My Personally Significant Adam Dunn Photo Match

[Juan Gris]

I was originally going to write about this in the "Post Your Photo-matched Game-used Items Here" thread (a great read when you have the time) but wanted to go more in-depth on the matches and the personal significance behind a 2nd photo match I was able to make just last night. On 7/24/14, I posted the 1st photo match of my Adam Dunn bat to a baseball card image (see that post here: http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showpost.php?p=361400&postcount=1239). Thanks to my endless pursuit to photo match my Dunn bats, I was able to find something even better...

The bat presented here is a Louisville Slugger Y30 that was ordered in 2001 and used in 2002. Dunn ordered 6 Y30 bats on 8/8/01, 6 on 8/22/01, 6 on 9/28/01 and 5 on 11/10/01 (BMH, thanks again for providing Dunn's order records last month!). My earlier photo match to the baseball card was most likely taken during batting practice in a cold weather climate as Dunn is wearing a batting practice cap and a jacket. In the card image, the bat is nearly unused and has a long life to live before being slathered with pine tar and used in battle.

The photo I was able to match the bat to last night was reportedly taken, "against the San Francisco Giants during a game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California in 2002." The Reds only played one series in San Francisco in 2002, a 3 game series from May 3-5. Aaron Boone (#17) can be seen in the on-deck circle in the background which is accurate as he batted after Dunn in all 3 games. You'll notice that Dunn is wearing long sleeves, which fits with the chilly San Francisco weather conditions for all 3 games:

5/3/02 Start Time Weather: 54° F, Wind 14mph out to Centerfield, Sunny.
5/4/02 Start Time Weather: 59° F, Wind 7mph out to Leftfield, Sunny.
5/5/02 Start Time Weather: 61° F, Wind 7mph in unknown direction, Sunny.

And now for the best part! The first time I saw Adam Dunn play in person was on 4/28/02 in Cincinnati against the Giants. I went to the game with a buddy in hopes that Barry Bonds might hit a home run (he was fresh off his 2001 campaign). Bonds went 1-for-3 with a single but Adam Dunn hit 2 home runs (his first multi-home run game) and made me a lifelong fan. I can't directly tie my bat to that game but knowing he used it 5-7 days later is pretty damn cool.

Here are the pictures:

[Roady]

That is so cool to have it pictured on a baseball card.

Congratulations!

[Juan Gris]

Thanks, Roady! I was really excited when I spotted it on the baseball card but at the same time a little worried that it was a Spring Training photo (which it may very well be) and the bat never saw action in a regular season game. Now that I have it photo matched to a 2002 game played 5-6 days after the first time I saw him play live, it might be my favorite Dunn gamer.

Here I have included the picture of the entire bat from where I cropped the barrel for the game photo match. You'll notice that the taped knob and the pine tar on the visible section of the handle match. Also, it occurred to me last night that I had already looked at Getty Images of Dunn playing in the Sunday May 5, 2002 game (#525558) and determined that my bat was not a match. More importantly, he is wearing short sleeves in the May 5 game so my bat was used either on May 3 or 4.

[Roady]

I have found that many spring training bats or those made during the off season for players are often used during the year.
There is a misconception among many collectors that if a bat was made in the off season it must not have been used during the regular season.
This is simply not the case.

[Juan Gris]

I have found that many spring training bats or those made during the off season for players are often used during the year.
There is a misconception among many collectors that if a bat was made in the off season it must not have been used during the regular season.
This is simply not the case.

I agree with you but am still careful when it comes to bats made in the off season as I've personally come across a number of bats made in the winter months that were only used in Spring Training. It seems reasonable to assume that a bat made in January has a greater likelihood of being used in ST compared to a bat made in July. I just do my home work on a bat no matter when it was manufactured and let the results speak for themselves!

[Roady]

I agree with you but am still careful when it comes to bats made in the off season as I've personally come across a number of bats made in the winter months that were only used in Spring Training. It seems reasonable to assume that a bat made in January has a greater likelihood of being used in ST compared to a bat made in July. I just do my home work on a bat no matter when it was manufactured and let the results speak for themselves!

Agreed. :)