Jim and Mike,

During the past couple of weeks, I've seen two bats on eBay that are not consistent with factory records. There was the George Brett hickory R79 (no record of R79 orders or of hickory finishes for Brett) and now there's the Willie McGee S207 (no record of S207 orders for Willie). Clearly, these bats were manufactured by H&B -- they're not fake. So, why do we see bats that do not exist on factory records?

Is it because someone simply forgot to record the order?

Is it because another player is ordering a teammate's bat because he believes the "star" player gets bats with superior wood?

Are their other explanations?

Also, regarding the issue of players ordering bats of teammates, I understand this used to happen a great deal. A few years back, I helped a former player sell his collection, which included three Willie Mays bats -- but all had the player's number on the knob, not Willie's. He said he ordered Willie's G69L model for himself because he was sure Willie's bats were made from the best wood. I think many collectors assume that only the player himself (via the equipment manager) can order his own bats. Can you give us some insight into how one player can order another player's bats... and how this is handled/recorded on the shipping records?

This is a topic about which I've always been curious; the Brett and McGee bats simply make it topical. Thanks!

Jeff
http://www.birdbats.com