ghostkid
08-18-2006, 08:25 PM
Hi Ya'll,
I have been keeping abreast of the Tris Speaker bat issue and sure hope things work out to everyone's satisfaction. In that thread, the question arose about the difference between game issued bats and game used bats (I think it was originally asked by Rudy). I think the answer to this question has two components.
For the vintage stuff (pre-1980's), professional model bats were made to be used swung at the oncoming pitch, not as decorative wall hangings. Thus, it is quite rare to find a vintage professional model bat with no use (aka. game issued only). In fact, most of the vintage bats I have show heavy use/cracks/knicks/etc. This seems to be even more true of the pre-WWII bats.
For the most part, the concept of game used versus game issued is really most relevant when discussing the newer bats. Along with the huge salaries and all the other perks, present-day players are shipped so many bats there's really no way they could use all of them (IMHO). Thus, the invention of the game issued bat. Oh yeah, lest we forget all those card shows with the ballplayers hawking their autographs on replica bats. I could really go on and on here, but I'm quite confident you'd get bored rather quickly.
Suffice it to say that, in my experience, early pro model bats are really game used and not just "game issued". Who used the bat is an entirely different question...
Kevin Kasper
kevinkasper@netzero.com
I have been keeping abreast of the Tris Speaker bat issue and sure hope things work out to everyone's satisfaction. In that thread, the question arose about the difference between game issued bats and game used bats (I think it was originally asked by Rudy). I think the answer to this question has two components.
For the vintage stuff (pre-1980's), professional model bats were made to be used swung at the oncoming pitch, not as decorative wall hangings. Thus, it is quite rare to find a vintage professional model bat with no use (aka. game issued only). In fact, most of the vintage bats I have show heavy use/cracks/knicks/etc. This seems to be even more true of the pre-WWII bats.
For the most part, the concept of game used versus game issued is really most relevant when discussing the newer bats. Along with the huge salaries and all the other perks, present-day players are shipped so many bats there's really no way they could use all of them (IMHO). Thus, the invention of the game issued bat. Oh yeah, lest we forget all those card shows with the ballplayers hawking their autographs on replica bats. I could really go on and on here, but I'm quite confident you'd get bored rather quickly.
Suffice it to say that, in my experience, early pro model bats are really game used and not just "game issued". Who used the bat is an entirely different question...
Kevin Kasper
kevinkasper@netzero.com