Interview with Clippers’ Clubhouse Manager Matt Pruzinksy

A few weeks ago, I met with Columbus Clippers’ (the AAA franchise of the Cleveland Indians) Clubhouse manager Matt Pruzinsky in the clubhouse at Huntington Park. I got to view what life in the clubhouse was like for a clubhouse manager and was able to ask Matt what his role is in the clubhouse.

Today is a game day. What is the routine you have on a game day compared to a non-game day?

The biggest thing is just being here early. Staying late the night before and getting here early the next morning: 10:00 to 11:00 am is usually the time frame I get here after leaving at 1:30 or 2 am. My routine when I get in is, if I don’t have to stop at the store and get something for the clubhouse, I’m finishing up laundry with my assistant David. We finish up laundry from the night before, mostly towels. Then we are just restocking fridges, getting more snacks, and making sure everything is ready for when the guys come in. That’s basically the biggest thing in the morning. As the day progresses, it gets a little different as the players come in. They want lunch from certain places so David or one of the batboys will go get it. It just gets kind of hectic at times because everybody wants something. That’s our job to please everybody, so you can kind of see how it gets hectic making everybody happy.

What time do the players usually get to the clubhouse?

Today, we don’t have batting practice but stretch for pitchers. I think is at 4 o clock (for a 7 o clock start) so the guys will show up at 2 pm at the earliest. They take advantage of having a late start so they can sleep in or hangout with their families.

When the players do show up, what are some of the other tasks you do for them?

We just hang around, making sure to be there if anyone needs anything. We usually prepare the stuff for our pre-game spread. Today I have sushi so I’ll pick up the sushi at 4 o clock. I usually put the spread out 2 hours before game time. I’ll put out all of the lunch meats and fresh fruits, everything to make sandwiches. Sometimes guys will make smoothies with a blender. We clean up post-batting practice: most guys have two laundry loops so we pull their personal clothes from batting practice.  A lot of guys sweat and change after batting practice. We wear a dri-fit t-shirt for batting practice so most guys will throw the shirt on their loop, and then I’ll have it washed and dried by the end of game time. Basically during the game we do laundry. We then get the post-game spread all set up for the players. Once the game is over, it is “game on” for us, while its
“game over” for them. We generally average three hours after the game until we’re done. Last night we were here after 1.

How does the second day of the homestand differ from the first?

The first day is pretty busy especially after an eight game road trip because the guys haven’t been home so some guys will bring their personal laundry in from home. Yesterday was especially busy because we got in at seven in the morning and we were here from 5:30 until 1:30. We try to get all of the uniforms cleaned, and the clubhouse prepped and what not for the guys to come in. The first day of the home stand is the busiest, especially if we get new guys that met us on the road. It’s a process. The first day is always the worst. After that it gets a lot easier because everything is pretty much ready to go after the first day. Everybody usually has all of the things that they need, it’s a lot easier after that to put it that way.

How did you become a clubhouse manager?

I started in Lake County (the Indians’ A-ball affiliate). I’m from Lake County. I was a batboy there when I was in high school. Then I worked in the clubhouse my second year. The third year, I stayed in school. That was the only year I wasn’t with the Captains. That following year they called me in and said they had an opening for a clubhouse manager. I took that position. I went to Ohio State so I took every spring quarter off to work the whole baseball season from spring training to the end of the season. I was a clubhouse manager in Lake County for four years. This past fall, I heard they were hiring here. I came down and met with the general manager (Ken Schnake) and George (the Director of Clubhouse Operations). Pretty much around Halloween time I got the job and then I moved back to Columbus in January.

What is difference between being a clubhouse manager at this level compared to Single-A?

The biggest difference is probably the maturity level of the guys. Most of these guys have been around the game more and they’re older so they kind of know how it is supposed to go here. In low-A, they are a little more immature because they are younger and fresh out of high school or the draft. It is just a lot different in that respect. It is better up here: the guys have been around the game longer here and know what is going on. They are a lot easier to work with. That is probably the biggest thing. I’ve had a lot of guys up here who I knew from Lake County.

You have a 24-man roster here in Columbus. How do you make sure all the equipment gets to where it needs to be?

