Louisville Slugger Exogrid Bat

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Don't make the mistake of thinking all wood bats are the same. They may look similar, but the quality of the wood is very different from one wood bat company to another. Louisville Slugger, however, sets itself apart from other bat makers with more than 120 years of bat-making experience, outstanding turning models, and access to the best-quality wood on the market. The PLM110BW Pro Lite cupped bat, for instance, is made of professional-grade ash, pound for pound the strongest timber available. Ash offers a flexibility that isn't found in other timbers, including maple, resulting in a barrel that tends to flex rather than break. This gives you a larger, more forgiving sweet spot in terms of breakage. In addition, ash is lighter than maple, so players can choose from among several large-barrel sizes. It all adds up to a terrific choice for casual players who love the look and feel of a genuine wood bat, or professionals who value a high-quality bat performance.

Bat Specifications

• Wood: Ash
• Finish: Black handle, wine barrel
• Length: 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, or 34 inches
• Handle: 1 inch
• Barrel: Medium
• Turning model: M110
• Cupped: Yes

Note: The biggest factors that influence the life of a wood bat are the quality of wood and where the ball hits your bat. Until you gain experience hitting with wood bats, however, don't be surprised if you break a lot of bats. Unlike with aluminum bats, when you hit a ball along the handle or at the end of a wood bat, you may break the bat rather than get a hit. It takes a lot of practice, but with work, you will find that you break fewer bats and become a much better hitter.

About Louisville Slugger
In many ways, the rich 120-year history of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat began in the talented hands of 17-year-old John A. "Bud" Hillerich. Bud's father, J.F. Hillerich, owned a woodworking shop in Louisville in the 1880s when Bud began working for him. Legend has it that Bud slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch the Louisville Eclipse, the town's major league team. After Pete Browning--the Eclipse's star who was mired in a hitting slump--broke his bat, Bud invited him to his father's shop to make a new one. With Browning at his side giving advice, Bud handcrafted a new bat from a long slab of wood. Browning got three hits using the bat the next day. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ballplayers visiting the Hillerich shop.

Although J.F. Hillerich had little interest in making bats, Bud persisted, eventually registering the name Louisville Slugger with the U.S. patent office in 1894. In the early 1900s, the company was one of the first to use a sports endorsement as a marketing strategy, paying Hall of Famer Honus Wagner to use his name on a bat. By 1923, Louisville Slugger was the selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, with such famed clients as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. In the ensuing years, the company has sold more than 100 million bats, and 60 percent of all Major League players currently use Louisville Sluggers. The company now sells far more than bats, including fielding and batting gloves, helmets, catchers' gear, equipment bags, training aids, and accessories.

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Although the debate about banning metal baseball bats in youth baseball is not settled, high school and college players find themselves playing in wood bat summer leagues more and more these days. "It's clearly a trend," a coach told me last summer on opening day of the John Marzano Wood Bat Scout League in Philadelphia. "Kids know they need to do this, their coaches do too, and the scouts love it. Hitting with wood is a lot less forgiving than metal."

All of this makes for a more diverse baseball bat collection in summer dugouts -- from Cape Cod to Surprise, Arizona. And as the wood bat trend spreads to younger players, parents and coaches may want to know what the elite amateur players are using in tournaments like the World Wood Bat Championships held in Marietta, Georgia at the East Cobb Baseball complex.

Louisville Slugger TB12Z

In some ways you just have to look at the bats the pros are swinging. The two classics offered by Louisville Slugger, Derek Jeter's C71 and Alex Rodriguez's P273 are both guaranteed by the world's top bat company to be made of pro-stock wood. But if you watch Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols, they may be swinging Marucci bats; and Barry Bonds usually hits with a Sam Bat. Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins have been partial to MaxBats over the past several years. And during much of 2008 Manny Ramirez was doing his dirty work with an X-Bat. As you'd expect, then, Marucci, Sam Bats, X-Bats, and Max Bats can all be found in amateur dugouts.

