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The First Baseball Bat
This is the story behind the world-famous Louisville Slugger baseball bat, and the family-owned company that has created it since 1884. J. Frederick Hillerich emigrated with his family from Baden-Baden, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland in 1842. -
Louisville Slugger Created
Louisville player Pete Browning become frustrated after breaking his favorite bat. Hillerich, a woodworker went to Browning after the game and offered to make him a new bat. They went together to the woodworking shop, selected a piece of white ash and Browning supervised as John Hillerich made his new bat. Eventually leading to the creation of Louisville Slugger -
Bat Restrictions
The baseball rules committee stated that bats could no longer be sawed off (flat) at the end, They must be round, and the maximum diameter was increased to 2.75 inches. -
Easton Bats Created
In 1922 the #1 Bat company was created. Easton sports was first made for bows and arrows, but overall Easton was created. -
First Aluminum Bat Made
William Shroyer created the first metal baseball bat. But the idea of introducing them to the game didnt happen right away. -
Pine Tar Problems
Pine tar is used as a grip for players in the majors, due to wooden bats being slippery. On July 24th, George Brett hit a home run off reliever Goose Gossage in the ninth inning to give the Royals a 5-4 lead. Due to the bat having pine tar beyond the legal limit of 18 inches, the home plate umpire disallowed the round-tripper. As a matter of fact, Brett had pine tar halfway into the Louisville Slugger trademark -
Titanium Bats Were Created
In 1993 Eastons Sports and Wilson Sports make the first ever titanium bats, -
First Two Piece Bat
Easton sports introduces the first ever 2 piece bat. This bat was to become the "fastest" bat ever made. The 2 piece design was so the hitter could hands through the zone faster than anyone else in the game. -
Barry Bonds Makes a Change To Maple Bats
Barry Bonds hit a record 73 home runs in a single season! Soon into his tear it was learned that Bonds was using maple wood baseball bats, rather than the standard bats made of white ash. Players copied his success, and soon major league ball players everywhere were searching for maple baseball bats! -
Corked Bat
Sammy Sosa was caught using a corked bat. This bat was either filled, flat surfaced, nailed, hollowed, grooved or covered with a substance such as paraffin. Umpires initially took part of the corked bat into the Cubs dugout and down the runway toward their clubhouse before security came and took it away about an inning later. -
New Stamps
No longer was BESR bats good to use anymore. According to science and the experts, batws were causing an unsafe environment for pitchers. Changing to BBCOR bats, they called for loss pop, and a more safe playing field. Homeruns declined in college by nearly 300 homeruns.