After the game, if we are going on an 8-game road trip, we usually have all of these trunks for extra equipment and laundry bags, plus every player has their personal “Columbus Clippers” bag that we pack for them. We pack all their essentials, like jerseys, and then they pack all of their personal stuff. We get all of that, make sure all of that stuff is out and loaded on the buses. If we fly, we will usually have an equipment truck that will leave the day before. We just have to know what needs to be on each road trip. The trainer has his own stuff; we take everything from the training room that he needs on the road and put it on the bus. We know exactly what goes on the road and you’ve got to keep track of everything. We have minor slipups here and there, someone forgets their bag or glove or whatever it might be, but we try to eliminate that. The biggest thing is keeping everything together, their trunks and bags.

How many people are you taking the equipment for?

We take it for close to 30 guys. We take all of their bags, all of their bat bags, and the standard big bat bag. We take all of the ball bags, and extra baseballs for the pitchers. That is usually controlled by (pitching coach) Charlie Nagy. We usually give him one dozen balls a day for the road. It’s a task but we get it done.

What happens when a player gets called up?

If someone is called up to Cleveland, someone from the front office or I will take the equipment up to Cleveland. That’s basically the chore: getting everybody’s stuff that is down here and getting it sent up to Cleveland. It is always good if their wife is here because they will take it up to them.

What if he gets called up to the West Coast or somewhere very distant?

If they are on the road and get called up, a lot of guys can make do with what they have and then we just send their equipment to Cleveland, that way we don’t have to overnight it. Some guys need equipment overnighted to them where ever they are at. A couple of weeks ago, we had to send some stuff over to Tampa Bay. Just depends on the guy and if they need something.

Do you keep in touch with a lot of the clubhouse managers in the Indians’ minor league affiliates?

I’m pretty close with our guy in Akron and I’ve stayed with him for the past two Spring Trainings. I know the guys in Cleveland pretty well. It’s a team effort so to say, we are all affiliated with the Indians, so we are all part of a family so you can say.

How does get-away day work?

It starts towards the end of the game just trying to get everything ready. Usually we just set the equipment up in the hallway and have it ready to go minus the player bags. When the game is over, the bus to take the players is usually here. My assistant, the batboys, George, and I will all just start taking everything out on carts to the buses and getting it loaded up. Generally the team likes to leave an hour after the game. What is good is that we haven’t had many road trips where we needed to leave the night of.

We also do their personal laundry and put it in the bags. If we leave the night of, we just put it in a wetbag and the clubhouse managers on the road will clean it when it gets there. An hour after the game isn’t enough time to get the clothes washed and dried. We only have to do that a couple of more times. When we go on the road to Louisville or Toledo, those are the road trips we can leave in the morning because it isn’t that far away. It just depends on where we go I guess.

Who decides on the bats and gloves that the players use?

They pick their own models of bats, they have their own gloves. Some get equipment from their agent for free, some have to pay for their own stuff, some through companies. Just the player and what they are comfortable with. It depends on each company too. With the apparel, its stuff we give them. They have to wear certain colors under their jersey and we try to keep everyone wearing the same colors. Luckily, a lot of guys will be in spring training and have a lot of their Indians stuff so they will have the same navy color on their clothes.

During a season, how many bats does the team go through?

A lot of guys will put in an order once a month. It depends on the player. Quite a few bats and quite a few baseballs, we go through a lot. Every guy has their own supply of bats and they order bats when they need them. About monthly guys will put in a bat order with me and I’ll send the order to our overall equipment manager for the Indians. He orders all of that and sends it up here.

What was the most memorable player that you have met in your minor league experience as a clubhouse manager?

I probably have two. It might be cliché because it’s Chris Gimenez (who swings Phoenix Bats) and Matt Whitney. They are probably my two favorite guys just because even at that level they were very respectable guys and understood the game. They were always good to me, so I would say those two guys are probably my favorite to work with the past few years. It’s great to see a guy like Chris especially, late round pick, that didn’t have so much hype coming out of college make it to the big leagues. Last year was pretty good because he is a great guy, will tell you like it is and is down to earth. You can tell a guy like that wasn’t changed by going to the big leagues for a year. It was good to see him get there.

