There’s good news and bad news and bad news about Major League Baseball’s pink bats.
When the pink bats went missing
Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE
The good news is that they raised some money for the fight against breast cancer. I suppose you could also argue that they raised some awareness, but frankly it’s hard to imagine that anyone, at this point in our society’s history, isn’t already well aware. We’ve got a lot of problems that people don’t know or care much about, but I doubt if breast cancer’s one of them.
Anyway, some bad news was that a bizarre ruling prevented some bat manufacturers from participating. Via the Times:
But Markakis’s and Plouffe’s newly delivered bats, manufactured by MaxBat, went unused. So, too, did bats belonging to Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers and Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, both of whom are clients of Tucci Lumber, which also made special bats for Mother’s Day with pink signatures and logos.
In each instance, the bats ran afoul of an edict issued by Roy Krasik, Major League Baseball’s senior director for baseball operations. According to a memorandum he sent out in April and then reiterated two weeks ago to all of the bat companies used by major league players, companies were free to produce all-pink bats for Mother’s Day but only Hillerich & Bradsby, the makers of Louisville Slugger, the most widely used bat in baseball, could display its logo on the bats.
The communications from Krasik also stipulated that the companies that were willing to produce logo-less pink bats were also expected to donate to baseball’s designated breast cancer charity — Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Some good news is that the pink bats don't look good, so we poor viewer were spared at least a few of them.
Some better news is that the Times writer managed to get one of my favorite old baseball terms into the article ...
As to the fate of game-used pink bats, that depends on the players.
Some donate their bats to baseball’s online auction, or give them to their teams to benefit hometown charities. Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said that he keeps his pink bats to distribute to people he knows; the pink bat Davis used on Mother’s Day this season is no doubt more desirable for the homer he socked with it against the Twins.
socked!
Getting back to the main thrust of the article, though, it's a really stupid rule. Hillerich & Bradsby is MLB's official bat. I get that. But the thing about the logos is ridiculous, because you can watch a month's worth of baseball games without noticing a single logo on a bat. This is just about Hillerich & Bradsby being jerks, and Major League Baseball helping out.
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