Sam Bat Blog — major league baseball

The “ink dot test” for wood is not new, in fact it dates as far back as WWI!  The test was developed to measure the straightness of the grain of hardwoods used for airplane propellers and has been used for decades. The straighter the grain the stronger the wood.  Sam Holman the Founder of SAM BAT is very passionate about aviation and was well aware of the cutting properties necessary to cut a great piece of “bat wood”. Sam took this into consideration when he was creating the first professionally approved maple bat. This special cutting, coupled with the drying process...

We often get asked ‘What Custom bat is best for me?’ or ‘What Custom bat is best for my kid?’ Although it is a fair question to those new to wood bats, it is not a cookie cutter answer! Each player will have many different preferences on a number of things including length, weight, knob, handle, and more.  Every Pro Player that has ordered from us has customized something special to themselves. What works best for one player won’t work for another it should be an extension of yourself, to transfer energy to the ball. So here is how to...

The MMO has been around since the very early days of SAM BAT and has always been one of our most popular models. It has hovered consistently in the 4th or 5th bat position overall. Staff always wondered why it was not chosen more. Many thought that this model did not get the attention that it deserved.    After 25 years the MMO has really taken off! It was a slow build, everyone here on staff thought it was cool, first one order, then another and another. Now it is our most popular model across the board! The MMO is based off the M110 profile,...

Continued from our previous blog post! WHY DID SAM CHOOSE MAPLE? When Sam was first tasked to find a better wood than ash for baseball bats by then Rockies scout Bill McKenzie, he wasn’t quite sure what wood could be better. He was great at working with wood and knew the different characteristics of a lot of wood, but had never tried to make a baseball bat. Sam spent countless hours in the library researching different types of wood from oak, to hickory, to beech, to walnut, and finally to maple.  You cannot just use any type of wood to...

SAM BAT – The setting and the Bar Challenge, Mayflower Pub How the first approved maple baseball bat was born….. Sam Holman was strolling down Elgin Street on the way to his favorite spot the Mayflower Pub for a pint of Creemore Springs Ale. It was a cold spring day in 1996 and he pulled the collar of his windbreaker up which covered his well-worn signature overalls and a T shirt. He was tired, the day hadn’t quite gone as planned.  Heading around to the back to where the regulars entered, he pulled open the heavy carved wood door. The...