The Birdman Story

 

A couple years after I had dropped out of law school, I decided to enroll at the City College of San Francisco to play baseball. I asked my friend, who was playing for the Boston Red Sox at the time, to send me one of his bats.

I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH BETTER HIS BAT FELT COMPARED TO THE WOODEN BATS I HAD BEEN USING DURING SUMMER LEAGUES.  IT LEFT ME TO WONDER WHY BATS LIKE HIS WERE NOT READILY AVAILABLE TO GUYS LIKE ME?

Always curious and an avid DIYer, I bought a lathe and got to work on making my own. My competitive nature got the best of me and I found myself obsessed with turning the best bat possible. I experimented with different woods, cuts, and designs, before coming up with what I felt was the perfect bat.

What happened next shocked me: Not only did I have a great feeling bat, but my performance soared as well. I was hitting lasers all over the field.

I shared my discovery with my younger brother, Mark, who was playing college baseball at the time.  Mark is and has always been a stronger ballplayer than me, but he was struggling to get hits.  I thought one of his big brother’s new creations might help.  But a better bat wasn’t all he required: Baseball is a mental game and I knew he was psyching himself out at the plate.

To get out of this slump, he ultimately needed to get out of his head, so I found a funny sketch he created in art school titled “Birdman Stu,” made a sticker out of it, and slapped it on his bat.

I WANTED THE LOGO TO SERVE AS A REMINDER FOR HIM TO TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND REMEMBER THAT HE WAS PLAYING A GAME HE LOVED...THEN CRUSH THE BALL.

It worked! And word of the magical Birdman Bat spread faster than wildfire. 

Our bats are now used by players of all ages and levels across the world. We believe that everyone deserves access to a bat made with the very best materials and craftsmanship with a dash of that Birdman magic.