Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

[dplettn]

I'd be grateful to fellow forum members willing to share ideas as to how (ie: where, what pen) the bat below can best be signed and inscribed. The inscription is longer than average in length, and in my humble opinion it is a very relevant and important inscription.

Thanks in advance for your insights! Please know that what I'd really like to hear opinions on:

• Would others consider having the signature and/or inscription on the tape that holds the broken bat together?
• Or, stick with a relatively fine point silver paint pen pen and use the traditional location? Does anybody have examples of bats that were signed and inscribed with a finer than usual paint pen? Any specific pen suggestions?

[metsbats]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

Don't have the signature on the tape. It would be better with silver pen on the sweet spot.

[Wrigley2010]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

I agree with metsbats don't have it signed anywhere on the tape. Silver paint pen would work best on a black bat and like you said a fine point would also be advantageous. I guess if you had to wrap the inscription around the barrel that would be better than putting any of it on the tape.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

I'd be grateful to fellow forum members willing to share ideas as to how (ie: where, what pen) the bat below can best be signed and inscribed. The inscription is longer than average in length, and in my humble opinion it is a very relevant and important inscription.

What are you asking to have inscribed into it, for starters?

I would have the bat signed in the "sweetspot" (between the two barrel labels), with the inscription under the player name. I would avoid the tape, as the others have said. Personally, I would pay to have a furniture and/or bat specialist repair the bat, if it's that important. I just have a personal aversion to tape on the barrel and residue.

Oh, and to see why you shouldn't have tape signed, look at hockey sticks and tennis rackets. Lots of players will sign on the tape... which usually results in a VERY ugly signature after three years or so.

[cfern023]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

I would remove that tape and replace it with thin gaffers tape musicians use. It's designed to come off clean, and it really doesnt detract from the bat like that white tape does.

You may be able to get it at a musicians supply store in your home town.

With your bat having black on it, I think it would blend in nicely and yet not be deceptive enough to fool anyone.

[stlbats]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

You may want to keep the bat in 2 pieces, which is fine, its your personal preference. If it were me, I would have the bat repaired (Jeff Scott does a great job) and then have it signed (if you have time for the repair before the signing).

Then there would be no issue of the tape being in the way. Although I do prefer my gamers to be cracked with no pieces missing, I always get them repaired if they are in 2 or more pieces.

stlbats
stlbats@bellsouth.net

[dplettn]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

Thanks for the insights shared already. I appreciate the wisdom to avoid penmanship on the tape and also the other ideas (ie: restoration). Restorations have not been my personal taste, but it's something I am considering in this instance. For me, there are pros and cons on both sides of the restoration option. There is a track mark of some sort already through the pine tar, presumably from when it was positioned on something for it to be taped back to one piece and sold. One half of me says that since that track mark wasn't the condition when the bat was in use, I might as well have it restored. But the other part of me considers everything visible about it now (including that track mark) is exactly how it left the team's custody. So aside from Devin himself signing/inscribing it, I'm hesitant to have any alterations affected.

Does anybody have pictures to share of inscriptions done on other bats with a finer than normal paint pen? If anybody can cite the specific pen used in good or bad outcomes, that would certainly be useful to know.

Again, thanks to all!

[dplettn]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

What are you asking to have inscribed into it, for starters?

I have not decided on my favorite wording and it may depend on my impressions of different length exemplars folks can share when they had similar length inscriptions done. But what I think is most relevant about the bat is the grand slam in his first appearance against Bronson Arroyo on May 30th. If I can also attain equal certainty to Devin's 2nd HR in the same game, I'd consider something like "HRs 23 + 24 5-30-14" in addition to a respectful notation about the grand slam.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

2nd career GS.
2nd career multi-HR game.
Career HR 23/24.
Career 82-87 RBIs.

Does the MLB holo say when the bat was broken?

I think you could probably get away with:

Career HRs #23 & 24
Career GS #2

Those two lines should fit under his signature.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

2nd career GS.
2nd career multi-HR game.
Career HR 23/24.
Career 82-87 RBIs.

Does the MLB holo say when the bat was broken?

I think you could probably get away with:

Career HRs #23 & 24
Career GS #2

Those two lines should fit under his signature.

[dplettn]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

2nd career GS.
2nd career multi-HR game.
Career HR 23/24.
Career 82-87 RBIs.

Does the MLB holo say when the bat was broken?

I think you could probably get away with:

Career HRs #23 & 24
Career GS #2

Those two lines should fit under his signature.

Thanks for the input. Yes, the MLB authentication is in database on basis of when broken. The bat's final use was helpful in fact to confirming the match. While many matching elements were abundantly clear, one attribute clearly seen on the Petersen Getty photo attributed to the grand slam AB and seen on broadcasts was far less apparent on the bat as sold by Reds Authentics. So much so, that I lacked certainty at the time of purchasing the bat.

While I can see on the bat where the mystery substance was, until surpassing a critical mass of observing detailed and highly unique perfect matches throughout the bat, my skepticism left me uncertain. Why would the substance have been rubbed off, right?

Point is, it was pleasing to find a high resolution photo (AP 184002629645) of the bat in the air broken (MLB authentication AB) in which that one previously uncertain attribute was visible. So, this was the rare instance where achieving full certainty as to the bat's relevance involves both photo/video matching and MLB authentication.

Can anybody point me to an educated guess as to what the red circled substance likely is? Rosin?

Just so fellow hobby advocates don't fear I achieve certainty easily... the green circles on the photo are among the many positive matches, but even with the pine tar below the "M" and directional grass/debris embedded in pine tar elsewhere on the picture being rather unique, these matches alone were not sufficient to achieve certainty. The most unique matches were apparent in HD video pauses to highly unique patterns/shapes in the pine tar far down on the handle.

On the inscription, I'm more interested in this case in respectfully noting who the pitcher was (Arroyo) than it being his 2nd career Grand Slam. So, I'll tend toward favoring an inscription that includes the date of the multi-HR game and a reference to the respected former-Red pitcher.

[dplettn]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

Having brought up the subject of the mystery substance, I thought it appropriate to share a view of the substance on the swing in which the bat was broken.

Again, does anybody have any insight as to what this substance likely is (rosin perhaps)?

[Nnunnari]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

Hmmm, what is white and makes contact with the barrel of the bat?

[dplettn]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

Hmmm, what is white and makes contact with the barrel of the bat?

I'm not an expert on marks, but I did estimate that a mark from a ball/leather, could not be as glaring/bright/pronounced as what is shown on the bat in the picture of the grand slam swing. If this is an instance where you strongly believe that is what it is, please feel comfortable to state/explain your opinion/observation.

[Nnunnari]

Re: Ideas Please: Unique Insciption on Unique Bat, fine paint pen, or possibly on tape?

I'm no expert on marks either and I'm not sure if I feel comfortable yet stating/explaining my believes/opinions but I'll give it a shot, I'm almost 100% certain it's bird shit.