Louisville Slugger Maple bats in 2004 rare?

[brianborsch]

Hello,

I just wanted to get people's overall opinion on this topic. Reading on Birdbats.com about Louisville Slugger bats, I read that in 2004 the maple bats went from having the center logo printed on (Not burned in) as branding it compromised the structural integrity of Maple, as well as having "Select Maple" instead of "Powerized".

It also goes on to state that in mid-2004 they started to come out with the M9 bats for Maple. So my question is:

Is finding a bat that says "Select maple" considered better as it is rarer. You can no longer buy that ype of bat from LVS correct? Let me know your thoughts!

[jon_8_us]

I have the Manny Ramirez "select maple" LVS for sale on the site and from what i have seen in investigating this bat is that they are very rare.I would also love to hear about these bats as well.
jon

[Birdbats]

I'd consider the Select Maple label to be much more scarce since it seems it was done for only part of one season. If you're a collector of Red Sox or Cardinals bats, the Select Maple brand narrows the bat to the World Series season, vs. an M9 bat that could have been made after 2004.

Another note about H&B switching from branding maple bats (as they do ash) to using the M9 sticker: A friend of mine recently had a conversation with an H&B rep and the subject of maple bats came up. The rep said H&B had been making maple bats for a while, but because they weren't marked differently, people didn't notice. Apart from the integrity of the wood issue, he said the M9 sticker was adopted in an attempt to make H&B's maple bats stand out, allowing H&B to compete with other maple manufacturers, especially Sam Bats.

[allstarsplus]

Jeff is correct. LS got into the Maple bat manufacturing in 2003.

http://members.aol.com:/allstarsplus/pujols_MapleLS.jpg

[Birdbats]

A quick glance through the factory records I have available show maple bat orders going back to 2001. I found three players who were shipped their first maple bats on 8/22/01 (Renteria, Kerry Robinson and Pujols). The earliest order I found was 3/3/01 for Jim Edmonds.

[allstarsplus]

You could be right but according to Louisville Slugger it was 2003 when they first started producing the maple.

[Birdbats]

Related to the Select Maple and M9 discussion, H&B also labeled their beechwood bats distinctly in 2004. I have a Mike Matheny that says "ProBeech" where the maple bats say "Select Maple." Matheny's factory records show only one order of beechwood bats on 7/19/04 (2 bats). Beech bats now have a B9 sticker, similar to the M9.

Regarding when H&B starting turning maple bats, I know of three Pujols maple C243C bats that match orders shipped in September and October of 2001 only. I have one, the Cardinals HOF/Museum has one, and Rob Steinmetz had one (before selling it recently). Not sure why H&B would say they started in 2003. Maybe they considered bats made before then to be experimental, and once players were satisfied with the product, they "officially" began marketing maple in 2003. Who knows?

[Rboitano]

Heres a couple examples.

[gameused]

A quick glance through the factory records I have available show maple bat orders going back to 2001. I found three players who were shipped their first maple bats on 8/22/01 (Renteria, Kerry Robinson and Pujols). The earliest order I found was 3/3/01 for Jim Edmonds.

Here evidence that supports early H&B maple bat orders, below are a some pics of a Edgar Renteria maple bat with the burnt in logo, this particular bat was used by Albert Pujols.

Bobby

[Birdbats]

Here evidence that supports early H&B maple bat orders, below are a some pics of a Edgar Renteria maple bat with the burnt in logo, this particular bat was used by Albert Pujols.


Bobby, in case you're interested, I think your bat dates to an order of 11 bats shipped on 6/26/03. It's the only order of maple I13 unfinished 34/31 bats on Edgar's factory records. Always cool when you can pinpoint a bat to factory records.

[gameused]

Bobby, in case you're interested, I think your bat dates to an order of 11 bats shipped on 6/26/03. It's the only order of maple I13 unfinished 34/31 bats on Edgar's factory records. Always cool when you can pinpoint a bat to factory records.

Jeff,

Thanks for the ordering info. I found a pic on getty of Albert Pujols holding what looks like a maple bat on 7/23/03. Do you know if Pujols had any unfinished maple bats sent to him in 2003 and have you heard of Pujols using Renteria bats in the past? This bat has some really deep seam impressions just above the model number.

Bobby

[staindsox]

That looks like a match to me! Nice bat.

Chris

[Birdbats]

Jeff,

Do you know if Pujols had any unfinished maple bats sent to him in 2003 and have you heard of Pujols using Renteria bats in the past?

Bobby


Bobby, I count 105 unfinished maple bats shipped to Pujols in 2003. That doesn't include 12 bats shipped on 12/30/03 to be used in 2004.

Pujols and Renteria did use each other's I13 bats. I've seen Pujols bats with 3 on the knob and Renteria bats with 5 on the knob. Pujols also traded with Hector Luna quite a bit. It's not uncommon for Pujols to use other players' bats, including those of guys on other teams.

