Cheers @Chompy9760 , very kind! It was a part made yep, but I would have done the same if I was handling it myself. The marks in the lower half of the blade are all just butterfly stains, which won't negatively affect the bat at all - in fact the stained areas usually ping a little better, so the one you can see showing through around the middle of the bat is actually in a great position on the blade. More importantly, most maker's first priority when choosing which end to handle is how the grains run through either end of the cleft, and the grains are beautifully straight through the toe, so it's ideal from that point of view too.
Thanks for the reply - fair enough! I can only judge from the pics, but the grains at the top of the bat also look lovely and straight, however I don't know what's under the sticker!
I've spent a fair bit of time cutting and splitting wood with an axe, and while I can't vouch for 'ping', I can tell you without doubt that it's at least twice as hard to split wood with with knots in it Vs straight grains. Anyone swinging an axe aims to avoid the irregularites if possible, to get the most split wood with the least ammount of effort. So I'm certain that you have a durable bat that is most unlikely to split.
I'll take that over looks any day.
The worst thing about having a durable bat, is that it lowers your chances of needing to make/buy another one