Birdbats blog...

September 2, 2010. From today's Post-Dispatch: "Late Tuesday night, after the Cardinals' 3-0 loss, Albert Pujols gave away the bat he used to hit his 400th home run as a gift to a young fan at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. The Houston-area teen, who officials said had a brain tumor, had planned to attend Monday's game to see his favorite player, Pujols, but was hospitalized that day. Pujols said Wednesday he was told about the boy and invited to visit the fan in person by former Houston manager Phil Garner. Pujols had not used the bat since hitting No. 400 a week ago."

September 1, 2010. Felipe Lopez used a black LS M9 today, the first time I've noticed him using anything other than Marucci or Old Hickory... If you're going to sell a McGwire bat on eBay, it would be a good idea to show the whole bat -- or at least the grip area. The seller of this bat includes two shots of the knob, but none of the most important part of the bat. Hmm... Glad to see this Pujols jersey didn't pull the money out of anyone's wallet. I know Albert was wearing a size 52 as early as spring training 2007, so a size 50 in 2008 is automatically suspicious. Also, though it says the jersey has Pujols' custom hem, it really doesn't look consistent with this 2009 jersey (which also is a size 52). The position of the "5" on the front also looks farther to the left than it should.

August 31 , 2010. Noticed Colby Rasmus has abandoned his maple bats for a black LS ash bat... Ray King's 2004 NL Championship ring currently is for sale on eBay. The cost will be stiff, no doubt, but how often do you get a shot to own an actual player's ring instead of some front-office employee's cheaper version?

August 23-30, 2010. Since I started this blog, I've always had separate entries for each game played. But, after being gone a week and catching up by watching eight games on the DVR, I've decided to consolidate everything into one post. Here goes: Pedro Feliz used a Gwynn-finished Marucci. That's it -- the only new thing I noticed. Of course, by the eighth game, the guys could have been wielding blue and green lightsabers and my eyes were too glazed over to see... Just one more thing. I noticed while I was away that this POS Pujols jersey sold for more than $7,000 with juice. And yet another 2005 jersey showed up at auction -- this one with the year flag, but with the tails cut off... Birdbats will return to its regularly scheduled daily posts on 8/31.

August 22, 2010. Pedro Feliz switched to a black Marucci today... Do you think the Cardinals have too many retired numbers or not enough? The shelving of Whitey Herzog's #24 got me thinking about whether the correct numbers are retired and, in the broader picture, about how the Cardinals honor their legends. I think there's room for improvement, and offer some of my thoughts and ideas here.

August 21, 2010. I've decided to sell my Joe Mather Civil Right's Game TBC jersey; asking $400 shipped. Didn't intend to move it so quickly, but I hadn't planned on buying a '91 Ozzie Smith shirt and draining my mad money account. I'll also include an 8 x 10 I took of Mather batting in the game. As you may recall, Joe had a pinch-hit ninth-inning double, but was denied an RBI when Skip Schumaker was thrown out at the plate to end the game. The jersey has a MLB hologram and an LOA from Steiner Sports. If you're interested, let me know... I know I've mentioned this before, but if you're not checking out Scott Rovak's website after every game, you're missing some of the best photos available of the Redbirds in action.

August 20, 2010. Pedro Feliz made his Cardinals debut wearing #77. He's the third Redbird to wear that number and the first player since Jimmy Journell, who wore #77 for 12 games total in 2003 and 2005. Memphis manager Chris Maloney also wore #77 in late 2007 when he unofficially joined the coaching staff after the AAA season ended... Feliz's bat is right at home in the St. Louis dugout. Like many of his new teammates, he uses a Marucci. The one he swung tonight had a natural finish.

August 18, 2010. Felipe Lopez set aside his Old Hickory to use a black Marucci bat today... Stopped in the Authentics Store today to examine the bats, and found some interesting variety. For example, there were Schumaker bats from Marucci, X-Bat and Rawlings; there were Rasmus bats from H&B and Old Hickory; there was a Lopez Marucci with a Gwynn finish; and there was an unfinished LS ash with Allen Craig's name on it (Craig uses A-Bats). Also saw Miles bats from his days in Oakland and with the Cubs, and a Winn bat from the Yankees... My buddy who collects nickname bats grabbed a Steven "T-Bone" Hill D-Bat. It was not the bat Hill used to his a home run in his MLB debut.