Rawlings Bat Knobs - The Batch Code

In some more recent research on some bats that I am looking to add to my collection, I am finding myself getting hung up on the batch numbers more than ever before.

So we know that the batch code is the sequential number assigned by Rawlings which indicates an order number (or work order number). This is not a team specific number but a global number that resets each year. So lets take batch code 014 for example, this would have been the 14th order processed by Rawlings for the year (lets use 2007 for example). Given that there were 30 teams in 2007, this was more than likely the first order by that team in 2007. If every team places 20 orders per year, the batch code could end around 600 for the season, which we have certainly seen batch codes that high.

So I am finding myself starting to over analyze the batch codes on bats now - was this a spring training bat? was this a post season bat? was it a July bat but the player was injured in May and didn't play the rest of the season?

So this leads me to ask this educated community the following questions:

1. What is the highest batch code you have seen on a Rawlings bat?

2. Have you ever been able to put a batch code on a timeline?

3. Are you able to attribute a bat to certain time in the season (i.e., spring training, all star break, postseason) and what is the batch code associated with it.

4. Do you feel there is a valuation difference between batches?

I feel like a major goldmine of data would be getting access to the Rawlings work order/batch data for each season. How awesome would that be? Hopefully this can drum up some good discussion on batch codes.

-Wes

1. The highest batch number I have in my collection is on a 1999 Armando Benitez gamer which is batch 872.

2. Yes. Towards the end of 1986 and into the 1986 post season for WS bats only Rawlings switched to the 1987 center brands. All the 1986 bats have batch codes in the high 300s

3. Rawlings didn't put batch codes or year digits on post season or AsG game bats. They put under the model number either player initials, year , event and year (ex WS 00). Truthfully I don't know what they do past 2009 and nowadays with the new stampings on the knobs.

4. I don't feel there is a valuation difference and one should judge a bat by player use characteristics and amount of use regardless of batch code.

David

Really whether the batch code shows the bat was produced during or before spring training is irrelevant. Just because a bat was ordered early in the year doesn't mean it wasn't used later in the season. I've seen multiple times where a player used bats dated from previous seasons a year or 2 years (or more) later. And these were some pretty big names too. For some reason PSA frowns on that and gives a lesser grade which I will never understand why..... Bats get ordered and put in the equipment room and subsequent orders come in and everything gets mixed together. Miguel Cabrera was using 2014 bats during the first part of the 2015 season, so it happens all the time.