How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

[treant985]

Does anyone know about how long it usually takes between when a bat is produced and when the player will use it in a game? The best ones for this would be Sam Bats (which is what I'm interested in anyway), where we can get an exact date of production, and then people who've photomatched the bat can give the time it was used.

I've got a Manny Ramirez SAM bat that's labeled '10 4 04' which I'm guessing is Apr 10, 2004, rather than Oct 4, 2004. And I'm trying to get an estimate of when he actually might've used it in a game.

[allstarsplus]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

The SAMs are great especially when they are tagged later with MLB holograms so you can follow from bat production to actual game use.

Here is a great example of a Cristian Guzman SAM bat I just put up on eBay this week.

Bat made on 2/21/08 and then bat was cracked on 4/21/08 so almost exactly 2 months apart.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cristian-Guzman-Game-Used-Nationals-bat-Autod-MLB-Holo_W0QQitemZ200239941363QQihZ010QQcategoryZ60596QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I can't say this is a trend as I had Alfonso Soriano bats that were made during the season that were used shortly afterwards in games.

[Sheffield11]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

Does anyone know about how long it usually takes between when a bat is produced and when the player will use it in a game? The best ones for this would be Sam Bats (which is what I'm interested in anyway), where we can get an exact date of production, and then people who've photomatched the bat can give the time it was used.

I've got a Manny Ramirez SAM bat that's labeled '10 4 04' which I'm guessing is Apr 10, 2004, rather than Oct 4, 2004. And I'm trying to get an estimate of when he actually might've used it in a game.

I doubt they messed up the date, manny probably used the bat in the beginning of 05 which is commom for many players.

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

I doubt they messed up the date, manny probably used the bat in the beginning of 05 which is commom for many players.

I'm just used to other Sam bats that have the european style dating (DD MM YY)...does anyone know when they stopped doing that?

[gamer35]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

Treant, if you post some pics I can possibly help you identify when your bat was used.

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

Here are the ones the guy had on the listing. I think the seller's reputable, so I don't think it's been tampered with or anything to look 'more' game used.

[gamer35]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

I am not sure if the bat displays Manny use characteristics, looks like all of the ball marks are on the wrong side of the barrel. Also, I havent seen many legit Manny bats with a shaved handle during his tenure in Boston.

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

I looked at the ball mark positions, but then I saw a Manny bat that came straight from his authentication, and it appears to have hits on the back of the barrel (albeit not as many as the one I have), and they're also lower down towards the cup like the one I have. ebay # 260265340906.

[gamer35]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

I wouldnt use a bat from his 'foundation' as a good example of a true game used bat.

Also, the tape job on your bat looks a little weird, not a typical Manny tape job. I know he traded bats with Tejada during 2005 but am not really familiar with Tejada use characterstics.

[tone1316]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

The thing other than the shaved handle that would worry me about this one is the amount of color left from the balls on this bat. I currently own 1 and have handled quite a few manny sam bats and the finish on his sam bats seems to hold up pretty well against white ball marks, usually leaving more of an impression from impact than leather marks. I will say that I do not consider myself an expert however, just an example of what i've seen

One recent ebay example of what I mean.

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

Considering when the bat was made (Oct 4), I wonder if Manny got this bat during the off-season and used it against a pitching machine or something. That might explain why he'd shave the handle when he wouldn't do it during the season, also why the ball marks are more blue than normal (perhaps was using different kind of balls for practice).

[kylehess10]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

also why the ball marks are more blue than normal (perhaps was using different kind of balls for practice).

I was just about to question that, especially since those blue ink-tranfers on the barrel are MUCH bigger than normal.

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

Regardless of who used the bat, the big blue transfers do seem interesting. Once it's in my possession, maybe I can tell a little more about how they might've gotten on there. It would seem odd to 'fake' a gamer by putting a bunch of big blue transfers on there.

Relatedly, does anyone know of other MLer's who use that kind of tape-job like Manny does? I haven't seen anybody, but I usually don't pay much attention to the tape.

Given that Manny has been known to shave a handle here and there, I'm still thinking that the explanation that fits the best is that Manny used this for practice against a machine with balls that are marked differently than MLB balls. Perhaps something like Bonds, who would get thrown baseballs with numbers on them and would only swing at those with odd numbers.

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

I found this bat perusing ebay's completed listings. The blue marks here aren't as big as on the Manny bat, but there do seem to be a lot of them in one area. It makes me wonder if some of these players do use some kind of practice ball that leaves blue transfers considerably bigger and more frequently than a normal MLB ball:

[treant985]

Re: How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

The SAMs are great especially when they are tagged later with MLB holograms so you can follow from bat production to actual game use.

Here is a great example of a Cristian Guzman SAM bat I just put up on eBay this week.

Bat made on 2/21/08 and then bat was cracked on 4/21/08 so almost exactly 2 months apart.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cristian-Guzman-Game-Used-Nationals-bat-Autod-MLB-Holo_W0QQitemZ200239941363QQihZ010QQcategoryZ60596QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I can't say this is a trend as I had Alfonso Soriano bats that were made during the season that were used shortly afterwards in games.

ALLSTARSPLUS--how long was it between when your Soriano bat was made and when it was used? I'm trying to get a feel for the min amount of time that a typical bat might experience between production and use.