Jack White bat enters National Baseball Hall of Fame

Jack White still has a few more years before he's eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — 2024 is the first year he can make the official ballot — but that's not stopping him from being immortalized elsewhere. 

The Detroit rock and roller is now a part of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Emphasis on a part: One of White's game-used bats from a pickup game played on the outskirts of Cooperstown, N.Y. will be given a place in baseball's hallowed Hall, White's team has announced. 

If you're scratching your head, let's rewind. White is an avid baseball enthusiast, and in 2016 he invested in Warstic, a sporting equipment company that manufactures baseball bats, along with then-Detroit Tiger Ian Kinsler.

On White's current tour, which kicked off in April at Little Caesars Arena, he played a May 27 concert at Brewery Ommegang, a brewery and performance space in Cooperstown, just a 10 minute drive from the baseball Hall of Fame.

Prior to the show, White and his Warstic Woodmen played a sandlot game against the Leatherstocking All Stars, a team of local baseball enthusiasts. In attendance at the game was Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, who following the game requested White's game-used Warstic — the white and blue Vintage Model 3 — to display in the Hall. 

To commemorate the Hall of Fame honor, 50 replica bats were created and auctioned off to fans. Those auctions netted $32,000, portions of which will be donated to programs associated with promoting Native American participation in baseball.

White is currently on tour in Europe, and he returns to North America next month where he'll play Chicago's Lollapalooza festival before embarking on a leg of solo dates. In October he travels to Russia, and follows that show with tour dates in Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and more.

agraham@detroitnews.com

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@grahamorama