But don't let the pros be your only guide. There are only about 35 bat companies with bats approved and registered with Major League Baseball. Over 100 other companies make wood bats for amateur players. These companies tend to be small, primarily serving regional baseball communities. Companies like NYStix, Carolina Clubs, Bayou Bat Company, Hoosier Bats, and the Barnstable Bat Company serve independent league players, adult leagues, and local wood bat teams extensively. NYStix got a real boost last year making bats for New York City high school teams in their first year of play under the city's new ban on non-wood bats. The company's owner told me last winter that he was having a hard time keeping up with the demand.

Amateur players also like Old Hickory (made out of maple!), D-bats, and M-Powered bats. In addition, the more standard stock that can be found with Rawlings, Easton, and DeMarini are common -- especially DeMarini's composite wood bat wrapped in a fiberglass sleeve designed to help kids make the transition from metal to wood.

Who knows what bats will be popular next season. Zinger Bats out of Montreal is ramping up their marketing plans. Miguel Cabrera, Bobby Abreu, and Dan Uggla all used custom Zingers during at least part of last season. The influx of players from Asia has also been a boon to Mizuno. And when players get hot like Josh Hamilton did in the 2008 All-Star Home Run Derby, there's no question that the bat he used will be on the top of every young hitter's wish list (he swung an ash Louisville Slugger, Model C353; 34.5 inches and 33 ounces in weight; flame tempered with the special Smith finish).

In the end, the move to wood should keep young and old players alike online all winter long searching for just the right bat to start the new season with -- maybe not as fun as playing, but certainly a useful past-time while we wait.

Baseball Bat Trends - What's Hot in the Wood Bat World

David Biddle has coached youth baseball for more than 15 years. Of the 33 teams he has skippered, eight have won league championships (from 9U to 14U). He also brought two teams to Philadelphia's city championships (sadly, never to win). Mr. Biddle has taught hitting to more than six hundred young players since 1992. He writes the blog "Hitting with Wood," and published an essay called "Pondering Baseball's Purity" in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2007.

Read more about the wood bat trend in amateur baseball at http://hittingwithwood.com.

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Louisville has finally responded to Easton and Demarini's multi-piece bat designs with the Louisville Slugger TPX Triton, a unique 3 piece bat. What I find amazing about this bat is the size of the barrel. This is the largest barrel I've ever seen on a baseball bat. My initial thought is this thing looks like an oak tree!

The unique 3 piece design allows the barrel and the handle to be designed and built as individual units. They are then fused together via what is called the Bubble Transition Zone. Louisville claims this makes the bat function as a more advanced one piece bat (I'll get to this claim in a second). The bat is made of 100% composite material and includes the standard Louisville stiff handle. The Adult -3 model retails for 9 and the Youth -12 at 9.

Louisville Slugger

Louisville has long promoted the benefits of the 1 piece design and stiff handle for baseball bats. The success of 2 piece bats from Easton and Demarini has finally forced them to manufacture a multi piece bat. Unfortunately, being stubborn, they won't admit to the general public that their new multi piece bat is actually a multi piece bat! They claim it's "really" a one piece bat that is fused together from 3 pieces. This is insane!!! Louisville's entire marketing department should be fired immediately.

Louisville has to either admit multi-piece bats have merit or stick to a true one piece design, we're not fools. I'm skeptical to purchase a bat for 9 when the manufacturer is telling me little white lies. What's next, saying they've developed a flex handle fused to act like a stiff handle?

Having said all this about their marketing, or lack there of, I will say that I do think the Louisville TPX Triton is a quality bat. That huge barrel makes it very appealing and it seems to hit very well. But I can not recommend it now due to some doubts about the design and its durability. At the present time I recommend the Easton IMX (Stealth or Synergy IMX) or Demarini CF3 in this category.

