Baseball Bats
Omaha Baseball BatsWhen baseball began, baseball bats came in a variety of sizes. It was not until 1859, then later in 1869, that the size was standardized. Baseball bat company Louisville Slugger was one of the first companies to create a bat that was sold everywhere.
The Omaha Bat Company created its first solid-wood baseball bats in 2005. Since then, the company has crafted bats by hand one at a time from Rock Maple and Northern White Ash.
Demarini Baseball Bats
DeMarini is responsible for making the first multi-wall bat, dubbed the DeMarini Doublewall. Established in 1989, the company’s dictum was to create bats for all types of baseball players – professionals and amateurs – that lived up to the highest standards. More specifically, DeMarini wanted to create a baseball bat that was not “juiced.” Its popularity increased because of the bat’s ability to help amateur players hit baseballs like they were pros. The company’s founder and also a standout softball player, Ray DeMarini, came up with the bat’s concept, but it took the engineering skills of Mike Eggiman to create the bat that would make DeMarini successful and famous. Since its creation, the company has also created high-performance bats for the youth market called a Black Coyote and one for massive players called Fatboy.
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Louisville Slugger baseball bats have a rich and legendary history. In 1880s, a woodworker in Louisville, Kentucky, J. F. Hillerich, created what would later become the Louisville Slugger. The story begins when his son, John A. “Bud” Hillerich, a 17-year-old amateur baseball player skipped work and went to a ball game. There, he watched the Louisville Eclipse’s star player, Pete Browning, continue his slump. After the game, Bud brought Browning to his father’s woodworking shop where J.F. Hillerich crafted what is known as the Louisville Slugger. Browning took out the bat the next day and hit three times. While J.F. was excited about the possibilities of creating hand-crafted baseball bats – he wanted to stick with porch columns and stair railings – but Bud was able to convince his father that there was indeed a future in making baseball bats. The “Louisville Slugger” was registered with the U.S. Patent office in 1894. Since the bat’s inception, there have been more than 100 million “Louisville Slugger” baseball bats sold. It is also the most popular bat used by professional players. The bat is made of ash – as it was in 1884 – and is still available today. Louisville slugger also makes bats of metal, and in 2006 released a bat with an aluminum shell and a handle with a composition transition.
