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No, but Alex Gonzalez taped his bats this way. There is a chance this is an 06 bat used by Gonzalez. I know Gonzalez used a few of Manny's bats as I have seen an 06 SAM and LVS out there.
I recently found this photo of Manny from a 2006 spring training game with a similar taped knob.
The seller mentions the bat is from last season and has his MR written on the knob. I would ask the seller for a photo of the end of knob where the MR is located, I've seen a few Manny bats with MR on the knob and they are usually written in a specific way.
The seam marks located on the left side of the barrel are typical with Manny bats and look correct.
Let me know if you can get the knob photo from the seller.
I think that X-bat on ebay with the criss cross taped handle was definitely used by another player.
Why would Manny shave down the handle of a bat that was custom made for him, its a "Model 24" made for Manny by X-bat so they would have met with him and he would have specified the size of the barrel, length and weight of the bat and thickness of the handle.
I have not seen Manny use an "X-bat" with a shaved handle, he has taped his "X-bats" in the past, but not in that spiral fashion.
Also the ball marks are located on the right area of the barrel, where Manny's are usually located on the left and middle area of the barrel.
The only guy that shaved his handle on his bats from those years 04-05 was Kevin Millar and he has used Manny bats in the past. If I remember right, Manny's friend who played for the Yankees in 2004 Enrique Wilson taped his bats in a similar way.
Check out the pics below, the first two bats with the shaved handles are Kevin Millar GU Manny bats and were sold as Millar bats. Other players use Manny's bats, including Cesar Crespo using a Manny Ramirez X-bat vs Seattle in May, 2004
Not sure why it was taken off of ebay, the seller of the bat is a forum member, ask him.
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