You can read reviews of all Louisville bats at Louisville Baseball Bat Reviews

Louisville Slugger TPX Triton Baseball Bat Review

http://www.baseballbatreviewsblog.com

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Easton has been the leader in composite bats for the last several years and is a favorite in baseball bat reviews. They've come out with two new 100% composite models for 2009:

o The Stealth IMX - Two piece bat, 100% composite bat with increased handle flex. The increased flex handle stays true to the Stealth bat tradition (the so-called trampoline effect). The Stealth IMX comes in two other youth models Power Hitter and LCN11. The only difference is the length to weight ration.

Louisville Slugger SB12W

o The Synergy IMX - One piece bat, 100% composite bat with a stiff handle. Easton added stiff handles last year to combat Louisville, as they've always pushed the "benefits" of stiff handle bats. Easton is trying to surround Louisville with this model. They've always had the two piece design while Louisville didn't, now they're attacking them head on with a one piece stiff handle design.

Two excellent 100% composite bat options for the experienced player. The main difference from last year's models is that the stiff handle design is a one piece this year. Interesting considering most went with the stiff handle design the last two years. It's simply a personal choice. If you want a 100% composite bat with the latest technology this is your bat.

Easton offers these hybrid (composite handle /alloy barrel) models for 2009:

o SV12: two piece bat, a 100% composite handle with a 100% alloy barrel. Even more handle flex than the Stealth IMX. If the price for this is anywhere near the IMX take the IMX. The composite barrel will give you a larger hitting area for essentially the same price. Unless you love that ping sound.

o V12: One piece bat, 100% alloy bat. The stiffest handle Easton makes. This should be the lowest priced of the new Easton bats. But amazingly it's not. Same price as the SV12. This is supposed to compete with the Louisville Exogrid. Both are highly priced for 100% alloy bats; take the Exogrid if you must have a high priced alloy bat.

Easton's 100% alloy bats:

o Stealth CNT - two piece, 100% alloy bat with either a flex or stiff handle (they have different model numbers and come in different colors). This was Easton's bread and butter for several years. It's now being pushed to the side as they focus on composite/hybrid bats. Hence, the price for the Stealth CNT has been reduced. This bat competed head to head with the Louisville Exogrid for a few years, but the price for the Exogrid has not been reduced. If you want a 100% alloy bat, THIS IS IT.

o Easton makes several other models, such as Titan, Reflex and Rampage which are all 100% alloy. The Titan has the newer alloy (Sc900), but the Reflex and Rampage have 7050 alloy which has been around for 15 years. These are fine for the youngest players. A high school player would be laughed at if he went to the plate with one of these.

See all of my reviews at Baseball Bat Reviews

Easton Baseball Bat Reviews

http://www.baseballbatreviewsblog.com

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Don't make the mistake of thinking all wood bats are the same. They may look similar, but the quality of the wood is very different from one wood bat company to another. Louisville Slugger, however, sets itself apart from other bat makers with more than 120 years of bat-making experience, outstanding turning models, and access to the best-quality wood on the market. The MLBM9 youth bat, for instance, is made of high-quality maple, an extremely dense timber with a greater surface hardness than ash. Maple is a closed-grain timber with a structure similar to the layer in a laminated product. This makes the bat less prone to flaking than an ash bat--meaning it will snap in half upon breaking rather than splintering--resulting in a safer, more durable product. Some players also believe that maple's hardness gives them a better overall performance.

The MLBM9 bat is designed specifically for youth league players, with a shorter length and lighter weight than adult bats.

Bat Specifications

• Wood: Maple
• Finish: Wine handle, black barrel
• Length: 29, 30, or 31 inches
• Cupped: Yes

Note: The biggest factors that influence the life of a wood bat are the quality of wood and where the ball hits your bat. Until you gain experience hitting with wood bats, however, don't be surprised if you break a lot of bats. Unlike with aluminum bats, when you hit a ball along the handle or at the end of a wood bat, you may break the bat rather than get a hit. It takes a lot of practice, but with work, you will find that you break fewer bats and become a much better hitter.

