Baseball Bats

Quick: What brand of bat does Kirby Puckett use?

 

 

1993 Topps #200, Kirby Puckett

 

No doubt you noticed that he's a Louisville Slugger guy. And even though we're talking about a novelty bat here, you can't blame Puck and the Louisville Slugger folks for making sure the trademark shows front and center. Nice piece of marketing.

A card like this made me think about other bat brands that were around back when I was a baseball-loving kid. It also made me start a list in my mind of which players from that era were known for using a certain brand of bat. And then naturally, as a baseball card collector, I wondered if the trademarks ever appeared clearly on trading cards. After all, lots of players hold a bat for their photo, either resting it on their shoulder or posing in a batting stance. Making sure the trademark is showing would be a nice gesture toward the company that's sponsoring you and sending you all those free bats.

So once I finished compiling that list of bat brands—and players who seemed synonymous with the brand—I did some baseball card research. Here's what I came up with.

 

1992 Upper Deck All-Star FanFest #13 Wade Boggs, 1992 Topps #620 George Brett, 1992 Barry Colla #1 Tony Gwynn

Back in the '80s and '90s, Louisville Slugger was the big man on campus. Lots of hitters preferred Louisville lumber, including the trio above, who were some of the hittingest hitters who ever did hit. I'm pretty sure my first Little League bat was an aluminum Louisville Slugger, too. They were just everywhere.

 

 

 

 

1985 Topps #500 Mike Schmidt, 1987 Donruss Highlights #54 Mark McGwire, 1988 Pacific Cards & Comics #5 Darryl Strawberry

 

Many folks might think of baseball gloves when they think of the Rawlings company, but some pretty iconic bats also bore the Rawlings name. Some of the biggest power hitters of the era used the "Adirondack Big Stick" model, including the three bashers above. (Reggie Jackson, too!)

 

The paint ring that Rawlings added toward the top of the bat handle was usually color-matched to the player's team as well. That's a nice touch. (Also, "Adirondack Big Stick" is a great name for a bat, don't you think?)

 

 

 

 

1989 Upper Deck #364 Cecil Fielder, 1988 Leaf #114 Tim Raines, 1990 Upper Deck #356 Andres Galarraga

 

Some players believed Cooper's bats, cut from Canadian trees, were made from harder wood, potentially generating more power. You can usually spot these bats on baseball cards by the little blue-red-yellow stripe around the handle. Not surprisingly, it seems like the Cooper company had more influence on Expos and Blue Jays players of the day, like Fielder, Raines, and Galarraga up there.

 

 

 

 

1992 Stadium Club #810 Andre Dawson, 1992 Barry Colla #1 Frank Thomas, 1990 Mother's Cookies #3 Jose Canseco

 

Worth bats also seemed popular with some big hitters of the era. That double-stripe around the handle will help you identify the brand on baseball cards. Jose Canseco is hiding the stripes over there to the right, but he gives us a good look at the "WORTH" wordmark on the sweet spot.

 

 

2005 Bowman #95 Ichiro Suzuki, 1991 Showcase Baseball Card Price Guide Inserts #2 Rickey Henderson,
1985 Renata Galasso NNO Pete Rose

And finally, we've got Mizuno. Years before Ichiro gave the Japanese sporting goods manufacturer loads of publicity here in the USA, lacing hits all over the field and setting records with his trademark Mizuno bats, a couple of other legends of the game were giving them a go. Rickey used Mizuno bats in the early '90s (those neon green batting gloves were Mizuno, as well), and Pete Rose was a Mizuno guy during his second stint with the Reds in the mid-1980s. Want to know how many MLB hits those three guys have between them? 

 

10,400.

 

How's that for a ringing endorsement?

 

 

And I think that covers the major bat brands that were around in the '80s and '90s. If I've missed any, feel free to share in the comment section. Also feel free to answer the following question:

 

What brand of bat did the favorite player(s) of your childhood use?