Question about game used bases.

[flota89]

I recently got a game used base directly from the Cardinals. On the base there is an mlb sticker and two dates (august 21, 2007 and august 24, 2008). Albert Pujols hit a home run both of those days. When i typed the mlb code into mlb.com it shows the base being used on only august 21, 2007. Do bases get used in two games like this often? The people in the store told me it was definately used in both games and it was the first base in both games. What does everyone think? Thanks!

[David]

The MLB online descriptions can sometimes be inexact and a bit peculiar, so your bat may well have been used in the 2 games as you were told. For an example of inexact and peculiar, the MLB site sometimes lists game used bats as game issued. The game issued isn't wrong, as all game used bats were game issued, but it doesn't give the full story.

[David]

In short, if the Cardinals store said it was definitely used in two games, I see no reason to doubt what they told you.

[metsbats]

Two games 3 days apart is odd. Are those years correct as they are 1 year apart too which would be really odd.

The Mets used new bases for each game and over the years starting with Steiner changed bases every 3 innings. They used 9 bases per game and then sold them.

[flota89]

They told me they used the bases two random times. Im sure the three days apart was just random. They were all used in separate years.

[metsbats]

Not all teams will change the bases like the Mets who are over saturating the market with 9 bases per game.

Not sure why the Cardinals would misrepresent the base so it probably is what they say it is.

[coxfan]

On my occasional trips to Atlanta, it looks like bases are changed every three innings. How many are authenticated and put up for sale varies widely and unpredictably and across teams; nor is there any way I know of to tell if bases are cleaned and reused. I've read several books by and about batboys and similar jobs, but none have alluded to bases though they discuss other g-u items such as balls. Bases are bulky to store, so if sales are slow, the number put aside for sale is undoubtedly reduced.

[Birdbats]

I have no idea if this is the case or not -- just my theory -- but the Cardinals also were saturating the market with bases. People snapped them up in 2005, the last season of old Busch. They bought them like crazy in 2006, the first season at new Busch. They also bought them in early 2007 because they had the World Series champs logo on them. But, it reached a point where fans had all the bases they wanted. So, early in 2007, the Cards went back to plain bases vs. bases with logos on top. These plain bases sat in inventory -- tough sells because they were plain and most people had all the bases they wanted. My theory is that when the Cardinals needed to buy bases for 2008, they looked at all the bases they had in storage -- already hologrammed and ready for sale -- and decided "why not used them again?" So, they did... which explains why the hologram would match its use in 2007 but not 2008. Again, I don't know if this is how it happened, but it sure is consistent with the situation. I'm sure, though, that if the Cards say they were used for games in 2007 and 2008, they're not making that up. They're very good at writing the dates and even the innings of use on the back of each base.

[David]

My guess is the key for MLB was to authenticate/hologram the base as game used and there was no pressing need to authenticate a second time a hologramed game used base a second time. The MLB hologram says the base was originally authenticated as game used and the Cardinals are telling you they kept it and resused it later. The Cardinals may have felt that since the base was already authenticated and hologramed as game used, there was no need to get it reauthenticated.

[rj_lucas]

On my occasional trips to Atlanta, it looks like bases are changed every three innings.

In the case of bases authenticated by MLB, I've seen specific attributions like 'Innings 1-3', 'Innings 1-9', and 'Entire Game' (the latter two being the same, but the wording differing depending on who wrote the description).

Rick
rickjlucas@gmail.com