ARLINGTON, Texas -- The next stop for the bat that Josh Hamilton used to become the 16th player in big league history to hit four homers in a game is the Hall of Fame.

Hamilton broke the bat in his final at-bat Sunday. He said he hit eight of his nine home runs in a six-day span over the past week with the bat, breaking it on an RBI single in the seventh inning of the Rangers' 13-6 win over the Angels.

“She died a hero,” Hamilton said, smiling. “She was ready to go. She was tired.”

Hamilton said he started swinging the bat on the last road trip and was also swinging it during batting practice. But once he hit the four homers in Baltimore and MLB authenticated the bat, putting a sticker on it, he quit swinging it in batting practice.

Hamilton said he worked hard not to throw the bat in the stands, something he’s done at least a half-dozen times this season.

Rangers officials said the bat will go to the Hall of Fame and that the break was pretty small, which means it should be nice for display.

Hamilton started Sunday’s game with a pink bat, joining MLB’s Mother’s Day initiative, which includes breast cancer awareness. He switched to his normal bat during the game.

Hamilton finishes the last seven days with nine homers and 18 RBIs. He leads the league in all three Triple Crown categories. He has a .402 batting average and added three more RBIs to his total Sunday. He has 44 RBIs while playing in 32 games this season to go along with 18 homers. It was a historic week for the 2010 AL MVP.

“I wish that could happen every week. Who wouldn’t, right?” Hamilton said. “I really hadn’t thought about it. It really hasn’t been different for me. I’m really not paying attention to results. I’m just trying to go out and do whatever I can to help the team.”

So should fans expect 10 homers and 20 RBIs in this next seven-day period?

“That would be a good pattern to start, wouldn’t it?” Hamilton said. “You can expect me to play hard.”