Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim65
Teams issue uniforms to players and teams own them. I believe players get their bats directly from the companies, if thats true, Pepitone might have a legitimate claim of ownership.
|
You might be right and I might be wrong. I know the teams order a bunch of bats for general use (team index bats) and players order bats to their specifications. I had assumed the team paid for all bat orders. If players sign a contract with the bat company, their bats have their facsimile signature burned into the barrel; if not, their name is in block letter. There are cases where players were traded or released and left their bats behind, and other cases where players took some of their bats home.
It could come down to something nuanced, like whether the bat is a Pepitone signature model or block letter. This will be an interesting case to see what equipment from back in the day belongs to players, and what belongs to the teams.