“ME & MY BAT”

By Robin Ventura

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

March 25, 2002

Only one thing matters to me: If a bat feels good, I’ll use it. I don’t care if it’s mine or not. It’s all about feeling good at the plate. My main model is a Louisville Slugger, but I’ll use anything that’s sitting around if it feels good. I just pick up a bat and see how it feels in my hands. And if I’m going good with a bat, I won’t change it.

I borrow bats all the time. Once, while I was with the Mets, I used Mike Piazza’s bat. It’s heavy. I used it against a curveball pitcher and hit a homerun with it my first at bat. But that was aberration. I never got another hit with it. A couple of times I’ve had a big hit or home run and the club will ask for my bat and they’ll say “Wait, this is somebody else’s bat.” I tell them, “I know. That’s the one I used.” That grand slam single [that won game 5 of the 1999 NLCS against the Braves], thought? That one was [hit with] my bat.

I keep a collection of bats at home. I don’t mean autographed ones. I’ll ask guys on my team or even other teams for a bat, and they’ll go, “Do you want it signed?” I tell them, “Nope. I just want the bat.” I have probably 30 to 50 models from guys. I don’t have a wine cellar, so I keep the bats stored instead. I’m always either trying them out or lending them out. Guys tell me what they like, and I’ll see if I have something like it. In 1999 I gave Roger Cedeno one of my own models. He wound up using that model just about the whole year.

I’m not particular about my bats. The finish doesn’t really matter to me. I’ll use all kinds. Some guys use dark bats for night games [thinking umpires don’t see checked swings as well and fielders can’t read the bat as well]. I don’t believe any of that.