LSU head trainer makes pretty good baseball bats

Oggiedoggie · Oct 21, 2009

I saw this on the wire and thought it was interesting:

By BRETT MARTEL (AP)

BATON ROUGE, La. — Mark Teixeira took a healthy swing and ... crack!

A screaming line drive that cleared the left-field fence at Yankee Stadium for a game-winning home run in the playoffs against Minnesota.

Somewhere down in the bayou, Jack Marucci smiled.

Of course, when all this started, Marucci wasn't looking to become bat maker to the stars. He simply wanted to carve a comfortable piece of lumber that his boy could use in T-ball.

But it didn't take long for Marucci, the head trainer at LSU, to go from middle-aged dad to major league merchant. Now, he makes hand-crafted bats for about 60 players, including some of baseball's biggest sluggers: Teixeira, Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, just to name a few.

"It's the hardest bat in the business," said Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez, who hit 34 home runs this season. "A lot of guys use them. They've gone from not being a name bat to being the name. ... Jack does a great job."

Marucci bats, recognizable by the right-leaning cursive 'M' on the barrel, still aren't very well known by the public because the man who founded the company doesn't even consider bat making his real job. He said he hasn't spent a dollar on marketing since former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin got the first major league hit with one of his bats in 2003.

"Our marketing has been players," Marucci said. "My salesmen are Albert Pujols, Chase Utley — that's who sells the bats for us. We don't go and solicit."
Click to expand...

The rest on the AP wire or at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jBHt8AoGjoMcwFJ5IWt0SWmDGoBQD9BFKO280

expendable · Oct 21, 2009

Thanks for sharing. It's amazing that something that started out with humble beginnings can end up like this.

Flip Wilson · Oct 23, 2009

That's a great story....thanks for posting it.

Chef · Oct 23, 2009

Great story.

Charlie Brown · Oct 23, 2009

I was thinking I'd read that one before, but the one I read was from after the All-Star break.

http://www.businessreport.com/news/2009/jul/27/going-batty-gnit1/

For a company that's relatively unknown, the guy has had quite a few stories written about him, from what I've found from the Google.

What a hobby, huh?

Football_Bat · Oct 23, 2009

A pittance spent on marketing and he'd be a gazillionaire.

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