55 and Counting: Brian Roberts's Game-Used Bat From the Night He Tied the Switch-Hitter Doubles Record

Brian Roberts had one of the great doubles seasons in baseball history in 2009, and this bat was in his hands for one of its biggest moments. On September 22, 2009, the Orioles lost 6-5 in Toronto, a game they let slip away late, but Roberts had a big night anyway. He went 3 for 5 with two RBI, and his RBI double in the 7th was his 55th of the year, extending his team single-season record and tying Lance Berkman's major league mark for doubles by a switch-hitter, set in 2001. The bat is a Max Bat BR1 model, used in that game, and it captures the exact swing that put Roberts level with the record.

A week later, he passed it. On September 29, he hit his 56th double against the Tampa Bay Rays, setting the all-time single-season mark for a switch-hitter, and his 56 led the majors. He became the fourth player in major league history with three or more 50-double seasons, joining Hall of Famers Tris Speaker, Paul Waner, and Stan Musial, and he was voted the Orioles' Most Valuable Oriole for the second time. It all happened on a team that finished 64-98 and last in the AL East, which made Roberts's steady, leadoff-man excellence one of the few bright spots at Camden Yards that season. A bat from the night he tied the record is a piece of that run, from a player who gave Orioles fans something to watch in a tough year.