Matt Whitney was an early round guy but he was very cool and very professional. He never really was one of those immature younger guys even though he was a high school pick. He professionally moved on to the Nationals organization and I haven’t followed him that much this year but it’s good to see guys like that make it. It’s a very good feeling. You are happy for those guys. Making the majors is the ultimate goal for the players, and you’re very happy when they reach the Promised Land, so to speak.

Thank you to Matt and the Clipper organization for allowing me access to the clubhouse and the opportunity to see what a day in a clubhouse manager’s life consists of. It is a very rare opportunity to go behind the scenes on a game day. My experience taught me a lot about behind the scenes work in professional baseball.

-Eitan the Intern

The Kansas City experience with Eitan the Intern

If I could describe to a person all of what Kansas City has to offer within the confines of one intersection, I would point to the corner of 18^th and Vine Street outside downtown Kansas City. The intersection of 18^th and Vine remains an integral part of American history even though it may not contain the same glamour as 42^nd Street and Broadway in New York City or Bourbon Street in New Orleans. 18^th and Vine and its surrounding district has established 35 Baseball Hall of Famers, numerous Grammy award winners, and barbeque so amazing it would make some strict vegetarians eat meat.

If you have already made it through the first paragraph of this post, you might be wondering why the streets of 18^th and Vine have any relevance to Phoenix Bats. Phoenix Bats traveled to Kansas City recently to witness the first bat give-away promotion, provided by Phoenix Bats, with a major league ballclub. On July 18th, the Kansas City Royals held a Billy Butler Youth Replica Bat Giveaway to the first 8,000 children who entered the ballpark. Since Billy Butler swings Phoenix Bats, the Phoenix Bats and Fox Sports Kansas City (the giveaway’s sponsor) logos were placed on the replica bat. To a company the size of Phoenix Bats, Billy’s promotional giveaway was very significant because it highlighted not only Billy Butler but Phoenix Bats as well.

After landing in Kansas City at 11 o’clock on Saturday morning, Phoenix Bats general manager Seth Cramer and I ventured to Arthur Bryant’s BBQ, a few short blocks away from the Negro League Baseball Museum. After quickly noticing the line at Arthur Bryant’s extended to the nearest intersection, Seth and I made the wise choice to go the Negro League Baseball Museum first.

The museum itself was very impressive. Though the museum’s size was smaller than I had imagined, the museum articulated the bittersweet tale of the Negro Leagues quite well. The museum celebrates the accomplishments of the Negro Leagues and African-American baseball, but conveys the tragedy of many talented African-American baseball players who were denied a spot in the major leagues. The museum houses an impressive array of memorabilia from “Buck” Leonard to the legendary pitcher Satchel Paige. I highly recommend the museum as the museum weaves baseball, Kansas City, and past racial segregation in this country all into one.

I have one short story from the museum that reflects how far this country has progressed since the founding of the Negro Leagues. In the museum, there is a miniature sized baseball field towards the exit with statues of baseball legends of the Negro Leagues such as “Cool Papa” Bell and Josh Gibson. This is also the only spot in the museum where hyper-active little children can run around freely without much protest. As I was heading towards the exit, I noticed this energetic young blond child romping around the field. As I passed him, he said “I’m sorry, I just love baseball.” I wasn’t really sure what to make of what the child said at first but then a thought hit me. To this kid, the museum wasn’t about white baseball players or black baseball players, it was just about baseball. Even the young ones can provide a good moral lesson from time to time.

When Seth and I finished the typical tourist tour of the museum gift shop, we went back to Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. The restaurant was packed when Seth and I arrived, but it didn’t appear that we would be waiting until next week for food. As a somewhat principled vegetarian, I did not taste the meat at Arthur Bryant’s (I left that to Seth) but it seemed everyone at the restaurant thought they just landed in barbeque heaven. Post-barbeque nirvana, Seth and I drove to Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals.

I can safely say that Kauffman Stadium is one of the most underrated stadiums in baseball. If stadiums could be compared to women, Kauffman Stadium was a girl with a pretty face that had a little bit of meat on her bones earlier but then went to Curves and lost 20 pounds. Kauffman Stadium contains the amenities of any modern ballpark, is relatively cheap in concessions compared to other stadiums, and offers a beautiful view of a Kansas City hillside. Of course, it did need a renovation or two to reach that stage, but Kauffman Stadium is still a beautiful ballpark. The stadium had the feel as if it had just been built and appeared quite well maintained. The Royals did an amazing job of providing an in-game experience for fans as well.

