Louisville Slugger®: The #1 Bat For 100+ Years, And Still Going

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Jul 26, 2013, 02:30 ET

LOUISVILLE, Ky., July 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Official Bat of Major League Baseball is still being manufactured in Louisville, KY, and despite what competition has recently said, Louisville Slugger is still the #1 choice among the best players in the game. With more 2013 MLB All-Stars swinging Slugger than any other brand, we are thrilled to be the preferred bat among the game's elite.

"We continue to be humbled by the fact that more elite players choose Slugger over any other brand in the business and we don't take that for granted," said Bill Clark, president of Louisville Slugger at Hillerich & Bradsby, in its 5^th generation as a family owned diamond sports company. "In the past three All-Star Games, we've had a commanding lead, and that speaks volumes about the quality and performance of our bats and the dedication that the company has to stay on top."

Louisville Slugger was the most-used bat in the 2013 All-Star Game, just like every All-Star Game in history, with nearly 40% of players swinging Slugger in this year's Midsummer Classic. The closest competitor had fewer than 25% of players choose its bats. Heavy hitters like Buster Posey, David Wright and Joey Votto were among the 15 All-Stars that swung Slugger this year.

Louisville Slugger has always been the bat of choice for the best players in the game and it continues to add to the list. Recently, it inked contracts with young talent such as Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Adam Jones, adding to today's greats like Derek Jeter, Evan Longoria and Brandon Phillips, that have worked with Slugger for years. Chris Davis has been leading the league in home runs throughout much of the first 100 games of the season and he's used his Slugger for each of those tape-measure shots.

The iconic brand also leads the way in baseball bat technology, releasing MLB Prime, the hardest wooden bat ever created by Louisville Slugger in 2013. This continues the time-honored tradition of working with the best players in MLB to create the best bats on the field, starting with Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth through to today's greats.

MLB Prime bats are 9H rated – the highest rating possible on the ASTM's (American Society for Testing and Materials) 21-level universal hardness scale used to measure film hardness. These new bats only use the highest-grade veneer wood and far less than 5% of wood makes the cut. MLB Prime bats are also vacuum dried, compressed completely and evenly on all 360 degrees of the bat and receive the brand's proprietary 3-step finish that eliminates soft spots and gives the bat the hardest surface in the game. Look for the ink dot on every MLB Prime maple bat as well; the only true sign that the bat passes the slope of grain test and is approved for MLB play. Louisville Slugger prides itself on providing that quality to both the pro player and the retail market. The quality of craftsmanship of Louisville Slugger bats is unmatched across the industry, and the brand looks forward to remaining the #1 choice for the game's elite for the next 100+ years.

About Louisville Slugger

Louisville Slugger® is the Official Bat of Major League Baseball® and the #1 Bat in MLB®. It's synonymous with America's pastime. Originating in 1884, Louisville Slugger bats have graced the hands of the greatest players in baseball, including stars of today and more than 80% of the hitters in Cooperstown. Known for helping create baseball history, Louisville Slugger continues to innovate and provide players the products and confidence they need to leave their marks on the game.

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SOURCE Louisville Slugger