About Louisville Slugger
In many ways, the rich 120-year history of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat began in the talented hands of 17-year-old John A. "Bud" Hillerich. Bud's father, J.F. Hillerich, owned a woodworking shop in Louisville in the 1880s when Bud began working for him. Legend has it that Bud slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch the Louisville Eclipse, the town's major league team. After Pete Browning--the Eclipse's star who was mired in a hitting slump--broke his bat, Bud invited him to his father's shop to make a new one. With Browning at his side giving advice, Bud handcrafted a new bat from a long slab of wood. Browning got three hits using the bat the next day. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ballplayers visiting the Hillerich shop.

Although J.F. Hillerich had little interest in making bats, Bud persisted, eventually registering the name Louisville Slugger with the U.S. patent office in 1894. In the early 1900s, the company was one of the first to use a sports endorsement as a marketing strategy, paying Hall of Famer Honus Wagner to use his name on a bat. By 1923, Louisville Slugger was the selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, with such famed clients as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. In the ensuing years, the company has sold more than 100 million bats, and 60 percent of all Major League players currently use Louisville Sluggers. The company now sells far more than bats, including fielding and batting gloves, helmets, catchers' gear, equipment bags, training aids, and accessories.

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Don't make the mistake of thinking all wood bats are the same. They may look similar, but the quality of the wood is very different from one wood bat company to another. Louisville Slugger, however, sets itself apart from other bat makers with more than 120 years of bat-making experience, outstanding turning models, and access to the best-quality wood on the market. The C271 bat, for instance, is made of high-quality maple, an extremely dense timber with a greater surface hardness than ash. Maple is a closed-grain timber with a structure similar to the layer in a laminated product. This makes the bat less prone to flaking than an ash bat--meaning it will snap in half upon breaking rather than splintering--resulting in a safer, more durable product. Some players also believe that maple's hardness gives them a better overall performance. One negative of maple bats is that wood's heavier weight makes it difficult to manufacture lightweight large-barrel models. Most players who use maple bats prefer models with small to medium barrels, helping them get the bat weight they desire.

This particular bat is a replica of the bat used by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in the early part of the 20th century.

Bat Specifications

• Wood: Maple
• Finish: Black handle/Hornsby barrel
• Length: 32, 33, or 34 inches
• Handle: 15/16 inches
• Barrel: Medium
• Turning model: C271
• Cupped: Yes

Note: The biggest factors that influence the life of a wood bat are the quality of wood and where the ball hits your bat. Until you gain experience hitting with wood bats, however, don't be surprised if you break a lot of bats. Unlike with aluminum bats, when you hit a ball along the handle or at the end of a wood bat, you may break the bat rather than get a hit. It takes a lot of practice, but with work, you will find that you break fewer bats and become a much better hitter.

About Louisville Slugger
In many ways, the rich 120-year history of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat began in the talented hands of 17-year-old John A. "Bud" Hillerich. Bud's father, J.F. Hillerich, owned a woodworking shop in Louisville in the 1880s when Bud began working for him. Legend has it that Bud slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch the Louisville Eclipse, the town's major league team. After Pete Browning--the Eclipse's star who was mired in a hitting slump--broke his bat, Bud invited him to his father's shop to make a new one. With Browning at his side giving advice, Bud handcrafted a new bat from a long slab of wood. Browning got three hits using the bat the next day. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ballplayers visiting the Hillerich shop.

Although J.F. Hillerich had little interest in making bats, Bud persisted, eventually registering the name Louisville Slugger with the U.S. patent office in 1894. In the early 1900s, the company was one of the first to use a sports endorsement as a marketing strategy, paying Hall of Famer Honus Wagner to use his name on a bat. By 1923, Louisville Slugger was the selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, with such famed clients as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. In the ensuing years, the company has sold more than 100 million bats, and 60 percent of all Major League players currently use Louisville Sluggers. The company now sells far more than bats, including fielding and batting gloves, helmets, catchers' gear, equipment bags, training aids, and accessories.