[gameused]

Bobby, I count 105 unfinished maple bats shipped to Pujols in 2003. That doesn't include 12 bats shipped on 12/30/03 to be used in 2004.

Pujols and Renteria did use each other's I13 bats. I've seen Pujols bats with 3 on the knob and Renteria bats with 5 on the knob. Pujols also traded with Hector Luna quite a bit. It's not uncommon for Pujols to use other players' bats, including those of guys on other teams.

Jeff,

Once again thanks for the information.

Happy Holidays, Bobby

[gameused]

That looks like a match to me! Nice bat.

Chris

Chris,

Not a photomatch, the blue ink transfer is lower on my bat, I would call this a style match.

Thanks, Bobby

[indyred]

Related to the Select Maple and M9 discussion, H&B also labeled their beechwood bats distinctly in 2004. I have a Mike Matheny that says "ProBeech" where the maple bats say "Select Maple." Matheny's factory records show only one order of beechwood bats on 7/19/04 (2 bats). Beech bats now have a B9 sticker, similar to the M9.

Regarding when H&B starting turning maple bats, I know of three Pujols maple C243C bats that match orders shipped in September and October of 2001 only. I have one, the Cardinals HOF/Museum has one, and Rob Steinmetz had one (before selling it recently). Not sure why H&B would say they started in 2003. Maybe they considered bats made before then to be experimental, and once players were satisfied with the product, they "officially" began marketing maple in 2003. Who knows?

Are beechwood B9 bats stille being used much? anyone seen anyone this year with one?

[chakes89]

Yes

I know someone that got a B9 from Jerry Owens during spring training of this year

[BMH]

We did produce some B9's this year but they were Birch and not Beech. We conducted some testing with the Birch to see how it holds up in BP. Since it was only testing we used some left over B9 stickers from the Beech project.

[indyred]

Very interesting. Any idea who used the B9 birch bats this spring? besides Jerry Owens. That was a nice score getting that bat. How did the player's like the birch bats. What years did Louisville Slugger makes beechwood bats?

[mdube16]

Here is an Ortiz 2004 Select Maple. The label is printed not burned. As was mentioned earlier, a nice advantage is that the bat can be dated to the WS year.


Thanks
Mark

mdube16@bellsouth.net

[eGameUsed]

I really like the "Select Maple" Bats as well. First year for the Astros to win a playoff series! Most players were using M9s by the end of the season, but still nice to pinpoint to early 2004. Noticed in the attached photo the difference in the barrel stamping. The Kent bat has a much bolder stamping, where the letters appear thicker. The Biggio bat is unfinished of course, making the stamping look more fine and lighter.

11497

[Jags Fan Dan]

It was thanks to this thread I was able to identify this bat that I purchased last month:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13056&stc=1&d=1207999515

[BMH]

Yeah, I wouldn't say our bats were rare in 2004, we made a few thousand but like it has been noted we didn't really distinguish them from our Ash very well. I think the rarest Maple bats we produced were the 2003 WS bats. We used a new center brand on them. It was a Maple leaf with Louisville Slugger written in it. I of course don't have one here and can't find the are work but we only put it on those bats. For 2004 we went back to the pad printed the Pro Maple logo on them until the M9 was finished.

One thing to note we usually do a lot of testing/new things during the play offs. I know most would do it in ST but for some reason we end up doing it then.

[gameused]

Yeah, I wouldn't say our bats were rare in 2004, we made a few thousand but like it has been noted we didn't really distinguish them from our Ash very well. I think the rarest Maple bats we produced were the 2003 WS bats. We used a new center brand on them. It was a Maple leaf with Louisville Slugger written in it. I of course don't have one here and can't find the are work but we only put it on those bats. For 2004 we went back to the pad printed the Pro Maple logo on them until the M9 was finished.

One thing to note we usually do a lot of testing/new things during the play offs. I know most would do it in ST but for some reason we end up doing it then.

Brian,

Here's a pic of an Edgar Renteria bat with the rare logo. I have not seen another bat on the market with this logo. This bat was for sale on John Taubes website after the 2004 World Series.

Bobby

[indyred]

Wow, I've never seen that style bat with logo like that. Thanks for posting that picture gameused. Very rare indeed. I wonder what that Renteria sold for. Does anyone own any of those rare style bats. I bet they would fetch a nice premium.

[BMH]

That's the logo!

I talked to my brother, he and a friend are the ones who came up with the logo. We used them on the the play off and WS bats. Sorry I put 2003 instead of 2004. All the years start blending together after a while.

[gameused]

Wow, I've never seen that style bat with logo like that. Thanks for posting that picture gameused. Very rare indeed. I wonder what that Renteria sold for. Does anyone own any of those rare style bats. I bet they would fetch a nice premium.

