Ryan Braun Photomatched SAM Bat 5/13-5/20

[zookerman182]

Well i finally have a Brewers bat that is nicely photomatched and here it is. I got the bat from a forum member when i visited Milwuakee for game 3 of the NLDS. I had no idea at the time it could be matched to so many games. The MLB holo database had the bat as being cracked on May 20th vs pitt so i figured since the bat had so much use that it may have been used in games before this. I contacted Kyle Hess (photomatch expert) and asked him if he would compile screen shorts and other pictures. He just e-mailed me the finished matches and video of braun breaking the bat. Here are Braun's numbers while using the bat.

May 13- braun started using bat but its not clear what inning
May 14- 0-4
May 15- braun used 2 bats during this game one being lvs which he broke. He then used this sam bat to hit a solo HR in the 8th inning.
May 17-
Game 1 DH- 3/5 solo HR off Papelbon
Game 2 DH- 0-5
May 18- 2-4, 2HR, 4 RBI
May 20- 1-1 broken bat RBI single in the 1st inning

Overall that i know of- 7-20, 4 HR, 7 RBI

Here are the different photomatches from the games.

May 13th knob match


May 17 Barrel match


May 18 ball mark match


May 17 looks to be knob match


May 18 looks to be knob match


May 20 1st inning weight donut marks


weight donut marks


A big thank you goes out to Kyle for helping me with this bat and also a big thank you goes out to JR for trading me this bat.

[zookerman182]

correction: Braun broke his bat in the 5th inning of the May 20th game not the first. And instead of him going 1-1 which is what i thought, he actually went 2-3 that game while using this bat making him 8-22 while using the bat.

Also i have seen much better and clearer photomatches of bats and other items but given the production date on the top of the barrel 4-24-08 and the MLB hologram date 5-20-08 and the many matches found i have no doubts about the bat being used during these games.

[jetersbatboy]

I want one too!!! Awesome bat!!! What a find!!!
Your one lucky guy Matt.

[wjonesIII]

Wow! Awesome job Kyle. I am very impressed. Your bat just tripled in value.

[allstarsplus]

Awesome bat and great teamwork with Kyle! I struggle all the time with photomatches.

Ryan should be Top 3 in MVP voting for all of his heroics with the bat and glove this year. I think Ryan Howard got so much pub the last few weeks of the season and Chase Utley got so much April to July, but Ryan Braun's numbers were great too until his back injury.

ROY in 2007 and an amazing Sophomore year!!!

My big question, Mikita has no game used bats so where are the rest of them??????

[zookerman182]

i figured mikita would be able to get some but they were not able to get one all season long. Apparently braun doesnt like his bats getting out and on top of that i heard that he uses his bats til they break and MLB has been taking all of his and prince's bats throughout the whole season for tests. I'm hoping we see alot of these hoarded bats in some MLB auctions sometime soon.

Also if anyone ever has a bat or anything that can be photomatched Kyle is the man!!!

[SkubeBats]

Matt,
Nice photo match on your Ryan Braun bat. Wish I could get a photo match of my Braun bat. I'm just glad you were able to find one, and to find out how great a bat it turned out to be. Great pick up!!
Jamie
jlschultz180@wi.rr.com

[allstarsplus]

MLB has been taking all of his and prince's bats throughout the whole season for tests.

We have all heard that MLB has taken most of the bats but players that I deal with have kept many of their broken bats, but the one thing I have noticed is that most of the bats don't have MLB holograms, but a few still did.