Deadwood Bats

[encinorick]

I've noticed that a couple of older bats I've been watching indicate that they have some or alot of "deadwood." Obviously, this has some affect on the value of the bat. My questions is, what is deadwood? Is it a fungus or some such thing? If there's deadwood, will the condition get worse? Will the bat eventually succumb to it and become a pile of sawdust? Would you buy a bat that has a little deadwood. Would you buy a bat that has alot of deadwood? How much would you discount the value of a bat that has deadwood?

[suave1477]

Encino - Deadwood is a term used for when the wood starts to seperate from repeated hitting on that side of the bat.

I am not sure what you mean by having fungus on your bat, If you have fungus on your bat I would look into cleannig it off somehow with out doing any further damage to the bat.

[godwulf]

Rick brings up an interesting question - one that I'm sure he's not alone in having had, at some point. Even long-time collectors may have never had occasion to ask something like that, and after awhile it's almost embarrassing to admit that you don't know the meaning of a common phrase or word in the hobby.

Example: From reading descriptions of bats, and then looking at the actual bats, I think I know what "cleat marks" and "rack marks" look like, but I wouldn't actually bet my life on it. I think that cleat marks are those small gouges around the periphery of the very end of the barrel, and rack marks are the (usually somewhat) longish, thin, black lines that run down the side of the barrel, parallel to the grain. Is that right?

Believe me, I searched through "Educational Threads" and several other online resources before asking...now I just want to know for sure before I die.

[treant985]

Rick brings up an interesting question - one that I'm sure he's not alone in having had, at some point. Even long-time collectors may have never had occasion to ask something like that, and after awhile it's almost embarrassing to admit that you don't know the meaning of a common phrase or word in the hobby.

Example: From reading descriptions of bats, and then looking at the actual bats, I think I know what "cleat marks" and "rack marks" look like, but I wouldn't actually bet my life on it. I think that cleat marks are those small gouges around the periphery of the very end of the barrel, and rack marks are the (usually somewhat) longish, thin, black lines that run down the side of the barrel, parallel to the grain. Is that right?

Believe me, I searched through "Educational Threads" and several other online resources before asking...now I just want to know for sure before I die.

Rack marks aren't always black, of course. I have a Joe Carter black SAM Bat from his O's days and it has a bunch of little orange lines where he put or pulled the bat from the orange rack and took a little paint with it.

[Dewey2007]

Rick brings up an interesting question - one that I'm sure he's not alone in having had, at some point. Even long-time collectors may have never had occasion to ask something like that, and after awhile it's almost embarrassing to admit that you don't know the meaning of a common phrase or word in the hobby.

Example: From reading descriptions of bats, and then looking at the actual bats, I think I know what "cleat marks" and "rack marks" look like, but I wouldn't actually bet my life on it. I think that cleat marks are those small gouges around the periphery of the very end of the barrel, and rack marks are the (usually somewhat) longish, thin, black lines that run down the side of the barrel, parallel to the grain. Is that right?

Believe me, I searched through "Educational Threads" and several other online resources before asking...now I just want to know for sure before I die.

Godwulf, I agree with you. The term I see sometimes applied to the condition of a bat and I'm not quite sure what it means is "Checking".

Is this similar to Deadwood or Grain Separation or do they all mean the same thing?

I suggested to the mods when I first joined that it would be nice if they had a glossary of terms in the Educational Threads section. It would be a great reference resource especially for new collectors like myself.

[encinorick]

So, it's not some sort of condition that can worsen in time, it's like a "cracked" bat. My point is that it's wood and there are a variety of things that can happen to wood overtime. "Deadwood" gives the impression that something is dying, as in some ongoing activity like little creatures, (worms or such) eating away at it. One hears that a bat can get lighter with age, moisture loss. Would be a shame to pay big bucks for a bat only to find sawdust in a couple of years.

Also, one would think that Deadwood is a good thing since it shows gu, yet, Mears deducts points because of it.

[jonincleve]

deadwood can get worse. it depends on the humidity of your house or area you live in. wood is always moving, expanding and contracting. depending on the grain a piece can actually fall off. my question is, is there anything that can be done to stop/deter it.

take care
john

[Canseco44]

I think the term "deadwood" probably originated in the big leagues. Once they get so pounded the wood starts to seperate, it probably takes some of the "pop" out of the bat. This probaly makes the bat feel "dead." I personally love my bats to have deadwood. I have a couple of Canseco gamers that are almost shredded.

Todd

[kingjammy24]

..rack marks are the (usually somewhat) longish, thin, black lines that run down the side of the barrel, parallel to the grain. Is that right?..

rack marks should be whatever color the bat rack is painted. are there many black bat racks? they're usually painted in one of the team colors. in searching for older jays bats, i specifically try to look for blue rack marks.

the black lines you reference can often be caused by the bat being pulled/dragged against black bats in the same space.

rudy.

[Birdbats]

Rudy's correct. Most black streaks on natural bats likely are caused by black bats.

[godwulf]

Rudy's correct. Most black streaks on natural bats likely are caused by black bats.

Okay, well, that makes sense. So a typical "rack mark" could be any color other than black, then? Or even, if it had been caused by an unpainted rack, just a long, uncolored scratch?

Was I correct in labeling those little gouges at the end of the barrel "cleat marks"?

Then there's the black bat, the paint on which has begun to form into blisters and flake off, commonly seen on Louisville Sluggers manufactured between 2000 and 2004, and which I have taken the liberty of designating as suffering from "Brian's Disease". (Just kidding, BMH!! :D ]

[FanofGriffey3]

Great topic.

I agree it would be cool if this site has some sort of game used glossary for new collectors.

Chris