The new center label says "Louisville Slugger." This is known as the "large label" period because the oval grew from less than 4" to 4.5" (from left to right). Note the large size of the "125."

The word "Powerized" often is seen slanting downward instead of upward during this era, but that hasn't been correlated with any particular year. In fact, I've matched that variation to bats from all four seasons (models pinpointed to factory records).

The center label still says "Louisville Slugger," but it is smaller, returning to the size it was before 1980 (about 3 3/4"). The "125" is smaller, as well.

In 1985 and part of 1986, H&B experimented with foil stamping the player's name on the barrel instead of burning it in. In the photo, the branded bat is at the top; by comparison, the foil-stamped bats are below it.

If a bat has 1983-1985 labeling and a foil-stamped name, it should be considered a 1985 model. If a bat has 1986-1989 labeling and a foil-stamped name, it should be considered a 1986 model.

H&B began putting team names on the barrel under the player's name.

The center label remained the same as before.

H&B changed the font used for the words "Louisville Slugger" inside the oval. The new font was "squattier" and spaced out slightly more (1998 bat is the bottom one).

Bats with this center label that do not have a MLB logo on the "sweet spot" were made only in 1998.

The MLB logo began appearing on the "sweet spot" right of "Powerized."

The logo sometimes is an outline and sometimes the batter is filled in solid. In research I've conducted with bats that could be pinpointed to specific seasons, the outline version exists on all 1999 bats and some 2000 bats. The solid/filled logo appears on some 2000 bats and all early 2001 bats.

In early 2001, the MLB logo moved to the back of the barrel. H&B's "TPX" logo was placed next to the MLB logo.

These barrel markings are still used on ash bats and were used on maple bats through most of 2003, but that changed in late 2003.

Depending on the finish, the barrel markings on bats were either branded, foil stamped or laser etched (2004-05 only). Maple bats stopped being branded after 2003.

Because it was discovered that branding maple bats compromised their integrity, H&B began labeling maple bats differently in the late fall of 2003. Instead of branding, it pad-stamped a new center brand that incorporated the company's name into a maple leaf. This rare center brand was used for a very short time.

In 2004, the center brand on maple bats was changed back to more closely resemble the post-1979 oval, but it was pad-stamped on the bat, not branded. Also, "Powerized" was replaced by "Select Maple."

Text on the barrel was foil stamped instead of branded.

In mid-2004, maple bats began appearing with a new center label that featured a small oval and "M9" to the right of it. "Rock Hard Maple" appears below the oval and "Powerized" appears to the right of "M9." The label is a clear sticker affixed to the bat.

Text on the barrel either is foil stamped or laser etched (2004-05 only).

The maple TPX logo and MLB logo remain on the reverse side.

H&B began laser etching each bat's manufacture date, length and weight on the knob in 2009. Because of an equipment malfunction, a date stamp was used for a few weeks during late summer before the laser process was revived. The code for this stamp was M/D/Y or M/DD/Y, so an 819 code would be August 1, 2009; an 8189 would be August 18, 2009.