Joe Pepitone Bat

[Mark17]

What Pepitone doesn't seem to understand is that he never owned the bats he used, or his Yankee uniform. The team owned all that stuff. Players didn't pay for bats they ordered. So that bat was Yankee property all the time.

[Jcosta19]

Originally Posted by Mark17

What Pepitone doesn't seem to understand is that he never owned the bats he used, or his Yankee uniform. The team owned all that stuff. Players didn't pay for bats they ordered. So that bat was Yankee property all the time.

I dont know the details of this situation but is it true that the team owns a players bats? Don't they have to sign a personal agreement with the bat company to use their name/signature etc on the bats?

I would assume part of that agreement is the ownership of the bats that they receive but I'm just speculating obviously.

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[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.

[Mark17]

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.