HOME RUN HERO

hen it comes to being a baseball aficionado, 43-year-old Boca Raton orthodontist Rob Shelling has secured his place in history with a collection of the sport’s most significant artifacts: baseball bats, many of which never leave his private vault (Instagram @ TheBatVault).

“I’m drawn to collecting bats because they are the actual instrument used to play the game; some even show actual lace marks from the baseballs,” explains Shelling, a married father of two who began collecting baseball bats more than 20 years ago.

“Collectibles like hats are just something players sweat on, right? It’s not as interesting to me.”

“I’ve always loved this stuff,”says Shelling, who remembers as a teenager standing next to a then-frail Joe DiMaggio but feeling too awkward to ask for his autograph. But, in the years that followed, Shelling was able to secure something far more valuable.“I have one of his three ‘streak’ bats used during his 56-game hit streak in 1941. It’s really incredible.”

Another of Shelling’s storied finds is the Louisville slugger that Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente (the first Latin American to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame) used in his 3,000th hit 50 years ago—one of the most elusive artifacts in baseball history. Shelling secured it five years ago at an auction where it eluded other collectors’ notice.

“I had seen a picture of him holding it. Most bats are pretty plain, but this one is very distinct. When it came up, I was like, ‘Ooh, I need to get that,’ praying that no one else saw it.”