Blog: June 28-July 4, 2010

June 28, 2010. Matt Holliday used the black LS M9.

June 29, 2010. Adam Ottavino used a black ash LS.

June 30, 2010. Jason LaRue and Jeff Suppan are both using LS ash bats with deep flame finishes on the barrel. Wonder if they're from the same order... Mitchell Boggs swung a natural LS ash bat.

July 1, 2010. Blake Hawksworth used a black ash LS.

July 2, 2010. The team again wore its white-domed Stars and Stripes caps tonight.

July 3, 2010. In the second inning tonight, all three batters used a Gwynn-finished Marucci bat -- and none of them were named Pujols. It got me thinking about what kind of lineup the Cards could field consisting solely of guys who primarily or often use Marucci: C Molina; 1B Pujols; 2B Schumaker; SS Ryan; 3B Freese; LF Holliday; CF Craig; RF Stavinoha; P Carpenter. Not bad... The Stars and Stripes caps were featured again tonight... This jersey goes off tomorrow on eBay. It's an odd one. First of all, Waller wore #12 in his only season with the birds on bat (1980); and second, there is no number on the front or the sleeves. If the jersey was worn in '77, '78 or '81, there should be a number on the front; if it was worn in '79 or '80, there should be numbers on the sleeves.

July 4, 2010. This was the third game in a row, and probably the last until 9/11, that the team wore the Stars and Stripes caps... No matter how much I enlarge the photo of the knob on this Pujols bat, I can't find a manufacture date, length or weight. Hmm... Louisville Sluggers weren't very visible in the clubhouse at the beginning of the season, but the influx of new players has changed that. In fact, in light of yesterday's all-Marucci team, I've assembled an all LS team: C Anderson; 1B LaRue; 2B Miles; SS Greene; 3B Mather; LF Jay; CF Rasmus; RF Winn; P Wainwright. Not going to beat the Marucci team in a best of seven, but back in April, you couldn't even have fielded such a squad.