That weekend, the Royals played the Oakland A’s, the team I grew up rooting for when I was younger. It was a great experience seeing my hometown team playing on the road. The vast majority of the A’s games I’ve attended have been in Oakland, so I gained a new perspective on being a visiting fan. After the game (and a very long day), it was onto to a hotel in suburban Kansas City for some much needed rest.

On Sunday, it was back to the ballpark for the bat giveaway. Although I was a tad too old to receive a bat, it was nice seeing the numerous amounts of children glowing as they received a bat of their hometown hero. Before meeting with the Manager of Special Events and Promotions for the Royals, Kasey Schweitzer, I went to the Royals Hall of Fame. If you like baseball museums, Kansas City might just be the place for you. Between the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Royals Hall of Fame, there is good amount of baseball history to go around. I must say, the Royals Hall of Fame displayed a tremendous amount of memorabilia as well. In fact, a Phoenix Bat is even displayed in there. After touring the Hall of Fame, it was time to interview Kasey. Kasey and I discussed organizing promotions for a ballclub and the thought process that goes into a promotional giveaway. Right as the interview wrapped up, it was time for the first pitch. Despite the good old Midwest humidity, I had a great time at Sunday’s game as well. Following the Royals-A’s game on Sunday, Seth and I finally headed back to Ohio, our tummies full of barbeque and baseball.

Coming soon: An interview with Kasey Schweitzer, the Royals’ Manager of Special Events and Promotions.

-Eitan the Intern

Ask an Agent with Eitan the Intern

In this entry of “Eitan the Intern”, I interviewed sports agent Michael Bonanno of Oak Sports Management. Only 23 years old, Michael was recently featured as the cover story in Biz Magazine. I was able to catch up with Michael over email to ask him some questions about his profession.

Here is my Q&A interview with Michael:

What influenced you to become a sports agent?

MB: Business and personal relationships. I played professional baseball and always enjoyed the business side of it. I enjoy being around the game and enjoy seeing a client succeed and do well.

How were you able to become a sports agent?

MB: I was a law major while at Brevard College (FL), and when my playing career finished, through a mutual contact, I met the President of our company (Don Webster). We discussed starting the agency and why I believed it could be successful. Being a co-founder of a company with one of the top contract negotiators in the world is humbling. I try to learn as much from him as possible.

How do you decide when to sign a client?

MB: It varies, some perspective clients are referrals through current clients, while we approach others or they contact us. When we sign a client we want them to be as comfortable as possible about the decision. Ultimately if the agency wants the player, it is always his decision about what agency to join.

How often do you have to touch base with your clients? Do you tend to follow your clients on a day by day basis or do you tend to follow your clients weekly?

MB: Each client is different, I would say on average it is every 3-5 days though. Some prefer speaking daily, while others are biweekly or monthly. I leave it completely up to the player to dictate; they know I follow them daily and my phone is there day or night if they would like to talk.

What are the players looking for when they sign with you and Oak Sports Management?

MB: You are getting one of the top contract negotiators in North America, and an agency that prides ourselves on the integrity of our athletes and the game of baseball. We are committed to meeting the individual needs of our players, during and after their professional playing careers.

Does the prominence of agents such as Scott Boras or David Falk hamper the ability of smaller sports agencies to sign clients?

MB: It could, but I have found no affects of that. I respect those two individuals but am excited, in only one year, what we are accomplishing at Oak Sports. I believe what we offer as a company can compete with anybody.

How does becoming an agent for baseball players vary than becoming an agent for athletes in other sports?

MB: Each sport has different requirements to become a certified agent. Certain sports are a little bit more extensive then others. There will be a hockey division of Oak Sports Management, but I am strictly a baseball agent.

What do you consider the most gratifying and stressful aspects of your profession?

