USA – John C. Odom, the minor league baseball player traded for 10 maple bats last season, died of an accidental overdose from heroin, methamphetamine, the stimulant benzylpiperazine and alcohol last November 5. He was only 26.

Known as “Bat Man” or “Bat Guy” after the infamous trade, the former 44th round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants quit baseball thee weeks after becoming the butt of jokes on a national scale. Six months later, Odom was dead.

The Roswell, Ga. native was released by the Giants in spring training last year and was set to pitch for the Calgary Vipers. But a prior conviction as a minor prevented Odom from entering Canada which led to the wacky trade.

A trade between Calgary and the Laredo Broncos that would have exchanged Odom for a hitter failed to materialize, and the Vipers refused to sell his contact for $1,000 because it would have made the independent league franchise appear financially unstable. So the team countered with an offer of 10 baseball bats.

Laredo agreed to a deal that exchanged the former Tallahassee Community College (Florida) pitcher for 10 34-inch bats manufactured by Prairie Sticks and valued at $665.

An Internet search for the bats that were swapped for Odom shows a picture stamped with “John Odom Trade Bat.”

The bats were never used and are stored in a Florida warehouse after Ripley’s Believe it or Not! donated $10,000 to the Vipers children’s charity.

“We’re still hoping to create an exhibit around them,” said Tim O’Brien of Ripley’s. “It would still attract a lot of interest.”

Photo courtesy of www.connectmidmichigan.com

Tags: Feature, Independent League