“Going Yard” Bat Blog

Jesse LaCasse, a 30-year-old currently playing professional baseball in Germany, started making bats in 2006, using high quality beechwood and setting up shop with a lathe and a handful of custom orders.

Now Subway is giving him a boost by highlighting LaCasse Bats in the 2010 Senior League World Series. Subway is a big sponsor of the event, and their pitchman Jared Fogle will be on hand for the closing ceremonies in Bangor, ME this weekend.

The exposure gained from this kind of tie-in is a huge boost for a small, custom bat-maker like LaCasse, and he’s already seeing a spike in demand for his totally customized bats offered in a variety of woods, color schemes, and technical specifications.

Just last week, we blogged about how dangerous broken bats can be - for players, coaches, officials and fans. So we weren’t too surprised to see this article in the news about a man who was hit in the face by a broken bat at a Mets game a few years ago who has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for his injuries.

As much as we feel for the guy (he suffered serious injuries to his face and head), we were a little surprised at the numerous targets of his lawsuit: he is suing the Luis Castillo (the batter), Ramon Castro (Castillo’s then-teammate who loaned him the bat), the New York Mets, Major League Baseball and Rawlings, the bat manufacturer. No word yet on if he’s suing the hot dog vendor from that section of the stadium.

Seriously, though, if his contention is that maple bats are inherently more dangerous than other bats, is the batter really to blame? Or the player who owned the bat? Or the team?

Tell us what you think.

In a widely anticipated move, the National Federation of State High School Associations enacted a rule banning the use of composite bats in high school baseball effective from the start of the 2010-11 school year.

They have, however, left some wiggle room, as the NFHS may consider waivers or modifications to this rule if composite bats can meet certain standards.

This has been a hot topic on the baseball-bats.net forum lately. What do you think about composite bats and this new ruling? Please discuss.

The 2009 Home Run Derby brought some exciting action, and a brand new leader in the baseball bat category. While the Champion Swung the original maple bat - Sam Bat , 4 of the 8 players were using Marucci - a name most hadn’t heard of just 2 years ago.

Albert Pujols - Marucci

Joe Mauer - Rawlings

Carlos Pena - Marucci

Ryan Howard - Marucci

Brandon Inge - Marucci

Prince Fielder - Sam Bat (CHAMPION)

Adrian Gonzalez - Trinity

Dustin Ackley. Tim Wheeler. Grant Green. Which way is your team going when it looks for the best bats in tonight’s 2009 MLB draft? Sure, plenty of duds have come from drafts in recent memory, but that doesn’t stop us from thinking our favorite team’s scouting department is going to find this year’s biggest start. Who are you pulling for your team to pick up in tonight’s draft?

Had you already heard about the response Vernon Wells had for a bunch of hecklers at the beginning of this month? After enough innings of shouts and jeers, the story goes, Wells tossed a ball up to the stands, with a handwritten message:

“Here’s your ball, now please tell me what gas station you work at so I can come and yell at you when you’re working. Please sit down, shut up, and enjoy the game. From your favorite centerfielder, Vernon Wells”

Maybe the fans got under Wells’s skin, but that’s a pretty comedic retort. Poetry it’s not. Billy Chapel’s signed message in For the Love of the Game it’s not. (And while we’re on Costner, it’s also not as good as the note Crash sent Annie in Bull Durham.)

HomerDerby caught up with the hecklers to share their story and posted the interview. Of course, they may not be up to the caliber of the original hecklers, but you can judge for yourself.

 

Last year, Major League Baseball started its investigation into the abundance of broken bats in recent years. At the time, a three-week count of broken bats in Major-League games showed about one shattered bat per game. After this first week of the regular season, it doesn’t look like the rate is coming down. Sure, maybe it’s the cold weather, but it seems like bats are breaking everywhere again. We’ve pretty much accepted it as part of the game. But just because we’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s safe.

Recalling last year’s incidents of fans and professionals getting hit in the head (Pittsburgh Pirate coach Don Long, umpire Brian O’Nora, and Dodger fan Susan Rhodes, who recovered from severe injuries after she was hit by a broken bat off Todd Helton), Ward Dill found a solution: the Radial Bat. It takes twelve wedges of wood and an adhesive, and it’s not likely to be adopted by pro ball. But it’s a step toward safety, clamped under 36,000 pounds of pressure. At $100 to $150 each, Dill’s Radial Bat is still pricey. The good news is, that if smart inventors’ minds like Dill’s are on the job, baseball may get the solution it needs for the broken bat blues.

I’m not sure what made him pick up a wood lathe an auction, but I’m glad that Michael Dean did. It made for a great story. Since he had the lathe, when his son Matt asked him to make him a new baseball bat, he gave it a try. The short version of the story: Matt loved the bat. Matt’s baseball team loved the bats. And now, just two years later, Michael has a full-fledged company. Michael’s bat manufacturing company, Silver Creek Baseball Bats, produces all of their bats by hand, and they’re expected to sell 1500 this year!

A giant is turning 125 this year. All season long, Louisville Slugger celebrates its 125 anniversary. Ingrained in baseball’s history, Louisville Slugger has always been family-owned, and the company stands as a great part of baseball’s legacy. From their first baseball bat (made for Pete Browning in 1884) to becoming the first company to sign a player to a promotional endorsement contract (Honus Wagner in 1905) to today, making bats for more than 8,500 professional baseball players, Louisville Slugger still remains connected to the individual fan. Their factory are second-to-none, and a tour of their facilities is a walk through baseball history.

You don’t need to be a Hall of Famer to appreciate the quality of a Louisville Slugger bat. Whether you’re looking for aluminum bats or wood bats, they’ll have the product to the fit your budget. But always one for a personal touch, you can also get customized bats, which make great gifts.

They’ll be celebrating all season long, but you can learn more about the 125th anniversary celebration at Louisville Slugger’s official site.

File this one in the dumb criminals category…this time out of Omaha, NE

Police arrested a 26-year-old man at Scheels Sporting Goods on Saturday after a customer saw him putting three baseball bats in his pants.

A female customer saw the man conceal the three $300 bats in his pants before 9:30 a.m., Omaha police said in a report.

full story here.

You know there is something wrong with the bat industry when baseball bats become a regular target of thieves. This guy had $900 in Easton Stealth Bats down his pants as he tried to walk out of the store….