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Don't make the mistake of thinking all wood bats are the same. They may look similar, but the quality of the wood is very different from one wood bat company to another. Louisville Slugger, however, sets itself apart from other bat makers with more than 120 years of bat-making experience, outstanding turning models, and access to the best-quality wood on the market. The C271 Pro Lite bat, for instance, is made of professional-grade ash, pound for pound the strongest timber available. Ash offers a flexibility that isn't found in other timbers, including maple, resulting in a barrel that tends to flex rather than break. This gives you a larger, more forgiving sweet spot in terms of breakage. In addition, ash is lighter than maple, so players can choose from among several large-barrel sizes. It all adds up to a terrific choice for casual players who love the look and feel of a genuine wood bat, or professionals who value a high-quality bat performance.

Bat Specifications

• Wood: Ash
• Finish: Natural
• Length: 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, or 34 inches
• Handle: 15/16 inches
• Barrel: Medium
• Turning model: C271
• Cupped: Yes

Note: The biggest factors that influence the life of a wood bat are the quality of wood and where the ball hits your bat. Until you gain experience hitting with wood bats, however, don't be surprised if you break a lot of bats. Unlike with aluminum bats, when you hit a ball along the handle or at the end of a wood bat, you may break the bat rather than get a hit. It takes a lot of practice, but with work, you will find that you break fewer bats and become a much better hitter.

About Louisville Slugger
In many ways, the rich 120-year history of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat began in the talented hands of 17-year-old John A. "Bud" Hillerich. Bud's father, J.F. Hillerich, owned a woodworking shop in Louisville in the 1880s when Bud began working for him. Legend has it that Bud slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch the Louisville Eclipse, the town's major league team. After Pete Browning--the Eclipse's star who was mired in a hitting slump--broke his bat, Bud invited him to his father's shop to make a new one. With Browning at his side giving advice, Bud handcrafted a new bat from a long slab of wood. Browning got three hits using the bat the next day. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ballplayers visiting the Hillerich shop.

Although J.F. Hillerich had little interest in making bats, Bud persisted, eventually registering the name Louisville Slugger with the U.S. patent office in 1894. In the early 1900s, the company was one of the first to use a sports endorsement as a marketing strategy, paying Hall of Famer Honus Wagner to use his name on a bat. By 1923, Louisville Slugger was the selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, with such famed clients as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. In the ensuing years, the company has sold more than 100 million bats, and 60 percent of all Major League players currently use Louisville Sluggers. The company now sells far more than bats, including fielding and batting gloves, helmets, catchers' gear, equipment bags, training aids, and accessories.

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If you're wondering why the Louisville Slugger Blue Flame pitching machine is considered the ultimate pitching machine choice for parents who want to work with their own kids you've come to the right place. In this article we'll discuss the myriad of pitching machine choices parents have and examine their differences.

Pitching Machines are a great investment.

Louisville Slugger

If your child is going to play baseball or softball investing in a pitching machine will be one of the best investments you can make. Sports like baseball and softball are considered "technique sports", meaning that there is a specific set of technical skills you need to master in order to be consistently successful at that sport. It also means you'll need to spend lots of time repetitively practicing the techniques in order for you to execute them at game time.

Batting is one of the single most difficult skills to master in sports, and requires lots of repetitions to become proficient (you'll never master it, remember even professionals fail 7 out of 10 times at the plate).

Your child will never get enough batting time at practice or during games, so you'll either have to spend a lot of money at the batting cage, spend lots more on a private trainer, turn back the hands of time and go through 100's of practice pitches yourself, or purchase a pitching machine and save yourself tons of time and sleepless nights because of arm and shoulder pain.

Which type of Pitching Machine is best for you?

If you're coaching you might want to purchase a powered machine, Atec, and Juggs are two of the better known brands that offer a full line-up of products from which to select. Most of the machines from these brands are fairly bulky, and require a power source. While these machines are a great resource for team practice, and most of them are considered to be portable, you'll probably find yourself dreading the idea of lugging it to the park for a batting session with your child.

