Minor leaguer traded to Laredo for 10 baseball bats
McALLEN, Texas -- Even though small independent baseball leagues notoriously try to draw fans with promotions like “vasectomy night” and “midget wrestling,” these two teams had good reason to swap a right-handed pitcher for 10 bats.
The Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League couldn’t get newly signed pitcher John Odom into Canada for immigration reasons. And the Laredo Broncos of the United League were willing to take a cheap gamble on a pitcher.
Oh, and the Vipers really, really wanted some new bats.
And so Odom, 26, about a month after being acquired by a Canadian team, found himself Tuesday on the roster of a team on the Mexican border. All for the price of 10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black 34-inch C243 style.
“They just wanted some bats, good bats - maple bats,” Broncos General Manager Jose Melendez said Friday.
According to the Prairie Sticks Web site, their maple bats retail for $69 a piece, discounted to $65.50 for purchases of six to 11 bats.
And here’s the kicker…
“I don’t really care,” Odom said. “It’ll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues.”
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