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Canadian Workshop April 1998 Ottawa’s Very Own Bat Man By Robert Koci “Bats are pretty simple until you make thousands of them,” says Holman. “That’s where the details and complexities of bat design begin to absorb you.” “The label is always placed over the flat grain. That way, when the batter holds the bat with the label toward his body, he knows he will make contact with the ball on a tight grain and generate more drive. Holman tells his hitters to “look into the eyes of the bat.”

The Globe and Mail (Canadian) March 31, 1998 Bat maker makes it big – By Dave Chan “Though the bat hadn’t been sanctioned [Joe] Carter took [one of the test sample bats] with him to the plate in a road game at Kansas City. The Kansas City catcher and the umpire behind the plate both remarked on the slim line of the unapproved bat. They also noticed that Mr. Carter put a pitch over the wall for a home run.” “The advent of Mr. Holman’s maple bat, called the Sam Bat, is considered significant enough that baseball’s Hall of Fame...

The Toronto Star www.thestar.com Saturday, March 29, 1997 Firm’s hoping for a real home run with tougher bat; Betting on rock maple instead of traditional ash - By Kelly Egan “It began with a question at an Ottawa pub in the spring of 1996, from a baseball scout to a wood-smith: Why can’t they make a baseball bat that’s won’t break? Ottawa resident Sam Holman… set out to smack an engineering curveball.” Sam Holman: “If you’re going to solve a problem that’s existed for 100 years, you have to come up with a different solution.” “Breaking into the big leagues...