Blog: August 3-August 9, 2009

August 4, 2009. Ankiel used his blue-ringed Rawlings again tonight for one AB... Rasmus seems to be switching between a natural LS M9 and a black Controlling the Game bat. Not unusual for a struggling player to search for a bat that "has hits in it." Pujols used to do that, but he stuck with his Marucci stick throughout his most recent cold streak. He certainly seemed to be back on his game tonight.

August 5, 2009. Holliday broke his black LS ash bat during his first AB. I thought he might break out a new brand, but he answered with another black LS ash. It almost looks like his bats have gold foil stamping instead of the normal silver, though that could just be the pine tar... I've listed the 1958 Musial and the 1974 Brock bats on eBay. If you skipped over it, details and links are at the top of the column. I also have listed an Ozzie Smith batting glove, circa 1985, and a 2007 signed Gary Bennett home batting helmet.

August 7, 2009. Since there's nothing new with bats and uniforms, I decided to look at batting gloves tonight. Most players seem to be using Nike gloves; they include Pujols, Ryan, DeRosa, Holliday, Ludwick, Rasmus and Greene. Three guys were wearing Franklin gloves: Carpenter, Molina and Lugo. Ankiel is wearing Reebok and Schumaker uses Louisville Slugger/TPX.

August 8, 2009. Brendan Ryan has added a Gwynn-finished Marucci bat to his arsenal... Noticed today that Thurston also is using Nike batting gloves. Wainwright is wearing Mizuno gloves.

August 9, 2009. Ryan Ludwick is now the second player (along with DeRosa) who is swinging an all-black bat with a small, natural "window" on the handle. Ludwick uses Rawlings while DeRosa swings LS M9. Apparently, there must be some caveat in the new bat rules that allows black maple bats, as long as there's a bare spot where the slope can be evaluated... Ludwick swings two kinds of Gwynn-finished Rawlings maple bats -- some with gold bands/lettering and some with silver.