Blog: August 2-August 8, 2010
August 2, 2010. Jake Westbrook made his Cards debut wearing #35. He used a natural ash LS bat during his two plate appearances... Rasmus broke a bat in two and the barrel actually hit Holliday's feet as he was running to second base... OK, somebody please tell me you recorded the pre-game show on FSM tonight. I've had two people tell me that broadcaster Mike Shannon called Astros first baseman Brett Wallace a "former Cardinals first-round prick." I must have that audio!
August 3, 2010. Dennys Reyes had a rare plate appearance tonight. He used a black LS M9... People who bought Civil Rights Game (CRG) jerseys from Steiner started receiving them this week. For the record, the Cardinals' jerseys have MLB hologram numbers LH 955461 to LH 955491. The Reds' jerseys are LH 955395 to LH 955427 and the Reds' pants are LH 955428 to LH 955460. The Cards' pants are not in the MLB database and still are MIA -- I've contacted Steiner, MLB auctions, the Cards and the Reds, but nobody claims to have the pants. I noticed baseballs, bases, lineup cards and even the on-deck circles from the game were authenticated, but no bats... Also for the record, the Cardinals received two sets of jerseys for the CRG. In theory, the used ones went to MLB/Steiner while players kept the unworn shirts. The shirts from Steiner were not washed, so if you bought one and want to make sure it was used, give it the smell test. If the shirt was worn for the whole game, you should be able to tell.
August 5, 2010. I received my Civil Rights Game jerseys worn by Jon Jay and Joe Mather. They were the last two batters of the game; Jay struck out and Mather hit a double on which Schumaker was gunned down at the plate to end it. Was pleasantly surprised after I ordered the shirts to find a photo I took of Mather and Jay side-by-side in the dugout. The laundry tags in both jerseys have the code "62TB" (versus "0062" in regular pro knits) with "0423" below it. I wonder if the second code indicates the date of manufacture. If you acquired one of the CRG jerseys and your code is different, please let me know.
August 6, 2010. I received a few e-mails and one call from fellow collectors regarding my 7/25/10 post about weak bat prices. Everyone agreed that it's definitely a buyer's market for bat collectors right now. My remarks were aimed at lower-end Cardinals bats, like this, this and this. But, a few guys noted higher-end sticks, unless they're very rare, also are depressed and buyers are making offers of "pennies on the dollar." Seems to be a consensus that supply is catching up with demand, a trend that's amplified by the economy... The seller of this Stan Musial bat appearently didn't get the message about the bat market. Great bat, but his price is three to four times the price at which I'd expect it to sell... Then again, who knows what a bat is really worth? I never expected to see this Braves-era Red Schoendienst bat sell for nearly as much as it did. I guess all it takes is two aggressive bidders.
August 7, 2010. Jake Westbrook is still swinging an ash Louisville Slugger, but tonight's bat was black, not natural... Here's a good looking McGwire game-used bat. It would be a bargain if the seller could document it being used to hit a home run. Without that documentation, though, the minimum bid might be a reach... You can save your e-mails regarding this Pujols bat and this one, too. They both look OK at a glance, but I just can't see enough from the photos to make a call one way or the other.
August 8, 2010. Rain out.
