WWW.GLOVE-WORKS.COM BASEBALL GLOVE COLLECTOR FORUM

I can agree and disagree with tomhagen.

He is spot on with the quality lumber - you just have too much of a chance of getting bad cuts on the big store shelves. There is some bad crap hanging at Dick's here in my town. I was in there yesterday, and with a rack full of Marucci, LS, and a few other popular BRANDS - by far the best cut bat was a label I have never seen before. It was a beautiful cut of maple.

I disagree because MINE (the company I work for) was listed and labeled as overpriced. At $99 for the MSRP, of course that is an investment - but it is still cheaper than the $100 plus priced bats that you are paying for, which are cuts of mass-produced wood. $129 for a Marucci bat? Please. Marucci got famous for the QUALITY cuts they were getting supplied back in 2005 from Hogan Hardwoods. They were a small company only spitting out the best wood. Now they are selling the Marucci name and focused on branding. There aren't enough Maple trees available to keep up with their original business model.

You can get Mine bats for as low as $45 if you want a -4 cut (less dense, durable). Give European Beech a try, it's an amazing wood that WILL break in and be a known name. Trust me, or the others on this forum who KNOW the difference a Mine European Beech bat gives you. Now is the time to get them as we are really in our infancy and just breaking in to the industry.

http://www.minebats.com

Like most people, if you are worried about spending $100 or more on a quality wood bat - Mine offers a $25 "Back That Bat Up" 30-day insurance policy AT CHECKOUT ONLINE. Break it within the first month, and we have you covered. If you don't break it, no problem - that $25 isn't wasted. You will get that taken off your next purchase. All bats can break, but do all bat companies give you that option? Use "meiki20" for another 20% off the top.

You can't lose.

How can I buy a bat in the -4 cut?

All you have to do is call 877-MINE-BAT and Deanna or Joe should answer. Tell what you want and say I sent you. They have an inventory of extreme weight bats. Do realize that the lighter the bat (-4, -5, etc). the more prone to failure/breakage. These bats can be bought for $45-55 each.

Strictly from a price point perspective, I think Chandler may be the most interesting company to watch. They have the highest prices on wood bats for retail sale customers as well as non-MLB pro's who they don't have a special working relationship with (retail bats sell for just under 2 bills), and it will be interesting to see how that works out long term.
To the person who posted to buy up Chandler bats now "before the prices jump even more", I think he's dreaming. $175-$199 retail for a maple bat is likely as high as you can push the retail market for now, even with the success of Orlando Cespedes and Bryce Harper who still swings Marucci as well as Chandler.

It's unfortunate that Mine uses a generic photo for all of their models, and doesn't provide any information beyond the knob, handle, and barrel diameter. Things like bottom hand flare, transition, and length of barrel matter to me. It's also unfortunate that the soft touch finish is seemingly the only option. Perhaps beech is superior, and I'll learn some day.

Beyond that possibility, I also believe it's all marketing and hype. If you like ash (I do), the best ash you will find is LS minor league surplus, which can be had for $30 shipped on ebay. Might not look the prettiest or have a wide range of models, but it's the best ash, unless you track down ash that was made for a major leaguer. I'm amazed at how much good ash LS has access to. As for maple, I've had a lot of very nice maple, at a lot of different price points, from a lot of different bat companies. Buy what you find interesting - we all like trying a new model from a different bat shop - but the price and the quality of product are not strongly correlated.

Mine uses a photo of one of the PRO models for all of the PRO model bats on the website because the first runs were being finalized before they could pictures. There are images of the profiles on the website - so pictures of every different (and unique!) profile is available. Take a look, they are all there!

If you believe European Beech is just hyped, I strongly suggest you give a Mine Bat a try. There are distinct differences between Maple, Ash, and European Beech. Marketing is very important, and I hope there is a lot of hype! There have been a lot of good reviews on this site alone from folks who have tried and loved European Beech bats.

Throw me some weird names in wood bats today or what you are using.

Dovetail, Victus, Old Hickory, Dinger, Axis, Viper, Chandler, Evoshield, Phoenix, Tucci, and Zinger. Zinger has been turning out some nice wide grain ash lately.

Anchor Bat Company. Never tried them but would like to at some point.