Years ago, I picked up my first bat barrel card.  I was super excited about it, but if I am being honest, I didn’t really think much about one bat barrel being better than another.  A few years back, I sold it (along with most of my collection), and jumped out of my skin when I had the chance to pick up my first barrel again – I even have the recording of when it was pulled on Youtube saved on my computer!

To me, this card is perfect.  The bat company name and nameplate are perfectly centered, and the design is incredible.  I decided this was to be the de facto barrel for my collection – that I didn’t really need another one.

Then the 2021 Tier One showed up.

The design is beautiful as usual, and it has a signature which is also nice.  It wasn’t until after I pulled the trigger on it that I noticed something after adoring a picture of it one night while it was en route.  When I looked closer, I noticed something on the barrel that I hadn’t seen on any other barrel I’ve had before.

It looks as though this barrel card has perfectly encased the point of impact of a ball that left some lettering & ink!  I already have a game used bat that Jose used to crush a home run …

…but having a barrel card that captures what made Jose famous is extra special … to me, anyway.

Just for funsies, I decided to put the new barrel under a black light (it glows beautifully!)

and microscope, because I’m a big dork (don’t judge me).  You can view the video below for a more in depth look, but it is fun to explore the barrel under a microscope and see how the “gloss” of the bat gave way to the point of impact.

Here is some double barrel action – a pic of the two beauties together!  This mail day made me a very happy camper 🙂