Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

[kylehess10]

I know for a fact that the study involving broken bats started on July 2nd, 2008, but does anyone know exactly when it ended? I'm stuck wondering if it ended once the season ended or if this study took broken bats from the playoffs as well. Does anybody have a MLB authenticated bat from the playoffs last year with the blue tape or weird randomly-numbered stickers on it (from the study)?

[BMH]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

It ended in the beginning of August.

[TigerSteve]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Not from the playoffs but I've got a few bats with the study stickers on them from the Tigers. I havnt bothered to take off any of the stickers yet, I think it's kind of cool.

-Steve
shortyx517@hotmail.com

[kylehess10]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

BMH - Thanks SO much for that info. I had originally thought it went to atleast the end of the season....and I was actually curious as to why a Casey Kotchman bat I have still has the tape job on it. It was from late-August, which was after the study was over apparently. I appreciate it!


TigerSteve - Same here. I keep my stickers on them because it's interesting seeing all these random stickers from the study. Just having bats involved in the study is pretty cool to have in my opinion.

[LWMM]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Were maple bats produced in 2008 marked with a black dot on the handle? If so, were only bats for MLB players marked as such, or all bats?

[kylehess10]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Were maple bats produced in 2008 marked with a black dot on the handle? If so, were only bats for MLB players marked as such, or all bats?

I believe that started this year. I haven't seen any bats from 2008 like that

[BMH]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Yes, the "Ink test" started in 2009.

[LWMM]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

I have two bats used by Jonny Gomes in late 2008 (while in AAA), both with what I have been assuming to be the ink dot. Could the test have begun earlier, or is this something else?

Best photos I have on me:

Bat 1 (dot at the bottom right of the break):



Bat 2 (closeup of a crack---dot is at the far left of it, half missing with the missing wood):

[MLB_Authentic]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Your Gomes bats are from 2009. You can tell by the PRO-????? number down by the name. I can promise you these are 2009 bats, without question.

[MLB_Authentic]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

The PRO numbers are Maxbats way of keeping track of when the bat was turned as per the new MLB rules. It corresponds to a "turn date" on their spreadsheets. Hope this helps.

[LWMM]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

That's odd---the seller I bought them from told me that he obtained them in 2008 at two separate Durham Bulls games. I don't have any reason to doubt his story, especially as he lives extremely close to Durham (Gomes played for Louisville and Cincinnati in 2009).

Assuming that the seller was correct, the bats would have been made before August 5th 2008, when Gomes was sent down from Tampa to Durham; as both have 31, Gomes' MLB number, on the end, instead of the 40 he wore at Durham, I assume he carried an order of bats down with him. Is there any chance that late 2008 MAX bats could have been coded similarly to 2009 bats?


The numbers on both bats are J09-0040

[MLB_Authentic]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

NO, I can tell you with 100% certainty they are 2009 bats. I know first hand.

[MLB_Authentic]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Hence, the J09. The J stands for Jim, which is Jim Anderson, these bats were made off of his spreadsheet. Jim is an owner. He has his own spreadsheet that his orders go on, and they also have a Maxbat spreadsheet that phoned in orders go on. The 09 stands for 2009. The 040 means it was the 40th order off of Jim's spreadsheet in 2009. So they are likely 2009 Spring Training bats.

[Manram]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Also why would he have a red max bat logo, when he played on a green team?

[LWMM]

Re: Question regarding 2008 broken bat study...

Also why would he have a red max bat logo, when he played on a green team?

Christmas spirit? But he had a silver logo in 2007, so I'm not sure that it's specifically meant to use team colours.