MB: As good as seeing a client hit a double, steal a base or strike a batter out is, the most gratifying for me is the personal and business side of baseball. Being able to negotiate a contract, get an endorsement deal or having them call me for advice is gratifying. In all honesty, I don’t stress much doing this job. It is very time consuming and isn’t easy but that’s what drives me and challenges me to become one of the best in this industry.

How do you maintain a contract for your client if he is either not performing well or not getting enough playing time so to speak?

MB: That is out of the agents hands and in complete control of the organization he is with. When speaking with the team you will know how they feel about him and if they’re in the team’s future plans. If a client is not getting playing time however and we believe he should be, we will contact the organization to get more information but it is a case by case basis.

What is the biggest challenge for a young player in the minors?

MB: The biggest challenge would be the competition and mental aspect of baseball. It’s not an easy job being a minor league baseball player, it is a full out grind. Between the hours you put in, travel, competition, struggle and personal life, you need to be strong mentally.

Thank you to Michael for allowing the time to do an interview with him given his very busy schedule. I am sure in a few years we will hear of him and his clients quite often.

That’s all for today’s post. Have a great July 4^th weekend.

-Eitan

Eitan the Intern goes down to the Clippers

In my younger days, even the worst of ballparks appeared to me as the Taj Mahal with dugouts and grandstands. As I grew older, I lost touch with a feeling of awe that I used to have when ever I ventured to a ballgame. Last Monday I drove down to Huntington Park (home of the Columbus Clippers) with the founder of Phoenix Bats, Charley “Lefty” Trudeau. At the ballpark the sense of awe I experienced staring at the stadium’s entrance took me back to my grade school days. The brick façade of the Clippers Huntington Park delightfully reminded me of my first trip to AT&T Park (then Pacific Bell Park) where I stared in admiration of a jewel of a ballpark right on the San Francisco Bay.

However, the purpose of my trip with Charley was not to take a tour of Huntington Park but rather to talk with Minor League players who are currently swinging or considering swinging Phoenix Bats. But before Charley and I talked to the players, we went into the Clipper’s front office where we met Clipper’s radio broadcaster Scott Leo, who you should expect a blog entry about in the near future. We also met Clippers General Manager Ken Schnake, who must have the nicest office view of anyone in the Minor Leagues. Unfortunately, Ken’s encompassing office view of the ballpark was soured by the incoming rain which descended upon the field. After talking with Ken, Charley and I visited the Clipper’s clubhouse. In the clubhouse we met the clubhouse manager for the Clippers, Matt Pruzinsky. It was relatively apparent from Matt’s busy office that being a clubhouse manager encompassed many tasks and duties before first pitch. Because the weather conditions at the ballpark were not exactly ideal, many players strolled around the clubhouse as they waited to take batting practice in the indoor batting cages next door.

Attending batting practice was an incredible but yet nerve racking experience for one who was not a professional baseball player. It was amazing on one hand to watch ballplayers, many of whom are one phone call away from the Major Leagues, launching baseballs from their wood bats across the cage as if they were shooting bullets from an Uzi. On the flip side of the coin, it was also nerve racking to watch because I was only a few yards away from these bullets with seams. Given the amount of sheer force each batter appears to put on the ball, it is no shock that there is always a need for baseball bats around the clubhouse.

I had the privilege of meeting Clippers outfielder Chris Gimenez at batting practice. Chris discussed the feel and handle of the bat he was currently swinging, his R141 Phoenix Bat maple bat model. I was to learn more about Chris as well, discussing with him baseball and life in Northern California, where he is also from. When I told Chris I am currently attending The University of Arizona, Chris then introduced me to his teammate Jordan Brown, a fellow Wildcat. One perk I will admit of attending a large university like The University of Arizona is no matter what part of the country I am in, it is not very difficult to find another Wildcat. I was shocked to learn from Jordan that between the Clippers and Cleveland Indians rosters, there were four Arizona Wildcats between the two ball clubs. After discussing the U of A and Tucson with Jordan, Charley and I met with some of the other Clipper ballplayers to get their input on some of the other Phoenix Bats baseball bat models.

