Blog: September 28-October 4, 2009

September 29, 2009. Matt Pagnozzi made his MLB debut tonight wearing #19. He used what appeared to be an ash LS with a Hornsby finish for his first plate appearance... Troy Glaus pinch hit using a Walker-finished Old Hickory bat... David Freese hit his first MLB home run using a Gwynn-finished Marucci bat.

September 30, 2009. Colby Rasmus was swinging a Gwynn-finished LS M9 tonight. He has used M9 bats before, but not with that finish... Not sure what to make of this Pujols bat on eBay. It's apparently a legit bat, but the use and tar are very light. It's not cracked, which makes me wonder why Pujols would have stopped using it. And it's not signed, so I assume it wasn't a gift to a friend. Did Pujols use it? Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

October 1, 2009. Carpenter used a Gwynn-finished Sam Bat for the first time that I've noticed. After hitting a grand slam and a double, I have a feeling he'll be using that bat again... The Huggins and Scott auction that ended tonight had eight great 1960s Cardinals bats. A 1965-68 Roger Maris was hammered down at $10K while a Lou Brock from the same era sold for $3K. The lot I was bidding on had a Mike Shannon, two Tim McCarvers, a Red Schoendienst used by Curt Flood, a Ron Davis and a Bob Uecker (the bat I really wanted). It ended at $2,000. I was the underbidder. If you won that lot and are interested, I have buyers for Shannon, one McCarver, the Davis and, of course, the Uecker (me).

October 2, 2009. Went to the game tonight and after the fifth inning, I hit the Authentics Store, convinced that Wainwright had sewn up his 20th win and the Cy Young Award. So, I bought the last Wainwright 2009 bat in stock. From that point on, the Cards were outscored 12-0. You just never know... The Authentics store added new bats, but none from players not already in stock. The only "new" items were four Holliday Cardinals cracked bats at $400 each... Cardinals Care auctions at the stadium included a Ludwick bat and a Ryan jersey... Not equipment related, but kind of cool -- Celtics great Bill Russell was sitting about 20 rows in front of me. Wonder what he was doing in St. Louis.

October 3, 2009. Ankiel used two new bats today, a black ash LS and a black Max Bat with white handle tape... Fellow collector Rob Steinmetz recently brought to my attention that his three 2005 Cardinals jerseys all had unusual stitching around the tags. The Majestic tag was attached with white thread, but the year flags were attached with clear stitches (the white threads were cut so they could slide the year flag under the Majestic tag). I checked my 2005 shirt and it's the same way. It seems the team had year flags added after the jerseys were made, but it's unclear if the year flags were added by the team or by Majestic. I'm hoping for a chance to ask someone with the team if they know the reason the year flags were attached in such a manner; will keep you posted.

October 4, 2009. Glaus used a flame-finished ash LS bat today... No amount of LOAs can make this a legit 2001 Pujols jersey. I could point out numerous flaws, from the front number font, to the back lettering font, to the fact that there's an extra length tag in a jersey for a guy who hates tails. But, all you have to do is look at the birds' heads and the left side (barrel end) of the bat. Not even close, as you can see. I contacted the seller, pointed out the flaws and offered to help him get a refund. But, the jersey is still up on eBay... If the seller follows through on this auction and sends the Gibson bat in the photos, somebody got a real buy-it-now steal.