Pics of the Pujols bat

[Soonerfan65]

Here are pics of the bat in question; I apologize if this doesn't work out all that great as i'm not used to posting pics.

[Soonerfan65]

Sorry for the large pics but here are some more

[Soonerfan65]

Sorry for the blurry pics not sure what I did wrong; i'm not good at posting pics as you can tell

[spartanservitto]

Two things, the mid section tar and red bat rack streaks. Here is a 2002 legit
Pujols I own, light tar mid and also red bat rack marks on the bat indicating the clubhouse rack's red paint.

[rj_lucas]

As Tony said, two characteristics to look for in an early Pujols bat are light tar in the center section of the barrel, extending into the logo (grip area should be totally clean), and markings from the red bat racks at Busch II. Photos of a 2001 bat below.

Pujols is a label up hitter, so contact marks should be confined to the left side of the barrel (i.e. left of the logo as you're facing it with the bat pointed at the ceiling). The majority of contact marks in a Pujols game bat will be concentrated in the sweet spot area. His bats typically exhibit light use. Bats with heavier use and/or a wider spread of contact marks are generally BP bats.

Contact marks on the right side of the barrel are a dead giveaway that the bat was either used by another player, or another player in addition to Pujols.

Two things that jump out at me from your photos are the number '32' written below the number '5' in the first photo and what appear to be contact marks on the right side of the barrel in the third photo.

The Cardinals had two players with the number 32 on their roster in 2003. When reliever Dustin Hermanson went to the Giants, backup catcher Chris Widger switched to number 32.

Given the documented donation of these bats to Cards catcher Mike Matheny, it makes me wonder if Matheny didn't, in turn, give some bats to fellow catcher Widger. That's complete speculation on my part however.

We'll never know for sure, but knowing how obsessive Albert is about his bats, it seems unlikely he would have used a bat already used by another player (i.e. the 5 is written on top of the 32). It's surprising that the presence of the 32 is not noted on the PSA letter.

[spartanservitto]

Man I love that '01 bat!!! Perfect.

[Soonerfan65]

Bat went back to Will at Heroes of Sports and he immediately refunded me what he paid for the bat, which was really the only good way to do it. He bought the bat in good faith from an auction back in April and it already came with the PSA LOA. I can't think Will enough for the professionalism in which he handled this. Thanks. John