Two days after Hunter Pence delivered a key double to help the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the NLCS, his legendary broken bat is still a popular topic of conversation.
Pence’s bat splintered during a third-inning double he hit off Joe Kelly to drive in three runs. The slow-motion replay showed that the ball actually hit off Pence’s bat three times, which is what gave it the odd spin to curve away from Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma.
The broken bat will likely be remembered in Giants history similar to the way Curt Schilling’s bloody sock is a prop strongly associated with the Boston Red Sox’s postseason run in 2004. Such a valuable piece of memorabilia must have cost thousands of dollars, right? Wrong.
CSN Bay Area’s Andrew Baggarly reports that Hunter Pence’s broken bat sold for a mere $400 on Monday night. In an apparent oversight, the bat ended up at the “From the Clubhouse” game-used merchandise stall behind Section 119 at AT&T Park, Baggarly reports.
Some lucky fan made out with a great souvenir for not too much money relative to the item’s value.
Pence also revealed that the bat that was broken in Game 7 is named “Fryer.”
“I name all my bats,” Pence told reporters on Tuesday. “Whatever word comes to mind, I write it on them.”
RIP, Fryer. Giants fans are certainly hoping his next bat will bring him as much success.
UPDATE: The fan who purchased the bat gave it back to Pence in exchange for an autographed bat. The team also gave him tickets for a luxury suite for Game 1 of the World Series.
The fan purchased the ball Pence hit (for $150) along with the broken bat, so at least he still has one collectible item from the historic event.
