BOSTON -- When it came time to figure out gear options for Players Weekend, Orioles slugger Chris Davis had a few things down without worry.
His "Crush" nickname was a no-brainer for the back of jersey.
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Choosing to honor his former Navarro College coach and current Oklahoma skipper Skip Johnson on his tribute patch was another easy decision.
But when it came down to the lumber Davis would swing, things weren't as cut and dry.
Admittedly more of a left-side brain guy, Davis turned to his Rawlings representative for ideas, ultimately landing with a bat that celebrated his native Texas.
"I talked with the Rawlings rep, a guy named Stevie Cohen, who I've known for a few years," Crush said. "I'm not really an artistic kind of guy, that's just never been my bag. He was telling me about Players Weekend and what guys were doing with their bats. So I thought being from Texas, being raised there and living there in the offseason, it's where my family's from, I have a lot of Texas pride. And I wanted to do something to set it apart, so I went with the Texas state flag."
Using Davis' regular bat specs, the flag is strewn across the barrel, with the white lone star in blue near the top.
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In searching for an additional touch, the Longview, Texas, native found that many of the well-known phrases about the state, including "Don't Mess with Texas," were trademarked, so instead he put "Texas Strong" on the end.
In his first game with the colorful stick, Davis showed just how strong Texas can be when he launched a 410-foot home run off Rick Porcello at Fenway Park on Friday night.
"It feels good every time you hit a home run, no matter what you're using," Davis said. "It's going to be interesting to see if they'll let us keep swinging these or if they'll take them away when the weekend's over."
It would be understandable if "Crush" won't be willing to hand things over, seeing as in his last at-bat Friday, he stroked a single for his 1,000th career hit.

"It was a pretty cool moment," Davis said. "I thought it was very ironic that it was off [Mitch Moreland]. We played together in Texas. I honestly don't put a lot of stock in personal stats or accomplishments, but that was something that I took a step back and was pretty proud of."
Davis believes that the game is growing ever stronger in Texas, even in the shadow of Friday night light's football-frenzied folks, and he's more than willing to show off his pride and help promote the Lone Star State.
"It's getting a lot bigger," he said. "It's always been played. Football is probably the king down there, but baseball is growing and something that I hope continues to grow."