Shoeless Joe Bat Shredded for New Card Issue

Donruss says it recently purchased a circa 1916-1920-era game-used Joe Jackson bat and will include pieces of the soon-to-be sliced up stick in 2008 Threads Baseball. Donruss says the bat carries provenance, evidence of game use and carries the dark flame-treated finish Jackson preferred on his bats.

The game-used Jackson bat cards will be randomly inserted into packs, available starting in mid-October.

"True game-used Joe Jackson items almost never surface on the secondary market - they're kept in private collections or on display in museums," said Donruss spokesman Mike Payne. "But sometimes great pieces do find their way into auction, passed down from generation to generation, as this bat was."

The Threads product will include top tier current prospects with names from the past and the company says it will include numerous other game-used memorabilia and autographed cards.

Jackson joins Pete Rose, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Nolan Ryan, Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, Cal Ripken Jr., Bob Feller, Reggie Jackson and Whitey Ford among the more familiar names that will be included.

Rick Porcello, the first-round pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2007, headlines the baseball prospects who also appear in the set. Porcello's first certified autographs and game-used memorabilia will only be found in Threads.

Some of the other top prospects include Ike Davis, the New York Mets' 2008 first-round pick, Josh Vitters, Xavier Avery, Mat Gamel, Christian Marrero, Elvis Andrus, Jesus Montero, Brandon Waring and more than 110 others.

Five-card packs of Threads will carry a $4 SRP.