Branding changes with H&B

[BMH]

Well at the Winter Meeting I had a short discussion with Roy Krasik about bats and I agreed to do my best to make our bats follow the rules better. Mainly, the dipping half dip bats to 18in from the knob (currently were around 17in) and our brands being out of spec.

So, what does that have to do with bats well, moving the dip line moves the branding. On Maple, you won't notice a difference except the logo will be closer to the dip line. On our foil and burn brand bats you will notice a difference. On several of our models our brands do not go on properly at the 18in mark because of the shape of the bat and the lack of adjust-ability in our machines. So, on some models (I13's, C243's, etc,) you might see a center brand without the "Powerized" attached to it. It's not a mistake, just an easy solution to comply with the rules set forth by MLB.

[lakeerie92]

Great information. Thanks for the heads up Brian. I have seen a few Maple bats with the center brand decal from the 2008 time frame. Is this just a rare occurrence or is there a reasoning behind it. Here are some examples of what I am talking about.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/270859270102?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1287

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-Brian-McCann-Atlanta-Braves-Game-Used-Bat-MLB-Authenticated-/320802806439?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab1565aa7#ht_500wt_1287

[BMH]

Different issue, that is when Mr. McCann thought one side of his bat was shaped differently than the other side. He said it looked like our lathe was taking out too much material on one side...I still beat my head on the wall sometimes when I think about that story.

[G1X]

Brian,

Perhaps McCann is on to something. Maybe this is a different issue, but let me share my experience.

This past year I went to two of the major chain retail sporting goods stores in my area searching for a couple of maple Pro Stock Model C271 (125 Powerized M9) bats to use in a local wood bat league. Having purchased about a dozen guitars over the years, I always made it a practice to look down the neck of a guitar to be sure that it looked straight before making the purchase. Well, for some strange reason, I have always done this with baseball bats.

Oddly enough when I looked down the barrel as I rotated each of the maple bats, at least half of them appeared to be slightly out of alignment. None of the Pro Stock Ash C271 bats seemed to have this issue - just the maples. Next, I held and swung the bats and continued observing the "lines" closely. To my eyes, some of the bats still appeared to be out of alignment. I then went to the next test and rolled each of the bats across the floor. The ones that looked "straight" to my eyes rolled smoothly and evenly across the floor. The ones that did not look exactly straight "wobbled" slightly at a certain point in each 360-degree rotation. I ended up purchasing the "straight" bats.

It almost looked as though there was a slight warp or bow, similar to what happens to a guitar neck. Is this normal to not be "straight"? Just curious as I have never observed this before with any Pro Stock bat I have purchased retail. (I even went home and looked at the uncracked game-used maple bats in my collection and found no issues.)

Mark Hayne
gixc@verizon.net

[BMH]

That is a case of Maple warping, we don't want it to happen but it does. McCain was stating one side of his bat was shaped differently than the other side. When he sent some back the first thing I did was check to make sure they were straight, they were. His was an optical illusion. Yours unfortunately is a defect associated with the use of Maple.

[brianborsch]

Hey Brian,

Can we see some pics of the changes? Just so we can be prepared when some of these bats start circulating? Thanks!

BB

[G1X]

That is a case of Maple warping, we don't want it to happen but it does. McCain was stating one side of his bat was shaped differently than the other side. When he sent some back the first thing I did was check to make sure they were straight, they were. His was an optical illusion. Yours unfortunately is a defect associated with the use of Maple.

Brian,

Thanks for the explanation on both issues. Your input on various topics regarding Louisville Slugger bats is always very educational and much appreciated

Mark Hayne
gixc@verizon.net

[Sabresfreak]

I was watching the Rays vs. Yankees and noticed BJ Upton's bat didn't have the ''Powerized" logo
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/sabrefreak99/IMG_2931.jpg