Bend man’s bats a patented (no-)break-through

It was about 5 1/2 years ago when John MacDougall came up with the idea to start making baseball bats.

The Bend man was driving in his car, listening to the radio about Major League Baseball and how they were dealing with the broken bat problem in their sport.

“I thought, ‘Gosh, somebody really ought to do something about that.’ And about 30 seconds later, the proverbial light bulb went off in my head — a little picture, and I thought, ‘Wow, that could work!” said MacDougall, owner of MacDougall and Sons Bat Co..

MacDougall went home, started drawing up prototypes — and now he has two patents for his bats that have a four-month breakage warranty, something no other wood bats have.

“After one set of testing that showed my bats lasted around 10 times as long as a regular wood bat, I think I had found the holy grail,” MacDougall said.

Most wood bats are made out of only one type of wood, typically ash, but the process for MacDougall’s bats, which are made of two different types of wood, begins outside of Oregon.

MacDougall came out and developed his newest bat, the M-14, last September. Now, it already makes up half his sales.

“Everything I do is aimed at making the best wood baseball bat in the world,” MacDougall said.

MacDougall Bats are certified for use in every stage of baseball except for the majors, which requires their bats to be made of only one piece of wood.

Find out more at http://www.macdougallbats.com/