USA
Time – Canadian Edition
May 16, 2005 Ottawa Slugger, Sam Holman (Sam Bat) By Laura Blue “The likes of Jose Canseco and Joe Carter gave Holman’s custom-made maple bats rave reviews in the 1990’s. Giants star Barry Bonds used them in 2001 when he broke the Major League Baseball (MLB) single-season home-run record. And 250 MLB players are using Holman’s custom-made maple bats this season [2005]." “A dozen people work for Holman, carving the bats with custom-made lathes in a converted 19th century tavern. For the 2005 season they made 17,000 maple bats- about a third of which go to the major leagues”. “…[Sam Holman] admires [the players] as fellow professionals. “They really are the salt of the earth,” he says. “They’re devotion and dedication to playing the game is a phenomenal thing to see.”