Louisville contract bats

[lakeerie92]

This has to have been discussed before here, but I searched threads and found nothing. If there is one a link to it would suffice. My question is what does the Louisville Slugger contract entail? I gather it is a 10 year contract from a BMH post about Joey Votto, but what are the stipulations? The reason for the question is I noticed that Troy Tulowitzki (a contract player) hit 24 of his 27 HRs this year with a bat other than Louisville Sluggers. He used SAM bat and Mizuno for most of the season including 14 of his 15 home runs in his record breaking September. So if he is a contract player why the other bats? I have been thinking about this way too much and finally decided to ask for an answer.

[metsbats]

Re: Louisville contract bats

I don't believe (Brian can confirm) that endorsing Louisville Slugger stipulates that the player use only Louisville slugger bats exclusively or maybe HB is not that strict in enforcing it.

I know other bat companies in the past have been stricter. For instance there are examples of Reggie Jackson HB bats which have been taped so that the bat looks like it has an Adirondack ring. (see photos below)

When Shinjo played for the Mets he had an exclusive deal with Descente bats however he occasionally used a Joe McEwing black C271 with the silver branding colored out with black marker to hide the HB branding (see the Shinjo McEwing gamer compared to the regular McEwing gamer)

Given that these players went out of their way to disguise these other bats leads us to believe the contracts were exclusive and enforcable.

[metsbats]

Re: Louisville contract bats

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=15024&highlight=contracts

I found an older thread on which Brian responds to this question.
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I'm not 100% sure of all the stuff involved in our contracts but I'll tell you what I know. Usually if a player signs with us they'll get some money. I think it's around $1500 or so for the first three years of the contract. More or less depending on the player. There are usually stipulations in the contract about awarding more money or "gifts" for batting titles, all star game, play off's and WS appearances.

Player's aren't allowed to have multiple contracts. They do however use other bats even if they are under contract. Technically, they're not supposed to but you can't really stop them and you don't want them running your name through the mud in the clubhouse either.
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Brian Hillerich