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