Don't make the mistake of thinking all wood bats are the same. They may look similar, but the quality of the wood is very different from one wood bat company to another. Louisville Slugger, however, sets itself apart from other bat makers with more than 120 years of bat-making experience, outstanding turning models, and access to the best-quality wood on the market. The MLB180 bat, for instance, is made of professional-grade ash, pound for pound the strongest timber available. Ash offers a flexibility that isn't found in other timbers, including maple, resulting in a barrel that tends to flex rather than break. This gives you a larger, more forgiving sweet spot in terms of breakage. In addition, ash is lighter than maple, so players can choose from among several large-barrel sizes. It all adds up to a terrific choice for casual players who love the look and feel of a genuine wood bat, or professionals who value a high-quality bat performance.

The MLB180 also boasts a randomly selected turning model, with such possibilities as C271, P72, C243, R161, T141, and K55.

Bat Specifications

• Wood: Ash
• Finish: Natural
• Length: 34 inches
• Turning model: C271, P72, C243, R161, T141, or K55

Note: The biggest factors that influence the life of a wood bat are the quality of wood and where the ball hits your bat. Until you gain experience hitting with wood bats, however, don't be surprised if you break a lot of bats. Unlike with aluminum bats, when you hit a ball along the handle or at the end of a wood bat, you may break the bat rather than get a hit. It takes a lot of practice, but with work, you will find that you break fewer bats and become a much better hitter.

About Louisville Slugger
In many ways, the rich 120-year history of the Louisville Slugger baseball bat began in the talented hands of 17-year-old John A. "Bud" Hillerich. Bud's father, J.F. Hillerich, owned a woodworking shop in Louisville in the 1880s when Bud began working for him. Legend has it that Bud slipped away from work one afternoon in 1884 to watch the Louisville Eclipse, the town's major league team. After Pete Browning--the Eclipse's star who was mired in a hitting slump--broke his bat, Bud invited him to his father's shop to make a new one. With Browning at his side giving advice, Bud handcrafted a new bat from a long slab of wood. Browning got three hits using the bat the next day. Browning told his teammates, which began a surge of professional ballplayers visiting the Hillerich shop.

Although J.F. Hillerich had little interest in making bats, Bud persisted, eventually registering the name Louisville Slugger with the U.S. patent office in 1894. In the early 1900s, the company was one of the first to use a sports endorsement as a marketing strategy, paying Hall of Famer Honus Wagner to use his name on a bat. By 1923, Louisville Slugger was the selling more bats than any other bat maker in the country, with such famed clients as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. In the ensuing years, the company has sold more than 100 million bats, and 60 percent of all Major League players currently use Louisville Sluggers. The company now sells far more than bats, including fielding and batting gloves, helmets, catchers' gear, equipment bags, training aids, and accessories.