Birdbats blog...

December 20, 2011. Autograph pricing for the 2012 Winter Warm Up has been released. An excellent analysis of pricing trends, prepared by fellow blogger Brian Walton, can be found here... Brian Hillerich of H&B says that his company will be forced to change the labeling on some of its branded and foil-stamped bats in 2012. Because of MLB rules that require bats be dipped 18" from the knob, and due to bat shapes and equipment limitations, some popular models -- including the I13 and C243 -- may no longer have the "Powerized" stamp that's been an H&B standard since 1931... The first PSA 10 Pujols bat to end at auction since Albert's defection to LA was hammered at $3,050, $500 less than a PSA 7 that ended two weeks prior. That's a stout amount for an active player who plans to play 10 more years, but also an indication that Pujols' values may have started trending downward.

December 8, 2011. Albert Pujols' signing with the Los Angeles Angels creates a situation that's fairly rare among memorabilia collectors, simply because there are few players of Pujols' stature and single-team tenure. And that is, what will happen to the value of Pujols game-used items? At this moment, there are 4-5 possibly legit GU bats on eBay. The one worth watching is a PSA 10 currently at $1,675 (with 5+ days to go). On 11/29, a PSA 7 bat sold for $3,550. In recent months, signed gamers have hovered in the $3,000-3,500 range, so the PSA 10 that's on now could be telling. Another sign could be this 2004 bat that sold on 12/6 -- when Pujols to Miami speculation was running hot -- for just $1,375... When players switch teams, memorabilia from their former teams generally fades in value. Fans of the prior team lose interest in guys who leave, and fans of the current team have little interest in items from another team. But, Pujols is not the typical player, he's a sure-fire HOFer who may end up on the Mount Rushmore of the greatest players ever. Barry Bonds leaving Pittsburgh for SF is a close comparison, but other issues surrounding Bonds have warped his market value. So, it will be very interesting to see what happens to Pujols memorabilia in the coming weeks and months. I anticipate a pretty significant drop in the short term because many Cardinals fans/collectors feel betrayed. Long term, though, I'm guessing his value will rebound somewhat as collectors regard him as a baseball legend, not just a Cardinals legend.

November 14, 2011. Congratulations to new Cards manager Mike Matheny. If Pujols re-signs, it could mark the first time that one player used another guy's bats and then went on to become his manager (bet Elias doesn't track that). Recall back in 2004, a few of Pujols' M356 Louisville Sluggers surfaced showing obvious use by Matheny... This past weekend, Birdbats received nice plugs from two of my favorite Cardinals reporters, Derrick Goold (stltoday.com, 11/11) and Brian Walton (The Cardinal Nation Blog, 11/13)... I made a bulk sale of 45 bats last week, so if there was something in the for sale section you were considering and now it's gone, let me know and I'll connect you with the new owner... My good friend Rick Shaw passed away Friday evening. Rick was a Cardinals (and Yankees) fan and an avid collector who once had the most complete collection of HOF-signed baseballs of anyone I knew. Rest in peace, buddy.

November 2, 2011. The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a slide show and video of the items it collected from the Cardinals after the World Series. You can view the slide show here and the video here. In addition to the items mentioned in my 10/28 entry, the HOF also secured caps worn by La Russa and Duncan... I maintain the most forged Pujols jersey is the 2002 road, and another has turned up on eBay. This one would fool most folks, but I challenge you to find one photo of Pujols from 2002 that shows excess material on the name plate before and after the letters.

October 29, 2011. I've updated and posted Pujols' bat use log for 2011. This past season, Albert again used Marucci exclusively. Unlike the past three years, when he used the Gwynn finish 97-99.6 percent of the time, Albert used seven different finishes. He still used Gwynn the most -- 82 percent of all plate appearances. But, he also used what I call the Bonds finish (cherry handle/black barrel), a natural barrel/black handle, a natural handle/Hornsby barrel, an all-natural finish, a pink bat and a black bat. My advice to Albert for 2012 -- other than "re-sign in St. Louis" -- is to stick with the natural barrel/black handle bat. He hit .458 with that model during the regular season and .423 with it (including 4/5 of his HR) during the post season. He also was at his best late in the season, after Marucci began etching Albert's signature on his bats... Just a reminder, Lance Berkman uses ash bats during games and maple bats during BP. He did it in Houston and he did it this year in St. Louis. Something to keep in mind if you're considering this bat.

October 28, 2011. Congratulations to the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals!... Among the items ticketed for Cooperstown, in addition to Freese's memorabilia from last night, are Carpenter's game 7 jersey, Craig's bat, Berkman's bat, Pujols' cleats from game 3, and Carp's cap from the duel in Philly with Halladay... After Freese surrendered his black Rawlings bat to the HOF after game six, he used a natural Marucci tonight.

October 27, 2011. The Shredder got hold of David Freese's jersey... The majority of Freese's jersey and his walk-off HR bat are on their way to Cooperstown. The HR ball itself was returned to Freese by a fan in trade for a signed bat and a signed team ball... The Authentics Store had Kyle Lohse's broken bat (two pieces) from game 4 of the NLCS for $200. It was a natural Rawlings Chris Carpenter model.

October 24, 2011. David Freese swung a natural Rawlings bat, a model he had not used all season... Furcal used his fifth bat of the WS, a natural ash LS. He had not used that model since coming to the Cards, but it appeared to have a Dodgers knob decal, so it's apparently from older stock... Speaking of knob decals, I've been trading emails with David Sulecki of Pro Helmet Decals. David confirmed he sent Furcal some Cardinals decals after the trade (see 10/13/11 blog entry) and that Furcal is the only Redbird currently using them.

October 23, 2011. Got a good look at Holliday's bat knob tonight. The "A" in the center means he's using an Amish maple LS M9. Couldn't make out the date exactly, but pretty sure it was made 10/10 or later... There's a Pujols game-used bat on the Cardinals' website, but it is not being offered by the team. It's being marketed by Steiner. They call it a 2011 bat, but Pujols hasn't used a two-tone Sam Bat since 2007 -- and even then for only 10 plate appearances (1.47%)... Here are photos of the bat, the jersey and the batting gloves Pujols wore during game three. That's the first good look I've had of his signature on the barrel.