Steinmetz/bird Bats-thoughts?

[hblakewolf]

Currently offered on Ebay is a Pujols "gamer" X bat. What are your thoughts?

http://cgi.ebay.com/2004-ALBERT-PUJO...QQcmdZViewItem

What's interesting is that the seller indicates that Pujols "marks" his bats with a dot above the 5 on the knob after hitting each home run. I've never heard of this before. Likewise, the word BP isa crossed out and GAMER added to the knob. Again, this is not a trait I have seen on Pujols bats.

I have a client seeking anice Pujols, but am curious as to your thoughts.

Thanks.
Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net

[RobSteinmetz]

Howard,

I have owned Pujols bats that had both "BP" and "GAME" hand-written on the knob. I've had some with just "BP", some with just "GAME", and others with both. I've also seen Pujols bats with the dots on the knob, although I confirmed through Todd Perry of the Pujols Family Foundation that they are NOT marks to denote his home runs. I haven't found out exactly what the marks signify, but Albert did confirm (to Todd) that he does not mark his bats when he hits a home run. I'll yield the floor to Jeff, who has forgotten more about Pujols bats than I'll ever know.

[Birdbats]

Howard, here are some random thoughts regarding this particular bat...

• I've seen just a couple Pujols bats with dots on the knob; I have no idea what they mean.
• Albert used to write "Game" on his favorite bats early in his career. I've not seen a bat with this notation since 2003. Not saying he didn't do it after 2003, but I personally haven't seen an example.
• Crossing out the "BP" but not "Game" suggests this was once a BP bat that was promoted to a game bat. I'd think it would be the other way around -- a gamer might get demoted to a BP bat. Seems odd.
• Though I'd like to review video of every at bat to make sure, I recall that Albert didn't use anything but a natural LS M9 throughout the 2004 post season. The photo in the description kind of looks like an X-Bat, but I'm pretty sure it's an M9. In all other Getty photos from the series, Albert clearly is using an M9.
• Albert didn't use X-Bats much at all in 2004.
• The general public could buy X-Bats identical to professional models prior to 2006. I'd like to see a photo of the bat's handle to see if there's a flag -- or at least evidence that a flag was once there.
• Knowing how protective Albert is of his game-used equipment, it seems far-fetched that he'd simply give away a WS game bat, especially after a bitter four-game sweep.

[hblakewolf]

Rob/Jeff-
Thanks for your keen insight. I appreciate it.

Howard Wolf
hblakewolf@patmedia.net