Print

[Kulli]

Was on an old Newbery that a guy I played with on Saturday had cut down as a catching/dog bat. The bat had no grip on it and most of the twine had come off but under the twine...

[FattusCattus]

A one spring handle, with the core hollowed out and filled with mushrooms?

[Kulli]

The middle was cane, but the outside layer was rubber.

[Bambooman]

It's a design from the early eighties by John Newbery which he patented which was similar in idea to GMs around the same time - "..a central rod surrounded by a compressible plastic or foam to create the handle...".
Great piece of history, should be preserved somehow, Lords museum perhaps . Totally illegal now of course.

[trypewriter]

I think the old excaliburs had those handles. 

[sarg]

My mate who's late dad was friends with John Newbery's said he and his brother used to visit the workshop and mucked around with bats with that handle and they were great to use.

They could not make them work though as the would not hold in the splice or something like that...