92-year-old woman gets $235,000 for bat once used by Ty Cobb

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Among the pieces of baseball history auctioned off Tuesday at MLB All-Star FanFest was bat once used by Hall-of-Famer Ty Cobb.

The bat sold for $235,000.

Nancy Purviance, 92, owned the bat. Cobb gave the bat to her father, Eddie Onslought, who played with Cobb in the 1920s.

The bat had been in her family ever since, but she is finally ready to pass it along, to the highest bidder.

So why did Nancy selling the tobacco juice and pine tar-stained piece of history? Simple. She was just following her daddy’s orders.

“My dad would say ‘Make sure those kids have an education.’” Nancy said. “That’s where part of the money will go.”

She said she hated to sell it “because (she) loves the darn thing.”