MISSING BASEBALL #3

 

For a long time, to say “wooden baseball bat” was redundant. These real bats, the older the better, feel great in gloveless hands. 

 

So almost daily I pick up one in my home study and give it a gentle swing. Most are Hillerich and Bradsby’s famous Louisville Sluggers — embossed with names like Mantle, Aaron, Clemente, Yastrzemski and Jackie Robinson.

 

There’s a Spalding softball bat with a few nicks but a rich, aged wood tone and a Hanna Batrite from a former Athens, Ga. company. 

 

Long-time owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts, Joe Engel, made bats for a while. Of course, there wasn’t much one could do in baseball marketing and merchandising that he didn’t try. 

 

Baseball nostalgia is all we've got now. It’s May already, and I sure do miss hearing the crack of the bat.