Rawlings bats; stamped order number in knob question

[Number9]

Pardon me if this has ben discussed before, but how do you veteran bat collectors feel about Rawlings bats with lower inventory numbers stamped into the knob?
I've been told by a couple of veteran collectors that order numbers ranging from 1 to about 200 are spring training bats, as that would be the first shipment of bats a player receives.
I have also heard conflicting info, that the order number denotes:

A -- An individual player's order.
OR
B-- A team's order number, for example if the Red Sox placed an order with Rawlings for several players at the same time, say Ortiz, Varitek, Nixon etc, they would all be the same order number.

So I guess I am asking this:

-- Do you guys feel/know that lower order numbers such as 1-200 are usually spring training bats?
-- Does an order number refer to an order from a player, OR an order placed by a team on behalf of several players?

Thanks.
Mike

[cjmedina1]

Number9

Its really hard to say cause no one has no access to the Rawlings shipping records.I believe an attempt has been made but no success:mad:.Maybe Mike or Chris can chime in to help answer about the attempt.

For me if the bat poses perfect player characteristics,Matches known lengths,weights to me the batch number high or low doesn't matter.Here is a pitcher of one of my MAC bats

256B=Model
064=Batch Number
93=Year of the bat 1993

Carlie Medina III
carliemedinaiii@sbcglobal.net

[Number9]

Hi Carlie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. And for sharing the bat photos. Great bat. I have enjoyed it every time you post photos of your McGwire collection. You also always are willing to help others. You are a real asset to the hobby.

Mike

[3arod13]

Pardon me if this has ben discussed before, but how do you veteran bat collectors feel about Rawlings bats with lower inventory numbers stamped into the knob?
I've been told by a couple of veteran collectors that order numbers ranging from 1 to about 200 are spring training bats, as that would be the first shipment of bats a player receives.
I have also heard conflicting info, that the order number denotes:

A -- An individual player's order.
OR
B-- A team's order number, for example if the Red Sox placed an order with Rawlings for several players at the same time, say Ortiz, Varitek, Nixon etc, they would all be the same order number.

So I guess I am asking this:

-- Do you guys feel/know that lower order numbers such as 1-200 are usually spring training bats?
-- Does an order number refer to an order from a player, OR an order placed by a team on behalf of several players?

Thanks.
Mike

For what it's worth, here is my Rawlings Arod bat:

460b = Model
149 = Batch Number
96 = Year of the bat 1996

Per the letter from Rawlings, 12 bats of this model were made for arod. It's a Home Run Bat, so it's a game used bat.

Hope this helps. Tony

[Number9]

Tony,
Very nice bat. Thanks for the info. Nice to see Rawlings being willing to help too.


Mike

[Birdbats]

Mike,

I had the chance to talk with Bill Steele at Rawlings about this when writing my buyer's guide to McGwire bats. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Rawlings professional bats have another, smaller set of numbers stamped just below the model number. These digits represent the batch and year code.Typically, the stamp will show three numbers, a space and then two more numbers. Those final two numbers represent the year the bat was manufactured. For instance, if the batch and year code reads "145 99," then the bat was made in 1999.

According to Steele, the first three digits -- the batch codes -- coincide with the order numbers assigned by Rawlings. For example, if the Cardinals placed the year's first order with Rawlings -- and requested 12 bats each for four different players -- all 48 bats would have the 001 batch number. The next order, say two dozen bats for a couple of players on the Angels, would be stamped with the 002 code. During most years, Steele says, the batch numbers reach into the 800s or 900s. However, in 1998, demand created by the McGwire/Sosa homerun chase pushed the number of orders beyond a thousand. As a result, according to Steele, some bats from that season have a four-digit batch code followed by "98."

The entire article can be read at: http://webpages.charter.net/birdbats/Birdbats/Notes%20and%20Articles/McGwire%20bat%20buyers%20guide.htm

Should you automatically assume bats with low batch numbers were used in the spring? Not necessarily. It's likely they were used in the spring or early in the regular season, but it's not a given. If a player isn't a big Rawlings user, that January shipment of bats may not be used up for quite a while.

[Number9]

Hi Jeff,
Great info, thanks.
From what that says, I think you make a good point, that if a player uses bats other than Rawlings too, then it would take him a lot longer to use that initial batch (so he likely would be using them in the regular season too.)
I would think the reverse is also true, if he ONLY uses Rawlings then that batch would be used up pretty quickly and earlier.
-------------------

The only other thing I would suggest from the above info is it seems to me if the order numbers are TEAM batches and not individual players, and there are 30 teams, seems to me that order numbers 1-30 would be a player's first batch for spring training, or even 1-60, so it would SEEM that anything over say 60 (or 30??) would be regular season, as opposed to anything over 200 as I've heard in the past. A bat with a 200 number would theoretically be roughly the SEVENTH order placed by a team (6X30=180).
Anyone care to comment on this reasoning? Does that make sense???? In summary: Roughly 1-60 (or even 1-30) end up being used in spring and batches above that number are early regular season/regular season?



Thanks Jeff.
Mike

[Birdbats]

Mike,

I think you may be assuming too much in terms of teams ordering Rawlings bats equally. If a team has multiple Rawlings users, they'll likely place more orders than a team that has one or none. I'm sure the Cardinals placed a higher number of orders in 1998-2001 simply because of McGwire. But today, Kip Wells (pitcher), Adam Kennedy (rarely used) and Ryan Ludwick (still using minor league bats, I think) are the only Rawlings users -- so the Cards probably aren't placing a proportionate number of orders with Rawlings.

It also would depend on the quantities ordered. Some equipment managers will order a player's bats 12-24 at a time... others will order 3 or 6 and need to place more orders as a result. One team might place 5-6 orders more than another team and receive the same number of total bats.

There's logic in assuming that bats with low batch numbers are used early in the season, but trying to draw a line on which ones are used in spring and which ones are regular season would be almost impossible without knowing each team's ordering habits.

[3arod13]

Tony,
Very nice bat. Thanks for the info. Nice to see Rawlings being willing to help too.


Mike

Mike, glad I could provide you some info. I will say it wasn't easy getting the letter. It took a long time, but I also had a connection (knew someone) at Rawlings.

Tony

[Number9]

Thanks Jeff. As always, you make some good points.

And Tony, thanks again.

Lastly, Jeff, thanks for the great info you provide on your web site. I use your 'identifying gamers' link all the time just to make sure I check everything I should before a purchase.


Mike