Game-Used bat question.. Any thoughts??

[Tay1038]

I'm looking to pick up a 1998 Sammy Sosa gamer. Before I make a purchase, I was wondering if someone could educate me a bit on characteristics of Sosa bats.

The one I'm interested in is Black Rawlings, Uncracked example. The bat has a taped handle and shows a few good ball marks. My questions... Does Sammy usually use a stick until they crack? Could this just be a BP example from 1998? How about on under the knob. It has the letter "G" or "6" written under it. Does anyone know what that means? I've looked at many game photos and the tape looks to be very thick on the knob. So think it covers the majority of the knob. This one does not.

Any info would be great!

Thank you,
Taylor

[kylehess10]

Most Sosa gamers I've seen have the big "ball" of tape on the end similiar to Preston Wilson tape jobs. I personally wouldn't even buy any Sosa gamer without that specifc tape job since he was known for taping his bats in that fashion.

[bagbig]

I completely agree with Kyle. I have a few Sosa gamers and they don't have tape going that far up the handle. I know that he did not put a big ball of tape on the knob during his first few years with the Cubs, but he NEVER went that far up the handle. The most that I have seen is 2-3 inches up the handle.

[bat_master]

Hi Taylor,

For comparison purposes here are pictures of the '98 Rawlings Sosa 170B that I had a few months back and subsequently sold.

11272

11273

11274

[Birdbats]

I can't speak to the tape up the handle, but you can't judge Sammy bats by the size of his balls. Of tape. Balls of tape. Back in '98, he would tape around the knob, but really just enough to cover it. By 2000 or so, the amount of tape was noticeably larger, but not obscene. During his last few years, of course, his balls were huge. (Insert steroids joke here.)

[Jags Fan Dan]

I can't speak to the tape up the handle, but you can't judge Sammy bats by the size of his balls. Of tape. Balls of tape. Back in '98, he would tape around the knob, but really just enough to cover it. By 2000 or so, the amount of tape was noticeably larger, but not obscene. During his last few years, of course, his balls were huge. (Insert steroids joke here.)
Are you inferring that over time his balls became so big that they totally covered his knob?

[orioles03]

when sammy was with baltimore he would tape his bats both ways i sat next to him one day while he was on the DL and watched him do it both ways for the ball of tape he would use almost a whole roll i know he had to have taped at least 10 bats with the ball and at least 5 with it going up handle

[Tay1038]

Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts on this issue. Here is the other bat that I am interested in. Like Tim's, it has the same characteristics on the tape job. It has "21" "170b" written on the top side of the barrel in silver sharpie and shows some good ball marks on the back side of the barrel. Is this a better example?

Thanks again to everyone!