I was just checking out game used bats on ebay. I was looking at lot number 5211099207 an Albert Pujols “game used” bat. Does anyone else find it offensive that he lists bats as game used when they only show rack marks (at best)? Doesn’t he/ did he used to authenticate bats for an authentication company. He should be trying to lead our industry with proper usage of words to describe items. How may of these bats have sold to people just entering the hobby?

I'm amazed that this has not come up on the forum before. He has been doing this for ages on Ebay - - - - - not to mention the Cal Ripken Jr. "game used bat" that he listed on Ebay several months back that was 33 inches long. He has authenticated for major auction houses before, supposedly because he knows bats so well, and then he lists a 33" Ripken "gamer" on Ebay! Anyone who can show me a real Ripken game used bat that was only 33 inches in length, please do, and I'll do a double back flip! - - - Ripken never ever used a bat that short! I am sure other forum members saw that auction - - - - I know it was quite a conversation topic among my collector friends. - - - - - - To answer your question: Yes, it is offensive and I also wonder how many unknowing collectors have been taken advantage of due to this tactic. - - - - - I actually emailed him long ago asking about this very topic and I got a rude email in response telling me to mind my business and that I was free to not bid on the auctions. Duh. - - - - -

I have dealt with Zane. Basically it is “pick and choose”. I have purchased some nice gamers from him in the past but , I made sure I always saw what I was getting - if you get my drift.

R. C.

I get your drift - I hope we all get your drift! What specific problems did you have and what bad bats did you see?

Speaking of whom, I couldn't help but notice who the high bidder was (though the reserve was not met) on the Gold Pete Rose sanded-down "game used bat" on Ebay - - - - the one where someone else wrote on the bat that it was used for one of Rose's base hits.

Take a look. He has good use to no use listed. Zane does state, "It shows very light use basically from the rack and is uncracked" in his discription. Like I said before, you gotta pick and choose and see what you are bidding on.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZzanebats

R. C.

Ken Caminiti stuff wanted!

Do rack marks only say a bat has light use or do light ball and seam marks say a bat has light use? Anyone can toss a bat into a rack and make rack marks. But that doesn't mean the player ever picked it up and used it. It looks to me like Zane lists many bats that have "NO" use and he calls it "LIGHT" use. Just my opinion.
Mark

I once asked Mr. Burns what he meant by LIGHT use on a specific bat I was interested in. His honest reply was "Basically from the rack"

I always ask questions when I bid, if the photo doesnt tell the whole story.

Im glad we have this group, to help us all out.
My best to all,
Den

I agree with Mark - - - - If Zane is offering a bat for sale, then he sells it as game used. - - - - Just use great care and ask a ton of questions (and do your research)

Interesting posts about Zane Burns. I have purchased a few bats from him over the last few years, with great results. Recently, I purchased a Von Hayes bat he descrivbed as cracked with decent use. To my surprise, the bat is actually uncracked and shows a ton of use.

I too have questioned not only his items on Ebay, but likewise, other sellers who indicate the bat use consists of "rack marks". It appears to me to be a unique way to try to take a completely mint bat to the next level, and cloud its use by identifying it as having "rack marks". It can't be too difficult to create these so-called "rack marks" on a mint bat, and no doubt, this is being seen.

Howard Wolf

As far the "rack marks" term goes. I received a bunch of Sheffield "game used" and "game issued" bats from the Braves. They all show "rack marks" even the bats that have no use. I think they get these marks from being shipped together with a bunch of other bats. The black bats always show marks when they are shipped together with other bats.

Just my 2 cents.

Splinters

I agree with what all of you are saying about rack marks, etc., and we would expect most gamers (and BP bats) to show at least some sort of use in addition to rack marks (pine tar, ballmarks, etc.). If a bat doesn't show any obvious signs of game use, then it should be described as such unless there is some unique documentation proving otherwise.

But to be the devil's advocate for just a moment, let's say that Mike Cameron pulls a new bat out of the box one evening as he is looking for a little change of luck. Mike decides not to dust the bat with the tar rag and heads to the plate with his new stick. Mike walks on four straight pitches in his first at bat, is grazed on the shoulder by the first pitch his second time up, strikes out swinging after taking two called strikes in his third plate appearance, and then swings and misses on consecutive pitches in his final at bat. Mike decides this particular bat is nothing but bad luck and puts it back in the box, never to be used again.

Then there is Brad Wilkerson who decides to go with a new gamer, and like Cameron, decides not to use any pine tar or doctor the bat in any manner. A bad decision by Brad. After taking a called strike, a ball low, and then swinging through a fast ball, Wilkerson is fooled badly by a curve and loses his grip on the bat. It flies into the third row at RFK and into the hands of a 12-year old fan. Brad doesn't bother to retrieve the bat.

What if a Brian Schneider snaps a couple of bats in a game and ends up with a fresh bat, uses it once or twice and never makes contact, and then discards it as it didn't feel quite right in his hands?

Finally, there are AL pitchers or any relief pitcher who rarely comes to the plate. All it takes is one appearance at the plate and it is officially "game-used".

Neither defending nor bashing anyone involved in this discussion - just trying to interject a little bit of fun thought with these various possibilities.

Mark Hayne

Mark - - - - - sounds like you might be trying for a job in Zane's company! - I was happy to see at the end of your note that you were writing it with humor in mind.

My point (which, by the way, had absolutely nothing to do with Zane Burns) was simply to give us all something to think about in our collecting endeavors. The bats in my hypothetical scenarios would be game-used, yet they would show little or no signs of actual use. To play out this hypothetical scenario one step further, probably all of us would claim that these bats were never used if we saw photos of them in an auction or on a dealer's price list, and we would all be wrong!

Again, just something to think about . . .

Mark Hayne