If your Pujols Max Bat is a C4 model, it's a fake. I recently was contacted by a fellow Cardinals collector who asked for my thoughts concerning some Pujols-signed game-used items he owned. One of those items was an Albert Pujols Max Bat - a Model C4 with a black barrel and dark cherry handle. I saw a couple small red flags with the bat, including pine tar residue that was too high up the barrel and the lack of a uniform number on the knob. But, I wasn't ready to reject the bat out of hand based on that.

Here's what I knew about Albert and Max Bat: He first used a Max Bat on August 22, 2006, and during the next week, he made 22 plate appearances using a two-toned Max Bat. I believe, based on observations and photos, that he used at least two different bats. Those bats, though, were Aramis Ramirez's bats, likely acquired during a recent road trip to Chicago. They were C4 models. In the months since then, I've seen two Ramirez C4 bats with Cardinals team LOAs attributing use to Pujols.

In 2007, Pujols used Max Bat at times during spring training. In the regular season, he swung Max Bat 36 times. He also often used Max Bat during batting practice. The one legit Max Bat I'd seen from that season was a Model 243; I repaired the bat for the Pujols Family Foundation.

What I didn't know with certainty was whether Pujols ever ordered or received C4 models with his name engraved on the barrel. A thread on Game Used Universe addressed the issue almost two years ago, but I never followed up on it at the time. So, I decided to contact Jim Anderson, founder of Max Bat, and get the story from the source.

Jim confirmed these points:

• The Max Bats Pujols used in 2006 were, indeed, Aramis Ramirez C4 models.
• In March 2007, a person named Robert Witzer contacted Max Bat representing himself as a player agent. He ordered 50 bats, models that were used by Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Pujols. The Pujols models were C4, because that's what he'd used to that point; he'd yet to order the Model 243. Albert's name was not on the barrel; neither was the team name.
• In 2007, Pujols' Max Bat orders were for Model 243 only.
• Max Bat never produced a C4 model with Pujols' name on the barrel.
• In August 2007, suspicious bats began showing up on eBay from the seller "bondsauthentic." These included Pujols C4 models.
• Jim posted a phantom item on eBay, the purpose of which was simply to warn potential bidders about bats being offered by Robert Witzer, aka "bondsauthentic."
• Jim contacted both eBay and the FBI about the situation.

Jim said that when assessing any Max Bat, collectors should look at the length of the barrel engraving. No line should exceed three inches in length. Typically, the model number line is exactly three inches, so if the player or team name is longer than the model number line, it was not laser etched by Max Bat. When examining C4 Pujols models, the "after-market" etching clearly is too long. It also is the incorrect font and is angled differently than the model line.

I had to break the news to a good guy that his Pujols bat was bogus. Fortunately, the bat has a legit autograph (acquired through a team employee), so at least it's worth something - but nowhere near what a signed gamer would fetch. I hope that by publishing this article, we can spread the word: If the Pujols bat you're considering is a Model C4 Max Bat, don't buy it.