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CONNECT
NEW
MEMBER
SPOTLIGHT
How did your company get its start?
Back
in the early 1990s, our founder, Charley
Trudeau, was remodeling old houses in
Columbus, Ohio. And when you need to
replace a staircase spindle or column in a
house from the 1860s, you don’t go to Home
Depot or Lowe’s. You have to recreate it by
hand, as Charley did on a hand lathe. At
the same time, he was playing 19th century
vintage baseball for a team with the Ohio
Historical Society. Needless to say, finding
a bat from that era does not involve a trip to
Dick’s Sporting Goods. So, Charley started
making vintage bats – big honkin’ bats much
larger in size and weight than today’s models,
as pitching was underhanded, slow-pitch,
and the ball was softer. By 1996, he was
doing so many vintage bats for vintage teams
across the United States that he followed his
passion and made Phoenix Bats a full-time
endeavor. It all started out of his garage. The
Phoenix name is an ode to the mythological
firebird. Like the phoenix rising from the
ashes, Charley was bringing back bats to life,
some that were originally used almost 150
years ago.
In 1999, Charley was approached by
a pro player to make him a bat. This led to
Phoenix Bats becoming pro-approved in
2000. In late 2003, Phoenix Bats moved to
its current location, where it runs the most
advanced bat-making machine in the world,
one of only two companies to have this level
of precision crafting (and the other is not
that “little” company down in Kentucky.).
Phoenix now finds its wood bats being
swung by pro and amateur players, softball
teams, hitting coaches, vintage leagues and
Little Leaguers. And out of these interactions
came demand for award and trophy bats.
What led your company to enter
the promotional products market?
Making wood game bats for pro and
amateur players, coaches and teams;
trophy bats became a logical extension
of the business. As these groups started
having success with our bats, requests for
ways to recognize the achievements were
brought to Charley. A laser-etched wood
bat made for a beautiful keepsake. It’s very
complementary to what we do on the field
and opened up a new business pathway,
with less seasonality to it.
There was also a practical side to
deciding to enter the promotional products
market. When we get wood in from our
mill, not all pieces meet our stringent
requirements for what can become a
game-usable bat. Many of those pieces
that don’t meet our specs are still beautiful
pieces of wood; typically, they’re just too
heavy or too light to make a properly
spec’d game bat. As our business grew
(and more and more wood was ordered),
so did the number of pieces needing to
find a home off the field. With that, we
knew we could make a bat anyone would
be proud to display at work and at home.
What’s your favorite thing about being
in the promotional products industry?
It’s definitely the fun of each project being
different and the creativity that goes in
to each project. We get to take a client’s
branding or recognition need and translate
it on to a different medium: a wood bat
or super-sized golf tee or night stick--or
even a shovel bat for a ground breaking
ceremony. We craft something that most
recipients are not used to receiving—
something that stands out, is kept out
and is appreciated by the recipient for
not being the same-old, same-old. The
good part for our clients is that we’re not
bashful about speaking up when we see
opportunity for improvement or in crafting
the right message. Contributing to the
success of the project has its own rush.
Why did you join PPAI?
We were
introduced to PPAI by one of our customers,
the head of a promotions firm in Columbus,
Ohio. At our first meeting, upon seeing our
full-size presentation bat and the mega-sized
golf tees, his exact response was, well, not
printable but extremely positive. He said,
“You have to get these in front of more
people ASAP!” Upon his advice, we checked
in to PPAI and saw it as a tremendous
opportunity to expand our reach. Here was
an association that has a rich history and is
of the caliber we want to be associated with.
Each interaction along the way has been
everything we were told it would be. Thanks
to PPAI for allowing us to join! It is already
making a difference to our business.
Seth Cramer
Co-owner and general manager
Phoenix Bats
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