Rookie v Rookie era for GU Bats

[danesei@yahoo.com]

I got into a disagreement with an eBay seller (who is somewhat respected in the older game used bat collecting community) over his Dwight Evans rookie bat on eBay. In 1972-1973, Evans wore the number 40, and there are photos from Topps that clearly show him holding a bat with 40 written on the knob. I contend that a true rookie bat would possess characteristics (in this case, the 40 on the knob) that could only be applied to a player's rookie eligible seasons. Since Evans started wearing 24 in 1973, it's possible that he would have rookie bats with 24 on the ends, but without a definitive methodology of dating the bat to 1973, it seems such a bat (1973-1975 labeling) would need to be deemed as a rookie era bat.

Seller said that I'm wrong, and a 1973-1975 bat would be a rookie bat. Is this accurate?

[AWA85]

I have had issues with the same seller regarding a Barry Larkin bat that is not a rookie bat. Even after laying out all the facts, it remains listed and relisted time after time as a Rookie bat.

From the MLB page, to be considered a rookie:

Determining rookie status:
A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

Evans was a September call up in 72, making his 73 year a full rookie season. By MLB rules anything beyond 73 is not considered rookie year/era or anything like that. People slap that on early model bats to drive up the price and it isn't a true description.

I use Baseball Almanac to look up numbers of players that get called up in their early years (example Barry Larkin for #15 for two years before becoming the famous #11 we all know). When looking up Evans, it shows he wore 40 and 24 each of the first two years. Not sure if that matters here in your case, but interesting to know if it is correct.

[staindsox]

Evans only played in 18 games in 1972. Since he wore #24 during part of the following season, I think it would be fair to call it a rookie era bat.

[gorilla777]

I too would go with Rookie Era, unless you have something specific in the ordering records, rock solid provenance or the odd rookie number like in Adam's example with Larkin and #15, etc.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

I use Baseball Almanac to look up numbers of players that get called up in their early years (example Barry Larkin for #15 for two years before becoming the famous #11 we all know). When looking up Evans, it shows he wore 40 and 24 each of the first two years. Not sure if that matters here in your case, but interesting to know if it is correct.

Well, I go based upon Baseball-reference.com info. It seems thebaseballcube.com agrees with Baseball Almanac for the 24/40 in both years, but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If the Red Sox assigned #24 to Evans in 1972, there'd be no reason for him to go back to #40 in 1973. I mean, it just doesn't seem logical.