Need help with ink transfer from ball on bat

[MJB14]

I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with this question. Have the ink transfers from the baseballs on bats always shown up, and if not when did they start appearing on bats? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

[emann]

Possibly of a little help, but not really an answer: the earliest bats I own with definite ink transfers are late 70s-early 80s. Also, the blue stamping seems easier to see than the black (and appears to transfer better).

[MJB14]

Thanks that does help. Do you or anyone know when it switched from black to blue ink? Thanks in advance.

[xpress34]

Up until the use of the 'unified' baseball - the OMLB (Official Major League Ball) in 2000, the OAL (Official American League Ball) always had Blue stampings (albeit a lighter shade of blue than the OMLB). The ONL (Official National League Ball) always had Black stampings.

This is true from the 1st OAL Ball (1901 forward) and ONL Balls (1901 forward). Prior to the American League (1901) pretty much every Official Ball I've ever seen had Black stampings.

Also of note (for those that care about the Ball and it's history) is the fact that from 1901 to 1933, OAL and ONL balls could also be distinguished by their thread colors. OAL balls were stitched with Red and Blue thread, ONL balls were stitched with Red and Black thread.

One final piece of information - if you have a game used bat that might have been used in late 1999 and possibly into early 2000. If it appears to have a 'greyish' or 'silver' ball mark, it would have been used on Opening Day 2000.

The 1st 'unified' ball was the 'Millenium' Ball that was only used in play on Opening Day 2000 and which has Silver stampings.

I hope this is helpful and useful information for those that might need it.

- Smitty

[xpress34]

I forgot to mention that the 'Swingman' logo on balls also did not appear until the use of the 'unified' OMLB in 2000.

- Smitty