Hi Brett - first off, to let you know, Rose did not order any S2 model bats during the 1977 - 1979 Louisville labeling period. Coud this bat be a legitimate Rose gamer?? Maybe - but its not a documented bat that he ordered. It could be a team indexed bat, or ordered by another player, or a college bat - it does have the look of a professional model bat.

Regarding your question about the Registered Symbol next to the model number S2 - that is very standard and all S2 bats from this period ( when the model number was stamped into the barrel ) and into the 80's and 90's have the Registered Symbol next to S2. It most likely had to do with the patent / registration of the S2 model.

Lastly, it is common for bats that have exposed grain on the knob such as this example, for the marker to run over time into the grain from the number written on the knob. It is hard to tell if something else was ever there, although I have seen and I also have a couple of bats in my collection that are legitimate gamers where the marker has run into the grain such as this bat.

If I can be of any further help, please let me know....tell your dad hello! Jim Caravello