Battery type machines are a good alternative, but while they are not as costly as the full powered machines discussed in the previous paragraph they will still test the budgets of most families. In addition, you usually won't get as many pitching options as you would with a full powered machine, and many battery type machines force you to use special types of balls instead of real baseballs and softballs. One of the best machines in this category that will allow the use of real balls is the ZOOKA.

There is another type of pitching machines which require no external power source, so you'll never have to worry about finding an outlet, or forgetting to recharge it. The best of these types of machines use highly tensioned springs to provide power, they are lightweight and easily portable, and are priced with the family budget in mind. These often overlooked machines can throw pitches just as fast as many of their more celebrated powered competitors and are easier to operate.

They are perfect for tossing in the trunk or the backseat of the family car for quick batting practice at the local park, they're great to take to the field on game day to get in some pre-game hitting practice, and they're rugged enough to be used as the main machine for team practice. These machines will throw fly balls, and grounder's in addition to perfect precision pitches. The Louisville Slugger Blue Flame pitching machine is considered one of the best machines in this category.

Where do you purchase these pitching machines?

There are many places where you can purchase pitching machines. Most sporting goods retailers stock at least a couple of different models. You want to do your research on the internet first so you'll know which brands and models have the features you need most, and it's probably the best way to compare prices.

Don't ever look at the time you spend practicing sports with your child as an obligation, it is a great opportunity to get some one on one time with them, time you will really appreciate in the future.

Good luck to you and your young athlete.

Louisville Slugger Blue Flame Pitching Machine - Perfect Choice for Parents

Find the Louisville Blue Flame pitching machine here.

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As Kentucky's largest city, Louisville is jam packed with entertainment and cultural attractions that draw in many tourists every single year. Perhaps most famous for being the site of the Kentucky Derby, Louisville is about more than just horses though. Whether you enjoy baseball, history, learning about new things or just strolling around an interesting city, Louisville is a fantastic place to go while on a vacation. Families with small children will also find plenty to keep themselves occupied in this quintessential southern town.

Attending the Kentucky Derby can be difficult, since it is a once a year event and tickets sell at a premium. However, visitors are always welcome to visit Churchill Downs, where the Derby is held. There is a great museum here where one can learn all sorts of interesting facts and history about the famous sporting event. In addition to the exhibits in the museum, visitors can step down onto the winner's circle and take in how it must feel to bask in the glory of winning the Kentucky Derby. This attraction is definitely great for the whole family, and is a way to really see what this town is all about.

Louisville Slugger

Baseball fans - and people who just enjoy learning about history in general - are urged to pay a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. This is where the well-known baseball bats have been manufactured for years, and there are a ton of unique and entertaining exhibits to explore. One of the highlights of the museum is that visitors are allowed to choose a Hall of Famer's bat and give it a swing - where else on the planet could you do something like that? The factory tour is also fascinating - the entire manufacturing process is demonstrated here, so that people can see everything that goes into making these baseball bats.

Those who are traveling with small children - or people who simply adore nature - will get a real kick out of the Louisville Zoo. In addition to featuring many of the animals traditionally showcased in a zoological park, the zoo pays special attention to entertaining young children. On a hot summer day, the water splash park located within the zoo is a huge hit with kids of all ages. Plenty of refreshment stands and dining options make spending an entire day here no problem at all. One of the highlights is the Gorilla Forest, a very ambitious and intriguing gorilla display located within the zoo.

For those who would just like to wander around and experience a bit of the Kentucky topography, Iroquois Park is the best place in Louisville to do so. Miles of excellent paths and a great array of scenery make this a refreshing change of pace to life in this big city. Pack up a picnic lunch and plan on making a day of it, if you would like to relax in a more natural environment during your trip here. There's no doubt that this can be a great way to really round out the entire experience of vacationing in Louisville.

Visiting Kentucky's Largest City

For more information on Louisville, Kentucky visit [http://louisvillevacations.travel].