Would a star like Garvey ever use a journeyman's bat?

[jwasserman]

I picked up a 1982-1983 LA Dodgers bat of Alejandros (Alex) Taveras. He barely had 50 at bats each season in LA but he wore #37 both years. However, written on the knob in vintage marker is #6 (Garvey's number both years). A long shot but would a star ever pick up a journeyman's bat? Am I right on dating the bat? The only other year Taveras played was 1976 and this is definitely not a bicentennial style LS. There is remnants of tape and pine tar on the handle.

[mariner_gamers]

Looks like a 77-79 to me. Alejandro was traded from the Astros to the Dodgers in 77. It appears he was in their minor leagues until 1982. I assume he has a signature model from this era because he had been in the bigs in 1976. He probably continued to order signature from H&B while in the minors.

I have seen stars use other players bats in the past it is very common. Some players go after what they consider good wood regardless of the name on the bat. I would guess someone in the Dodgers minor league system used this or perhaps Alejandro was #6 in the minors?? I am not a Dodger expert by any means but it seems a stretch to connect it to Garvey in 1982. Anything is possible that is the fun of collecting!! The research is a blast. Keep at it and hopefully someone on here will be able to tie it to a specific player!

Good luck!
Davis

[ironmanfan]

Could be a bat he used in the Minor Leagues as well.....

[suave1477]

Anything is possible.....maybe Garvey just wanted to try out that model and see how it felt maybe it was a bit different from his own model.

We have in stock a Bubba Crosby Model bat Game Used by Jason Giambi, now why would Giambi want to use a Crosby model who knows.... but he did!!!

[Vintagedeputy]

sometimes a player will grab another players bat to break a string of bad luck.

Willie Harris used a souvenir bat and went 6 for 6 with the Braves

[MSpecht]

Although clearly not one of Garvey's favorite models, he did order Mc44 bats twice in 1970. I is certainly possible that he used a teammates Mc44 bat during the 1977-79 time frame, including spring training. It would be interesting to see if any pics of Garvey duting the mid-late 1970's show this type of tape job. Also would be useful to research Tavares' minor league uniform numbers.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[jwasserman]

thanks guys- it looks like taveras did stick around the dodgers farm system for another few years. id wonder why he'd need to have his number written on the knob in the minors given that he was probably the only minor leaguer with his own signature bat!

i tried tracking down taveras- it looks like he's been hopping around as a manager in mexico for some time but doesnt seem to be with any club right now.

[mariner_gamers]

If you find something out even months down the road please fill us in!! In the past few hours I have found myself searching Garvey photos online for tape jobs and numbers on knobs!!! Ahhhhhhh..........

[ironmanfan]

thanks guys- . id wonder why he'd need to have his number written on the knob in the minors given that he was probably the only minor leaguer with his own signature bat!

It really wasn't that uncommon for Minor League players to have their own signature model bats. I have two GU signature model bats from both Doug DeCinces and Tim Nordbrook used during their time in Rochester (AAA) and have seen countless others...

[ndevlin]

Just for fun:

1977 Columbus Astros .216 BA 1 HR 9 RBI
1978 Albuquerque Dukes . 224 BA 0 HR 11 RBI
1978 San Antonio Dodgers .262 BA 1 HR 44 RBI
1979 Albuquerque Dukes .259 BA 0 HR 55 RBI

My guess would be that that is his number on the bat sometime in the minors, or, a teammate. Nice bat