BMH - Ron Gardenhire Blonde C271

[cmuelken]

Brian,
I have this bat and was wondering if you could help shed some light on it for me. It is a blonde C271 model with no specs on the nob however there is a #20 written on the knob and I believe he wore #19 for his whole career. Just hoping you could tell me when he may have ordered this one or if it may be a minor league bat of his.
Thanks.

[MSpecht]

Here are a couple of things to consider. First, determine the label period of this bat (see below).

1. If it is the "old label" H & B then the bat is from 1979 during Gardenhire's time at minor league Lynchburg (A).

2. If it is the 'large new Louisville Slugger label" (4.5 inches side-to-side) then it would be from the 1980 to 1983 period. In that case, the bat could be from either Gardenhire's time with the Mets, or from either 1980 (minor league Jackson), 1981 at minor league Tidewater (125 games) or 1983 (102 games at Tidewater.)

3. If it is the "small new Louisville Slugger label" (3 7/8 inches side-to-side) then it could be from either Gardenhire's time with the Mets, or at minor league Tidewater (102 games in 1983 and 22 games in 1985.)

4. If the bat has a registration tranemark on the barrel label after the words Louisville Slugger, then it could have been used at minor league Tidewater (1986) or Portland (1987.)

5. You are correct that Gardenhire wore only number 19 while in a Mets' uniform. When you determine the label period of the bat, check old minor league rosters, minor league card sets, programs, etc to determine what number Gardenhire wore during his minor league stops during that label period.

6. The distinct possibility is that the bat, although a Ron Gardenhire signature or block letter model, was either used by Gardenhire for a period, then used by another player on the team, or only used by another player. Again depending on the manufacturing period of the bat, if this occurred while with the Mets, the possible "2nd player" could have been pitcher Greg Harris (1981), pitcher Rick Ownbey (1982, 1983), catcher Mike Fitzgerald (1984), or thirdbaseman Howard Johnson (1985.)

7. The possibility that the "2nd player" was one of Gardenhire's minor league teammates makes the identification process more difficult, again having to depend on old rosters, card sets, and programs.

Good Luck.

Mike Jackitout7@aol.com