The Adam Dunn Game Used Thread

[Juan Gris]

Here is the black 2001 Louisville Slugger I13 model bat I picked up in the last Goldin Auction (and which was previously mentioned in this thread). It was originally attributed to Dunn's time with the Billings Mustangs in 1998 due to the barrel branding. After referencing Dunn's LVS bat order records and conferring with John Taube, it was determined to be 1 of the 3 bats ordered on 6/12/01 while Dunn was with the Louisville RiverBats. Regarding this bat, John Taube quoted Brian Hillerich as saying:

...As for the MLB/TPX logo, it might be one of the times we forgot to put it on a bat, that happened quite a bit back in the early 2000's since we did not have a "Pro" branding area. Retail and Pro went to the same area so the attention to detail was sometimes forgotten...

According to Goldin Auctions:

This bat does not have "Cincinnati Reds" branded under Dunn's name indicating that the bat was ordered by Dunn as a minor leaguer. There were two orders for Maple I13 models made by Dunn during his 2001 rookie season, one while a member of the Louisville RiverBats, and the second after Dunn was called up to the big leagues with the Reds. With no team name on the barrel, this specific bat can be placed to his order with the RiverBats.

I was pleased with how Goldin Auctions and John Taube worked with me to figure out the back-story on this bat before the auction ended. While playing with the Reds from 2001-2008, Dunn ordered nearly 300 bats with a black finish from Louisville Slugger. This is one of the first 3 black bats Dunn ever ordered and, depending on what happened to the other 2, may be the earliest surviving black Louisville Slugger Dunn bat.