I got Tom Browning's book "Tales From The Cincinnati Reds Dugout" and it is a really good, easy read so far. There was one exerpt I found interesting when he was reminiscing about Marge Schott, he explained that when players got wind that she was having bat boys collect cracked bats and then selling them in the team store, players started breaking every bat in two by banging it against a wall or juming on it.
The co-author even noted that the bat breaking tradition went on long after 1990. When the team moved stadiums, he wrote that Dennys Reyes (a pitcher with 29 total ABs) was found to have 30 bats, all broken completely in two. Not a cracked bat to be found. And he stated there were literally "thousands" of similarly broken-in-two bats found stored.
The co-author even noted that the bat breaking tradition went on long after 1990. When the team moved stadiums, he wrote that Dennys Reyes (a pitcher with 29 total ABs) was found to have 30 bats, all broken completely in two. Not a cracked bat to be found. And he stated there were literally "thousands" of similarly broken-in-two bats found stored.
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