After heading to the visiting clubhouse, where Charley showed some maple and ash bats to the visiting Norfolk Tide players, Charley and I went into to the Clipper’s dugout to talk with some of the Clippers coaches. Enduring the humidity (a very foreign concept in Northern California), I was able to meet Clippers manager Mike Sarbaugh and chatted with him about baseball and college football as well. In the dugout I also met assistant clubhouse manager Dave. Dave relayed to me snippets of the daily routine in the clubhouse both on game day and before road trips. Judging by the amount of work and lack of sleep involved in being a “clubbie” after meeting both Matt and Dave, I hope the clubhouse has lots of energy drinks lying around. To conclude my day, I watched the Norfolk Tide take batting practice in the same indoor cages downstairs before leaving the ballpark and heading back home.

Being able to go behind-the-scenes at the Huntington Park was a very intriguing experience. Seeing the preparations on game day gave me an insight into all of the hard work and amount of precision needed to make a baseball team function. Additionally, being able to talk with the ballplayers enabled me to understand the daily routine of a minor league player as well. My experience yesterday was memorable, an experience that I am sure will be engrained in my mind for many years.

That’s all for now. I’ll talk to you later.

-Eitan

Getting to know the “Bat Master” – An Interview with Phoenix Bats Founder Charley “Lefty” Trudeau

Phoenix Bats Founder Charley “Lefty” Trudeau talks about his time on the spring training circuit.

Every year, when the Ohio snow begins to melt, Phoenix Bats takes a trip.  Founder and head designer, Charles “Lefty “Trudeau swings through both the Grapefruit and Cactus league to make sure that professional baseball players get access to high quality wood bats.  We caught up with Charley while he was swinging through the gulf coast of Florida.

What do you hope to accomplish with every visit to a big league baseball team’s facility?

CT: There’s a couple of things, first of all you want to check in with your existing customers.  Make sure they are taken care of, they got everything they need and find out if there are any concerns or problems that have arisen that you don’t know about.  A lot of these guys, I know them real well and they may not think anything of it or don’t want to bother me with something – but it’s nice to know that everything is going exactly the way they want it to because this is their career.  Certainly we also want to expand on our existing customer base by getting to know new players, new equipment managers, things like that and hopefully develop a bigger network of contacts and friends.

What’s the best way to go about doing that?

CT: It varies from camp to camp. In some you have very easy access to players and in others the players almost have to come to you.  You certainly don’t get a platform. There’s no way that you can direct everybody at one time and a lot of it is word of mouth.  The players know what everyone else on the team is using so if you have a very loyal customer on the team it certainly makes talking to other players easier because they know that we take care of somebody on their team who is happy with us.

Does the fact that you are the founder of the company help when talking to the players, as opposed to a sales rep from a larger company?

CT: I don’t know whether being the founder has a whole lot of effect on it. I think what probably has more of an effect is the fact that they know that I design all the bats.  So when they are talking to me about their bat and what they want to do with it, they are talking to the guy who is actually going to sit down and do the design work for them.  So I think that makes a big difference.  But as far as being the founder, it’s certainly not something I stress with them. I know a lot of the guys know that and they appreciate it, but I don’t think it’s a critical aspect of what we do down here.  When these guys place an order, in a lot of ways they are trusting us with their career.  I think we have a good reputation and the players trust us. They know we do everything we can to take care of them.

Is there a player or coach that you always look forward to meeting up with?

CT: Oh sure, there are a lot of players that I really look forward to seeing when I come down because it may be the only time I get to see them.  Some of them are friendships that have been established for years.  You know we’ll go out to dinner with a bunch of them. Like tomorrow night I’m going out to dinner with a lot of players.  It’s something that I look forward to every year and I know some of the players also look forward to it.  It’s a relaxing time during spring training when there is a lot of stress.

How do you convey the high quality of Phoenix Bats to these professionals?

CT: That’s really where the word of mouth comes in. When you are talking to a player that may be friends with a player that we work with and they’ve heard that we are very careful with the wood that we send them and that we stand behind the product.  We get them bats quickly so they’re not sitting around for months waiting for them to show up and things like that.   We’ve been lucky along these lines because the players do talk about us and we’ve gotten a very good reception over the years because we take care of our players.

Do you help the players design their own custom bat specifications?

