Vault marked?

[cjclong]

I have seen the term "vault marked" used in connection with Louisville Slugger bats several times. I am not familiar with this term and would appreciate it if someone could tell me what it means?

[b.heagy]

When players cracked their bats they would send them back to the factory if they needed to order more of that particular model. The factory would then label them in grease pencil with the players name, team, date, specs of bat etc. Often called side written bats. They were kept in the vaults for future reference. These bring a premium when offered. I am sure there is more to add but that is a quick description.

[b.heagy]

Here is an example.

[jboosted92]

I have seen the term "vault marked" used in connection with Louisville Slugger bats several times. I am not familiar with this term and would appreciate it if someone could tell me what it means?


Actually "Vault-marked" is considered when typicall the knob of that bat is marked with the last intial of a players name and a #. like "G33"..

at least thats the interpretation that im aware of..

[ChrisCavalier]

Here is the definition of "Vault Marks" from Vince Malta's upcoming book:

A series of letter(s) and number(s) stamped onto the knob and/or barrel end of a bat, used by the manufacturer as a reference from which to pattern future bats. These bats were stored by the manufacturer in a vault, and retrieved as pattern bats when ordered by a player. Bats stamped with vault marks are usually found in the pre-model number era, before the mid-1940s, and may have been made specifically as pattern bats, or bats returned by players as references for future bat production.

Please feel free to let us know if that answers your question and please thank Vince Malta for the definition.

Sincerely,
Chris Cavalier

[cjclong]

It answers my question perfectly and thank you for the information.