Founded in 1999 inside a garage, Old Hickory Baseball Bat Co. remains a relatively small operation, still running their day-to-day on the family land of owner Chad Lamberth.
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Major League Baseball playoffs have been in full swing. For one Tennessee baseball bat company, now in its 25th year of operation, over a dozen players are using their lumber this October.
Founded in 1999 inside a garage, Old Hickory Baseball Bat Co. remains a relatively small operation, still running their day-to-day on the family land of owner Chad Lamberth.
Entering this year’s playoffs, 11 of the 12 Major League clubs competing have at least one player using bats from the Old Hickory Bat Company. Players including Mike Trout, Bryce Harper or Matt Olson of the Braves are just some of the marquee players swinging Tennessee-made lumber year-round.
“Some of these guys we’ve known since high school,” explained Travis Copley, Old Hickory’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “[Rockies player] Charlie Blackmon announced his retirement the other day; we’ve been doing bats for Blackmon since day one, and he’s one of the greatest guys on this planet. A lot of those relationships go into how we operate day-to-day.”
The company’s has progressively grown across all levels of baseball. The company said they make, on average, 40,000 to 50,000 bats each year — all done by a dedicated staff of less than 20.
“We really have no intention of ever leaving, this is home for us,” Copley added. “It’s comfortable, if you want to use that word. The guys that we have here are like family to us. They’re all local. It’s just everything works about this location. Obviously, being able to call ourselves a homegrown product of the state of Tennessee means a lot to us.”
As baseball has rapidly evolved, with analytics taking the league by storm, Old Hickory Bat Company has adapted to the change.
“We’ve had to get a lot smarter over the years with it,” Copley said. “We’re always looking to push the envelope. Whether it’s how we finish the bat, the type of finish we’re using, [or] talking to specific players [about] the length and weight, if we need to make an adjustment there.”
Twenty-five years later, and they’re still swinging it for a high average. So what’s next for a big-time company with small town charm?
“We’ve got some ideas in the works,” Copley told News 2. “You probably walked past a couple of them this morning without even noticing it. There’s some things in the works that, if everything goes to plan in the next four to six weeks, you’ll start seeing some stuff out on social media of what’s coming next with us.”