'It's a rule, and I'll follow it.'Īsked if he felt it was weird that Pujols was allowed to use the bats, Maldonaldo said, 'Well, that's his bat.

'I don't think it's strange,' Maldonado said of MLB's ruling. It was a player safety issue, with the concern being multipiece bat failures that happened on the field. Major League Baseball ruled that Maldonado could not use the bats because that particular AP5 model was no longer allowed in the majors by a player who wasn't grandfathered in with a 2010 rule change.Īn MLB spokesperson told ESPN that the use of Pujols' bat by Maldonado was not considered a competitive issue. The 36-year-old catcher used one of them in Game 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies, but Major League Baseball quickly put a stop to that before Game 2. Not only did Maldonado get a Marucci-branded Pujols AP5 maple bat, he told ESPN's Buster Olney that Pujols sent him a half dozen of his own bats. HOUSTON - Astros catcher Martín Maldonado tried to conjure up some of Albert Pujols' home run magic by asking the future Hall of Famer for one of his bats for the World Series - and getting it. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĪstros' Martin Maldonado told to stop using Albert Pujols' bats

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