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Houston company making custom bats, hoping will help power the Astros to win World Series
When the World Series resumes Friday night, there is a 'chance' that a vital piece of baseball equipment, with a local connection, will find its way to the batters-box. FOX 26 Business Reporter Tom Zizka has the story of the Houston company swinging for success.
HOUSTON - As the World Series plays out, there is a 'chance' that a vital piece of baseball equipment, with a Houston connection, will find its way to the batter's box.
Serious Houston Astros fans will remember game five of the 2017 World Series between the Astros and Dodgers. Among the notable highlights of that game was a towering three-run homer by Yuli Gurriel, using a custom bat made in Houston.
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Joe Perez started the OTW Bat Company in 2013 after he developed a special finish that made the bats 'harder' when they hit the ball. After getting the product certified by Major League Baseball, he jumped into the science of making bats and the psychology of appealing to players.
"We'll use about four different grades of sandpaper to get it down to the finish we want," explains Perez as he watches a bat being cut from a specially harvested piece of maple.
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OTW, for over the wall, is one of just 31 manufacturers, and the only one in Houston certified to make bats for MLB. Perez says he has bats in each of the World Series dugouts, just waiting for a player to decide it's the tool for the moment.
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The payoff comes from seeing the bat in use. Whether it's a little league player, college slugger, or a player in the majors, there's a thrill to seeing hard work pay off.
"It' gives you goosebumps, just thinking about the work that you put in," says Perez.
While Yuli Gurriel isn't using an OTW bat, this season, Perez will still be watching as an Astros fan and a businessman, just to see if one of his bats makes an appearance in the World Series.