Bats with stars inked on them?

[Number9]

Have seen a couple real nice bats lately that had a star inked on the knob near the player's inked number.
Could someone tell me why some bats have a star inked on the knob?
I have found a forum thread where one member says he put stars on bats he has restored, to denote such a repair. But I've also heard other explanations for a star on a bat: players liking the bat, players having home runs with the bat, etc etc.
Can anyone give me any factual reasons for stars being inked on bats or is it all just speculation as we don't really know?
Thanks in advance.

Mike

[kylehess10]

I don't know the actual facts about why there are stars on some bats, but I hear a lot though that they are homerun bats

[metsbats]

I think we need to defferentiate between a dealer or collector putting a star or any marking on a bat and a player or clubhouse person making such denotations on a bat. If a dealer or collector writes something on the knob of a bat to indicate a repaired bat or some sort of inventory marking then it just defacing a game used bat.

As far as why a player would put a star on a bat i would say it's a matter of personal choice. Ron Bloomberg was known to put the Star of David on the knobs of him bats because of his Jewish descent. I have a Turk Wendell bat which has his number 99 with stars surrounding it and I have no idea why this marking is on his bat. I can safely say it was not because he hit alot of homers with this particular piece of lumber.

David

[Number9]

Thanks guys.
Metsbats, I agree with you. Problem is, how do we know WHO put the star on the bat when we find one like that? That's the disappointing thing. Could be a cool denotation from a player, but on the other hand it may not be from the player.
I guess the only way to know is consistency, if a player has a track record of doing such a thing, like Bloomberg and Wendell as you mentioned.
By the way, I enjoyed the story you posted on the thread at bat wood qualty. Good read, thanks for posting it.

[metsbats]

Your welcome Number 9.

I think the key point as you mention is knowing the player's habits and also the habits of the team equipment people on how they mark the bats.

There was an article in SI regarding how Luis Gonzalez then with the Diamond bat would mark his gamers with a special notation on the knob (it could have been a star) so he can tell the gamers with the nice wood from his BP bats.

In an SCD article in Aug 1996 Tim Lee reported that the Detroit Tigers equipment manager coded player bat knobs with a series of "1"s under the players number. Some folk mistook these marks for homer marks but it was discovered the marks signified how many ounces over 30 the bat weighed. So if there were three "1"s on the bat knob then it meant the bat was a 33 ounce bat.

David

[suave1477]

Number9 if you check the threads here for Chuck Knoblauch you should be able to come up with the thread oh his habits of marking his bats also.

[MSpecht]

During his early years with the Padres, Ozzie Smith had a habit of putting numerous marks on the knob of the bat, along with his uniform number. I have had Oz bats with maybe 7 or 8 stars on the knob in black marker, and another with 7 or 8 small markings of OZ on the knob in black marker. I never thought to ask him if there was any significance, just figured it was kind of doodling.

On a historical note. for three orders of bats in 1925, Rogers Hornsby requested that H & B put "the symbol of a star" on the end of his bats. It is not known whether they were placed on the knob end or barrel end. That request was not documented in his factory records at any other time in his career.

Mike Jackitout7@aol.com

[Number9]

thanks Suave, and Mike.


Mike

[metsbats]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ron-Blomberg-Game-Used-Bat-New-York-Yankees-White-Sox_W0QQitemZ200082024567QQihZ010QQcategoryZ58008Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Here's a Bloomberg gamer on ebay with the star of David on the knob.

David

[R. C. Walker]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ron-Blomberg-Game-Used-Bat-New-York-Yankees-White-Sox_W0QQitemZ200082024567QQihZ010QQcategoryZ58008Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Here's a Bloomberg gamer on ebay with the star of David on the knob.

David

Actually, Zane should have held the bat the other way around. Ask any Motley Crue fan, he's showing it as a pentagram.

This is a Star of David symbol