Indy,

Taube had it listed for $579.00

Bobby

[Birdbats]

That's the logo! I talked to my brother, he and a friend are the ones who came up with the logo. We used them on the the play off and WS bats. Sorry I put 2003 instead of 2004. All the years start blending together after a while.

Brian, so you're saying this logo was used on some 2004 post-season bats -- after the M9 sticker had already been introduced? I've seen several 2004 post-season Cardinals bats (mostly from the WS) and all had the M9 sticker. Bobby's Renteria bat is the only one I've ever seen with that particular logo. Thanks!

[BMH]

Ah poo,that's what I get for posting late at night when I'm sleepy...

The logo was used for the 2003 post season. It couldn't have been for the 2004 because like you stated the M9 was already out.

In 2002 we kept having a problem with our clear and no finish Maple bats breaking. It was finally determined that the burn branding was going too deep into the wood and causing structural problems with the wood. So we started to use a pad printer to put on the CB for Maple bats. The pad printing was very hard to see when watching games on TV so we were in the process of looking for a new logo for our wood and the idea of the Maple leaf with LS going through it was brought up. So we made the logo and put it on the post season bats for 2003 (this is the last time I change the date, I SWEAR!). It was only used for the post season because our Marketing department didn't really like the logo and was already working on the M9 logo.

Sorry for the confusion, I'll try to keep my posts to working hours when I'm thinking clearly :)

[Birdbats]

The logo was used for the 2003 post season.

Not to belabor the point, Brian, but the Cardinals missed the post season in 2003 (finished third in the Central division)... so I'm wondering how did Edgar Renteria end up with a post-season bat?

Looking at Edgar's records, I see he received 5 R205 maple bats (shipped to the Cardinals) on 9/5/03 and 2 more on 10/27 (customer is Brian Mejia). Those last two clearly were made after the season, so I'm betting they had the rare logo. Make sense to you?

The use on Bobby's bat is not consistent with Edgar's use. I don't recall seeing him use that kind of tape job or such heavy tar. It's a closer match to Reggie Sanders, who used tape, heavy tar and the R205. Reggie joined the team in 2004... so maybe he used Edgar's bat in spring training that year (Sanders had used maple R205 bats since 2001). Hard to know for sure... but it seems safe to say bats with the rare logo were made for some players who did not participate in 2003 post-season play.

[BMH]

Alright, let me rephrase...We only used the logo on Maple bats after September of 2003 this will most likely include bats for teams in the post season and bats for orders placed after September. This includes the months of October, November and some in December but don't quote me on this, I'm just going on memory and not looking at any records since that logo would not be listed because it technically didn't exist.

[brianborsch]

Does someone actually own that renteria bat? If so, is it for sale?

email me at: brianborsch@yahoo.com

[bigtruck260]

Not to belabor the point, Brian, but the Cardinals missed the post season in 2003 (finished third in the Central division)... so I'm wondering how did Edgar Renteria end up with a post-season bat?

Looking at Edgar's records, I see he received 5 R205 maple bats (shipped to the Cardinals) on 9/5/03 and 2 more on 10/27 (customer is Brian Mejia). Those last two clearly were made after the season, so I'm betting they had the rare logo. Make sense to you?

The use on Bobby's bat is not consistent with Edgar's use. I don't recall seeing him use that kind of tape job or such heavy tar. It's a closer match to Reggie Sanders, who used tape, heavy tar and the R205. Reggie joined the team in 2004... so maybe he used Edgar's bat in spring training that year (Sanders had used maple R205 bats since 2001). Hard to know for sure... but it seems safe to say bats with the rare logo were made for some players who did not participate in 2003 post-season play.

To illustrate Jeff's point, here is a photo of my Maple Sanders bat....note the tar pattern.

[brianborsch]

Gameused(Bobby),

Do you own that renteria Maple bat? Is it uncracked and is it for sale? I would be interested in purchasing it. Let me know at:

brianborsch@yahoo.com

BB

[gameused]

Gameused(Bobby),

Do you own that renteria Maple bat? Is it uncracked and is it for sale? I would be interested in purchasing it. Let me know at:

brianborsch@yahoo.com

BB

Brian,

I don't own the bat, I seen it listed on Taube's website and saved the photo as this was the first time I seen a LVS centerbrand that looked like that. If I remember correctly Taube listed the bat as a Renteria 2004 NLCS bat.

Thanks, Bobby

[tknorm]

Here is another early 2004 Select Maple Louisville Slugger that I recently picked up, from when Wily Mo was on the Reds. I have not weighed it, but it feels like the heaviest bat I have. It is great to be able to narrow it down to a limited time period. Thanks guys for the info!

[Fnazxc0114]

heres another select maple michael young
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll236/jgrogers1978/guebay011.jpg
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll236/jgrogers1978/guebay012.jpg