Bat Knob Numbers...

[grenda12]

We've all seen them. Bat knob number stickers.

I was just looking at my game used bats and I noticed that the majority of the bat knob numbers are stickers. Where did the idea come from? Who started it? Do most players use them? Who makes them?

What do you think of them? Are they better than writing the number on the knob. Anybody have any preference.

[shoremen44]

I personally don't have a single gamer with a sticker... I know Pujols used them for a while from schutt sports (thanks to Jeff Scott)... but I have never seen or had the chance to buy one

[TNTtoys]

We've all seen them. Bat knob number stickers.

I was just looking at my game used bats and I noticed that the majority of the bat knob numbers are stickers. Where did the idea come from? Who started it? Do most players use them? Who makes them?

What do you think of them? Are they better than writing the number on the knob. Anybody have any preference.

Liz, I think I have only seen them on current White Sox bats. The fact you're a White Sox collector might be the reason why you have them on the majority of your bats. I can safely say I don't own a bat with a sticker. I did notice that some of the newer bats I have contain factory stamped numbers on the knobs.

[grenda12]

Hmm. Didnt know the WS were the main ones to use them. Did any other company make these besides schutt sports?

[geoff]

Carl Crawford does this for some of his Bats.I have a few that has his Number 13 in White Sticker.

[5kRunner]

I think the (Devil) Rays have done the stickers for a while. Camarokids would know exactly when they started. I think they were the first ones.

[Birdbats]

I know Schutt sports started offering stickers to different clubs about 4-5 years ago. Tampa Bay was one team on which several players started using them. There also were a few Cardinals and Braves guys who used them (Pujols, Edmonds and Andruw Jones included). The only year I saw them in use in St. Louis was 2005 (after a series in Tampa Bay). Schutt is based in Illinois -- perhaps the White Sox have been working with Schutt. I don't know of any other company that makes a "third party" sticker, but I have seen X-Bats that have number stickers with individual digits (vs. a printed disk). I assume those come from the factory like that, but don't know for sure. Here's an article I wrote for my Web site back in 2005: http://webpages.charter.net/birdbats...20stickers.htm

[camarokids]

I think the (Devil) Rays have done the stickers for a while. Camarokids would know exactly when they started. I think they were the first ones.

Starting in Spring Training 2005 the Devil Rays began using the stickers.

[camarokids]

Just wanted to add, not all the players on the Devil Rays have used the stickers since they started using them in 2005.

Example, Akinori Iwamura does not use them. His bats have a 1 stamped into the knob end by Nike.

[Swoboda4]

For collecting I don't like them. They would be easy to forge and not hard to make appear to be aged or used. A magic marker on the knob is much better for our purposes. When Alfonzo used Ventura's bat all the forger would have to do is remove Edgardo's number sticker and place a number 4 sticker on,bang it on the ground a couple of times and the eventual collector would never know edgardo was the real user of the bat. But a sharpee no.13 on the knob is harder to remove to fool the collector. So,I don't like stickers at least for our purposes.