How long between a bat being produced and being used in a game?

[treant985]

Does anyone know about how long it usually takes between when a bat is produced and when the player will use it in a game? The best ones for this would be Sam Bats (which is what I'm interested in anyway), where we can get an exact date of production, and then people who've photomatched the bat can give the time it was used.

I've got a Manny Ramirez SAM bat that's labeled '10 4 04' which I'm guessing is Apr 10, 2004, rather than Oct 4, 2004. And I'm trying to get an estimate of when he actually might've used it in a game.

[allstarsplus]

The SAMs are great especially when they are tagged later with MLB holograms so you can follow from bat production to actual game use.

Here is a great example of a Cristian Guzman SAM bat I just put up on eBay this week.

Bat made on 2/21/08 and then bat was cracked on 4/21/08 so almost exactly 2 months apart.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cristian-Guzman-...QQcmdZViewItem

I can't say this is a trend as I had Alfonso Soriano bats that were made during the season that were used shortly afterwards in games.

[Sheffield11]

Does anyone know about how long it usually takes between when a bat is produced and when the player will use it in a game? The best ones for this would be Sam Bats (which is what I'm interested in anyway), where we can get an exact date of production, and then people who've photomatched the bat can give the time it was used.

I've got a Manny Ramirez SAM bat that's labeled '10 4 04' which I'm guessing is Apr 10, 2004, rather than Oct 4, 2004. And I'm trying to get an estimate of when he actually might've used it in a game.

I doubt they messed up the date, manny probably used the bat in the beginning of 05 which is commom for many players.

[treant985]

I doubt they messed up the date, manny probably used the bat in the beginning of 05 which is commom for many players.

I'm just used to other Sam bats that have the european style dating (DD MM YY)...does anyone know when they stopped doing that?

[gamer35]

Treant, if you post some pics I can possibly help you identify when your bat was used.

[treant985]

Here are the ones the guy had on the listing. I think the seller's reputable, so I don't think it's been tampered with or anything to look 'more' game used.

[gamer35]

I am not sure if the bat displays Manny use characteristics, looks like all of the ball marks are on the wrong side of the barrel. Also, I havent seen many legit Manny bats with a shaved handle during his tenure in Boston.

[treant985]

I looked at the ball mark positions, but then I saw a Manny bat that came straight from his authentication, and it appears to have hits on the back of the barrel (albeit not as many as the one I have), and they're also lower down towards the cup like the one I have. ebay # 260265340906.

[gamer35]

I wouldnt use a bat from his 'foundation' as a good example of a true game used bat.

Also, the tape job on your bat looks a little weird, not a typical Manny tape job. I know he traded bats with Tejada during 2005 but am not really familiar with Tejada use characterstics.

[tone1316]

The thing other than the shaved handle that would worry me about this one is the amount of color left from the balls on this bat. I currently own 1 and have handled quite a few manny sam bats and the finish on his sam bats seems to hold up pretty well against white ball marks, usually leaving more of an impression from impact than leather marks. I will say that I do not consider myself an expert however, just an example of what i've seen

One recent ebay example of what I mean.