Discovery of a modern bat's HR history

[dplettn]

I am trying to research a Joey Votto bat to see what home runs he hit with it. The bat does not have "Powerized" burn in, and appears to have been used extensively before it cracked severely in the 1st inning of the June 19th game at Progressive Field. Holding the bat next to a paused TV made it very easy recognize what had become extensive deadwood by the HR at bat in the prior game. But obviously, the bat had a history before that, which I'd like to more fully discover.

People certainly remember Joey's 3 HR game on May 13, after which Cooperstown requested his bat. Votto first wanted to continue using it. Votto hit 11 home runs between May 13 and June 18th, 2012. I'm trying to learn which of the homers were definitely hit, definitely not hit, or may have been hit by this bat I'm researching. The bat is definitively NOT for sale so please know that anyone who aids in this quest will not be creating any sort of marketing hype. Just enjoying the game used hobby. Contributions toward this quest could take many forms (screen caps that detail HR ABs for positive or negative matching, sharing other photomatched HR bats from May 13-June 18, 2012, etc).

05-13 bottom of 1
05-13 bottom of 4
05-13 bottom of 9
05-17 top of 4
05-19 top of 5
05-27 bottom of 1
06-02 top of 1
06-08 bottom of 3
06-12 bottom of 7
06-14 bottom of 1
06-18 top of 1

Obviously, the bat's use didn't show up overnight. Trying to research the bat with the naked eye and looking at pics and DVR recordings got more challenging as I went back into June. I can recognize the bat extensively in pictures, but most photos aren't attributed directly to home run at bats. I primarily collect just balls which are authenticated to hits, or which I personally witnessed as hits before they came out of play. Suffice to say, I haven't endeavored to photo-match very often.

When I looked at a photograph attributed to Votto's HR swing vs Dickey more than a month prior to the bat breaking I saw something surprising...an at least similar mark appears on the plane atop the Ls in "Louisville"... roughly 1/4 or 1/5 the way to the signature panel. Would it be unusual if he homered off Dickey with the same bat he broke a month later?

-dplettn

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I collect Joey Votto items. I am buying (preferred) and when required by the other party will secondarily consider trading for game used Joey Votto items (balls that are Votto hits or Votto HRs, game used bats, etc). If you have such items I’d appreciate to hear from you, even if you are not intending to sell. I am pretty private and don’t post much of my stuff. If you’d like to know what items you might entice from me for a Votto item I’d cherish, you’ll need to start the dialogue. My e-mail is plettner@fuse.net.

If you (like myself) collect or want to collect Joey Votto items or Reds items broadly, please know you can buy direct from the Reds through Jon Cline of Reds Authentics. You can contact him at jcline@reds.com. Reds Authentics’ proceeds go toward the Reds Community Fund. It’s a good cause.

[dplettn]

some additional pics of the bat, after it was broken on June 19th

[dplettn]

Can't believe I'm actually on MLB TV and learning to take image caps. Here's the easiest photomatch for the bat, which is actually clearer to see on a TV with HD-DVR... the last homer this bat hit was career #132 off Derek Lowe in the 1st inning. Another capture from later in the June 18th game lends better to showcasing the bat's wear.

Now the challenging part starts... trying to photomatch the bat to other homers as all that wear and tear was going onto it...

[dplettn]

Can't believe I'm actually on MLB TV and learning to take image caps. Here's the easiest photomatch for the bat, which is actually clearer to see on a TV with HD-DVR... the last homer this bat hit was career #132 off Derek Lowe in the 1st inning. Another capture from later in the June 18th game lends better to showcasing the bat's wear.

Now the challenging part starts... trying to photomatch the bat to other homers as all that wear and tear was going onto it...

[dplettn]

Home Run 131 on June 14th in Cincinnati off Josh Tomlin in the 1st was challenging to photo-match because of a lot of blurry sequences trying to MLBTV in HD on current internet connection. There are some additional video segments also from the correct which I hope to grab nice screen shots of (near the MLB logo on the bat) when I capture them without being subject to a blurry render. The first three caps are all taken from the HR AB. The 4th cap shown in the MLBTV viewer is from his 2nd AB, and I think displays the bat nicer, either thanks to the camera work or a better render.

[dplettn]

Career HR #130, June 12th off Tony Sipp in the 7th inning of was the 1st of three homers with the bat against the Indians which would span 2 series. This one made for a rather easy photo-match.

The 1st two images are from the HR at-bat. The third image (from the 5th inning) I think best showcases the bat and its wear on this day of its history. In the week before the bat would crack, Joey would thereafter hit 3 HRs with the bat.

[dplettn]

I hesitate to conclude a photo-match for June 8th's career HR #129 in the 3rd off the Tigers' Rick Porcello, largely based on my own inexperience and not wanting to trust my own assessment too much.

I would be grateful for opinions and insights from those with more experience than myself. While it appears to be the bat, I fear seeing what I want to see rather than what is objective. This may sound strange, but I would be grateful to anyone who can note observations to challenge it being the same bat. Any ideas to stress-test an apparent match here?

The captures from this game are in chronological order with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of those below being from the 129th career HR at bat.

Again, this effort is entirely for knowledge and in effort to attain reasonable certainty from a forum of experts. There is absolutely zero chance the bat will ever be offered for sale.

[dplettn]

A first unfortunate discovery...

The top of 1st, June 2nd HR off of Wandy Rodriguez was not hit by the same bat. Votto used at least 2 different bats on June 2nd. While some of the at bats are difficult to determine what bat he was using, there are really good images from the 1st, 6th, and 8th innings. Votto definitively used a singular different bat (not this one), for the 1st inning HR AB and the 6th inning single.

[dplettn]

Determining a non-photomatch is at least easier and less time consuming than finding comfort in a positive photomatch.... anyway, more adverse discoveries...

Although the knob labeling appears particularly similar, other things don't match up on the bat to the May 27th HR off Moyer or the May 19th HR off Nova. The May 27th HR off Moyer appears the same different bat as the June 2 HR AB bat.

[dplettn]

After viewing additional high resolution photographs including May 17 and confirming that the May 13 bat definitely has cracked and make its way to Cooperstown, the bat I researched appears to have hit only four Home Runs, career HRs # 129, 130, 131 and 132.

Our hobby is a wonderful one. I have enjoyed the time spent revisiting Votto's May and June ABs in great detail nearly as much as I look forward to seeing his return, hopefully September 1. Go Reds!


I collect Joey Votto items. I am buying (preferred) and when required by the other party will secondarily consider trading for game used Joey Votto items (balls that are Votto hits or Votto HRs, game used bats, etc). If you have such items I’d appreciate to hear from you, even if you are not intending to sell. I am pretty private and don’t post much of my stuff. If you’d like to know what items you might entice from me for a Votto item I’d cherish, you’ll need to start the dialogue. My e-mail is plettner@fuse.net.

If you (like myself) collect or want to collect Joey Votto items or Reds items broadly, please know you can buy direct from the Reds through Jon Cline of Reds Authentics. You can contact him at jcline@reds.com. Reds Authentics’ proceeds go toward the Reds Community Fund. It’s a good cause.