Blog: May 10-May 16, 2010

May 11, 2010. Matt Holliday used a black LS M9 tonight... The Cards' Stars and Stripes caps this year will look like this. Look for them on Memorial Day, July 4 and probably 9/11... Great article here about how the team doesn't have much flexibility in assigning uniform numbers. Among the interesting points made: #12 is being held in case Aaron Miles makes up back to the team; #35 is reserved for Adam Ottovino; LaRussa doesn't like seeing guys wearing numbers in the 60s; and pitchers are likely to get numbers in the 30s. Also some great anecdotes about why some players wear the numbers they currently do.

May 12, 2010. I'm happy to report the Ozzie Smith jersey I wrote about on 5/2 has been pulled from the Vintage Authentics auction... When I was researching Diego Bats a few days ago, I came across an interesting message board post from Brian Hillerich at H&B. As readers of this blog know, Pujols has not used Louisville Sluggers in quite a while. Now we know why. "The final straw was some warped bats he rolled across the floor in front of the whole clubhouse (and H&B head sales rep Chuck Schupp)," Brian wrote. "We were having drying issues with our Maple and we paid dearly for it. We have made our product better since then, but the damage is done."

May 13, 2010. Chris Carpenter used a flame-finished ash LS today with the H&B 125th anniversary logo. It looked like a Jason LaRue model. Inside the cup, you could see a blacked-out number and Carp's #29 added... For anyone who is curious about the black spot on maple bats and how the grain slope test works, here's a great site that explains it. This video also explains the process in simple terms and illustrates the difference between good maple and maple with grain slope issues.

May 14, 2010. Joe Mather was using another "off-brand" bat tonight, opting for a natural Phoenix bat... While most players in MLB are wearing undershirts with Nike swooshes on the collar, Skip Schumaker is bucking the trend. His shirt tonight had a New Balance logo... Still no official announcement what type of TBC jersey the Cards will wear for tomorrow's Civil Rights Game, but the Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold wrote this morning that the style would be consistent with 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

May 15, 2010. The Cardinals, as anticipated, wore TBC uniforms based on the team's 1947 design for tonight's Civil Right's Game. Overlooking the pajama pants worn by most of the guys, these are the best looking TBC uniforms since 2003. I traveled to Cincinnati for the game and took many photos, some of which can be viewed here... McGwire wore the TBC uniform throughout the game. It marks just the third time this season Mac has worn a jersey instead of a sweatshirt or windbreaker -- opening day (for the pregame ceremonies only), Jackie Robinson Day and now the Civil Rights Game... Molina was wearing a regular batting helmet tonight, not his typical Cool-Flo... The handle tape on Mather's Phoenix bat changed from red to gray.

May 16, 2010. Mark McGwire's jersey from Jackie Robinson Day was auctioned yesterday to raise money for Ritenour High School's athletic department. That means Mac's shirt won't be one of the jerseys available in the annual JRD jersey raffle that begins shortly. The Cardinals differentiated players' jerseys for the game by simply writing their regular uniform number on the Majestic tail tag -- note the "25" inside the MLB logo. For any conspiracy theorists out there, I traced the provenance trail on this jersey; it's the real thing.