Blog: May 3-May 9, 2010
May 3, 2010. As a follow-up to yesterday's blog entry, I spoke with Jim Yackel, who owned the Ozzie jersey on this site. Jim confirmed he sold it on 11/25/09, but hasn't taken it off his site yet. I called Vintage Authentics to share my research and concerns about the Ozzie jersey they have at auction, which I believe is an altered version of Jim's old shirt. I assume they now are doing their own research; meanwhile, the jersey is still available... If you're looking for another good photo-matching site, check out Cardinals' team photographer Scott Rovak's Web galleries.
May 4, 2010. Since some bat companies now stamp dates into the knobs of bats, the art of dating (newer) bats by their labeling is becoming irrelevant. It's still interesting, though, to note changes to bat labeling. Today, I learned Marucci has a new center brand for its 2010 bats. The logo/wordmark obviously is different. What's less obvious is that this is the fourth year in a row Marucci has changed its center brand. In 2007, the words "Bone Rubbed" were laser etched while the rest of the logo was a decal. In 2008, the entire center brand was a decal, though the letters were essentially individual decals. And in 2009, the logo was applied as a single decal; you can see the differences here. Granted, the changes until 2010 were subtle, but still noteworthy if you ever need to date a Marucci bat with a damaged or unreadable knob.
May 5 , 2010. The Ozzie Smith jersey in the Vintage Authentics auction is still running (see 5/2 and 5/3 entries)... Here are photos of the Colby Rasmus bat I have for sale. It was purchased from the Cardinals a year ago today. Contact me if you're interested... Still no word from the Cardinals about what kind of throwback uniform will be worn in Cincinnati on May 15 for the Civil Rights Game. We may have to wait for them to take the field before we know... Reader Tyler Flota spied a Matt Holliday bat that I overlooked when the Cards were in Frisco. During his seventh inning AB on 4/25, Holliday used a flame-finished ash LS. As this dugout shot shows, the bat was his personal model.
May 6, 2010. Holliday whipped out a Gwynn-finished Marucci today. Couldn't see the barrel, but a close up of the knob showed Pujols' #5 stamped into it and Holliday's #7 written below the #5... Hillerich & Bradsby announced today that more than 250 MLB players have ordered pink bats to use on Mother's Day. Of course, H&B isn't the only manufacturer to offer pink bats. Don't know yet which Cardinals players will be packing pink this Sunday... Happy birthday, Michael!
May 7, 2010. According to the Post-Dispatch, the following six players have received pink bats to use on Sunday: Mather, Holliday, Miller, Schumaker, Rasmus and Reyes. Bryan Anderson would have used a pink bat, but he's now in Memphis... Ryan Franklin used a bat tonight I couldn't identify. It was natural maple (I could see the slope test spot) and the center brand was oval, but it wasn't a LS. Did anybody get a good look at it?
May 8, 2010. Well, the mystery of Ryan Franklin's bat lasted 24 hours. Tonight, Joe Mather used the same kind of bat and I got a good look at the center brand. It's a Diego Bat, a new company headed by Oakland infielder Eric Chavez. Diego is Chavez's son's name... Jaime Garcia was swinging a black Marucci bat... Matt Holliday pinch hit in the eighth inning and used the flame-finished ash LS he previously used in SF and again last night. Pieces of the bat were dispersed widely on PNC's infield, a result of Matt's bat-shattering infield single.
May 9, 2010. Six players apparently received pink bats to use today, but only two actually saw action. Joe Mather used his LS ash model, and Kyle McClellan used Skip Schumaker's X-Bat. Since McClellan recorded his first MLB hit with the bat, there's a good chance that one won't make it to auction... Freese is once again swinging a black Old Hickory... The Ozzie Smith jersey I wrote about on 5/2 is still up and running at auction. No action has been taken by Vintage Authentics.
