Bat & Match Resources
Here are some free image search databases to help you find your next match:
Here are some free image search databases to help you find your next match:
Getty Images www.gettyimages.com
Associated Press (AP) Images www.apimages.com
Alamy www.alamy.com
USA Today Network www.imagn.com
Sportpics www.sportpics.photoshelter.com
Pinterest www.pinterest.com
Four Seam Images https://fourseamimages.com
Flickr www.flickr.com
Google Images www.google.com
eBay (for player photos, trading card images, and newsprint) www.ebay.com
YouTube (for game footage) www.youtube.com
Bridgeman Images www.bridgemanimages.com
Associated Press (AP) Images www.apimages.com
Alamy www.alamy.com
USA Today Network www.imagn.com
Sportpics www.sportpics.photoshelter.com
Pinterest www.pinterest.com
Four Seam Images https://fourseamimages.com
Flickr www.flickr.com
Google Images www.google.com
eBay (for player photos, trading card images, and newsprint) www.ebay.com
YouTube (for game footage) www.youtube.com
Bridgeman Images www.bridgemanimages.com
To help date the bats in your collection, here are a couple of useful and free pro bat dating resources:
Vintage Bats www.vintagebats.com
Keyman Collectibles www.keymancollectibles.com
Looking to find out if a bat is an authentic game-used one? Check out PSA/DNA’s services. www.psacard.com
To learn more about a player’s bat characteristics and to see great examples of game-used bats, check out PSA ProBatFacts. https://www.psacard.com/probatfacts.
Vintage Bats www.vintagebats.com
Keyman Collectibles www.keymancollectibles.com
Looking to find out if a bat is an authentic game-used one? Check out PSA/DNA’s services. www.psacard.com
To learn more about a player’s bat characteristics and to see great examples of game-used bats, check out PSA ProBatFacts. https://www.psacard.com/probatfacts.
Looking to buy or sell your bats?
Here is a list of auction houses and game-used bat sellers and buyers.
eBay www.ebay.com
Heritage Auctions www.ha.com
SCP Auctions www.scpauctions.com
Lelands Auctions www.lelands.com
Robert Edward Auctions www.robertedwardauctions.com
Grey Flannel Auctions www.greyflannelauctions.com
Christie’s Auctions https://www.christies.com
Sotheby’s Auctions https://www.sothebys.com/en/
Mile High Co. Auctions www.milehighcardco.com
Mears Online Auctions www.mearsonlineauctions.com
Goldin Auctions www.goldin.co
Crown Sports Auction www.crownsportsauction.com
Iconic Auctions www.iconicauctions.com
VSA Auctions www.vsaauctions.com
J.T. Sports www.gameusedbats.com
It’s Game Used www.itsgameused.com
Game Used Only www.gameusedonly.com
Vintage Bats www.vintagebats.com
Mikita Sports www.mikitasports.com
MLB Lumber www.mlblumber.com
Hall of Fame Bats www.hofbats.com
Bat Break www.batbreak.com
Track your changing bat collection with this free and useful bat inventory template:
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Photomatching Considerations
Like in baseball, there’s a lot to be studied in photomatching.
To help you find your next tough match, here are some guidelines and considerations that we use in the process of matching bats:
1. Expand the image search criteria in third-party databases beyond the bat's manufacturing period to account for different image source dating policies and conventions, especially for vintage bat image searches.
2. Trading card companies generally use player photos from the prior year. Cards issued in 2020 and later more commonly show vintage photos of retired MLB players.
To help you find your next tough match, here are some guidelines and considerations that we use in the process of matching bats:
1. Expand the image search criteria in third-party databases beyond the bat's manufacturing period to account for different image source dating policies and conventions, especially for vintage bat image searches.
2. Trading card companies generally use player photos from the prior year. Cards issued in 2020 and later more commonly show vintage photos of retired MLB players.
5. Aim for fewer and effective match guide points to let a viewer’s eyes travel easily around the bat, and to track the space and use features between the match guide points.
6. Set visual anchor points on the bat to help track and pin down match guide points. Anchors are useful for quick bat scan "restarts." Great anchor points could be parts of the center brand, bat rack streaks, distinguishing and familiar shapes, and bold grain lines.
7. A whole can be missing its parts: The visibility of a bat’s details in a source match photo can be limited but enough to determine a photomatch if the match points are distinctive/not reproducible.
10. To help decide on tough potential matches, rotate the bat for a perspective reset and start your scan for match points where you normally wouldn't.
11. Photographs show snapshots in time of a bat’s visible condition: More use marks on a game-used bat today than it shows in the match image can be expected. This is especially true for bats used before 1980 – when it was more common for players to use their unbroken bats more often and for a longer period.
Exceptions to more use on a bat today than in a match image are a documented date that the bat was last used, and a match image of the bat cracked - or cracking - mid-swing.
Another exception is that some players are known to clean or wipe the use off their bats. Additionally, bat storage and handling after the photomatch date could affect the subject bat’s comparable condition.
11. Photographs show snapshots in time of a bat’s visible condition: More use marks on a game-used bat today than it shows in the match image can be expected. This is especially true for bats used before 1980 – when it was more common for players to use their unbroken bats more often and for a longer period.
Exceptions to more use on a bat today than in a match image are a documented date that the bat was last used, and a match image of the bat cracked - or cracking - mid-swing.
Another exception is that some players are known to clean or wipe the use off their bats. Additionally, bat storage and handling after the photomatch date could affect the subject bat’s comparable condition.
12. More images viewed during the search process means more familiarity with a player’s game bat characteristics. This familiarity helps us to scan images quicker and spot the unique use features on the bat more easily.