CT: A lot of it depends on the level of player you are talking about. If it’s a guy on the 40 man roster, they probably have a pretty good idea of what they want.  If it’s a kid who’s just got drafted who may not have a huge amount of experience with a wood bat – and may not have any experience with the idea that they can design their own bat – then you really do spend some time with them and maybe go through several generations before we get to the model that’s just right for them.

How do you help the more experienced players learn about new technology in the industry?

CT: A lot of that comes with earning their trust.  I’ve got boxes of bats that guys have given me where they like the design or the way this bat feels, but they want us to make it for them.  Once we’ve earned that trust then we can talk about making the handle thicker or changing the slope into the knob, whatever it might be.

Where do you see the future of wooden bats heading?

CT: I really see it expanding.  I really see colleges going back to some form of wooden bats. My guess is it won’t be a single piece wood bat like they use in professional baseball, it will be some form of a composite or something like that.  Just because high schools and colleges can’t afford to buy dozens and dozens of wood bats, and they are young players, young players break bats.  So I think you are going to see a wood bat that has a higher degree of durability than a big league bat.  That’s where I see the future of baseball going, away from the aluminum bats, the metal bats, the carbon fiber bats, things like that which have gotten just scary responses.  The ball coming off those bats is just so fast and so hard that even the young guys can’t react to it fast enough.  You just keep seeing guys get hurt or even killed by balls coming off of these bats and eventually everyone is going to say enough of this, and you’ll go back to a wooden bat.

A Behind the Scenes Look at the Making of a Wood Baseball Bat by Phoenix Bats

For the last 10 years, we’ve been scoring big with amateurs and professionals alike with the production of our premium wood bats. From a garage, making old-fashioned bats for vintage baseball teams, we have grown into a leading custom wood bat manufacturer, literally “turning out” the market’s highest quality bats from our special Italian lathe. We’ve perfected the process and are excited to give you a sneak peek into the complete journey of a Phoenix bat.

Making the country’s best wood bats doesn’t start at the lathe, but in the dense forests of Pennsylvania and upstate New York, where ash trees are prized for their strength. A minimum of sixty years of growth are required to bring an ash tree to the preferred trunk diameter of ~36 inches, and each tree yields approximately 60 bats.

Step 1: Inspect and Sort

As soon as the premium woods arrive at our shop, they are hand inspected and sorted and every piece is weighed to establish its quality. In these beginning stages, we also measure the straightness of the grain from end to end, all of which determines what wood will be used for our vintage, youth, adult, game or trophy bats.

Step 2: Cut and Sand

After the initial grading process, the unformed wood goes into the second stage of production. Our precision Italian lathe, called a Locatelli lathe, is the most advanced model in the bat industry and we’re the only manufacturer in the world to have it. Our lathe cuts the raw wood into a bat with exact dimensions and not only does it perform with amazing precision, it automatically sands as well, providing a one-of-a-kind feature. At Phoenix Bats, we use this sophisticated piece of machinery on every single bat that leaves our shop.

Once our bats come off the lathe, we remove the ends and, if needed, the bat is cupped. Not every bat is cupped, just those that need a little weight taken off. Because professional bats need to meet certain weight requirements, we scoop out a portion of the bat’s top. Our cup is narrower than most manufacturers, providing better stability to the wall surrounding the cup.

Step 3: Finishing Touches

After a bat is formed and meets with our stringent specifications, the finishing process begins. Bat handles are submerged into the finishing compound, which determines its color and the process is repeated with the bat’s barrel. Next, it’s coated with a clear sealant and finishing touches are added including a ring around the middle to hide the color transition between the handle and barrel. Then it’s time to add our decal and personalized player engraving.

The next Phoenix bat is now out the door and, of course, we hope to see it on baseball diamonds everywhere. The real secret in making wood bats with the best feel and largest sweet spot is our love of the game and our attention to detail from start to finish.

Turning raw wood into great game bats makes all of us at Phoenix Bats feel like we are part of baseball’s rich history and exciting future. Manufacturing quality bats, doing what you love and giving players better tools to raise their game is truly the best possible gig.

Interested in booking a tour to see how a bat is made from start to finish? Tours are conducted by appointment and are $10 per person. This includes a custom engraved mini bat to commemorate your visit. To schedule a tour please contact tours@phoenixbats.com or call 877.598.2287 (614.873.7776 in the Columbus area).