988 and a teammate of Chambliss on the 1976 unit which won the franchises first World Championship since 1964 (a short interval for most clubs but a long drought for the Yankees). Randolph would later return to New York as manager of the cross-town rival Mets. First baseman Chambliss hit the game-winning home run that clinched the American League Championship series that year. Fleet-footed outfielder TIM RAINES, a 7-time All-Star, was only a Yankee for three seasons, but helped boost the club back to the top and is often mentioned as a Hall of Fame contender. Veteran pitcher DAVID WEATHERS was only briefly a Yankee, but made a sterling contribution in the 1996 post-season, posting a 0.82 earned run average in 7 relief appearances. Fine condition.