SAM BAT

Sam Holman founded The Original Maple Bat Corporation in 1997, the year that he introduced maple to professional baseball. Sam's friend who was a baseball scout posed the question to him in his favorite bar "we are breaking too many bats, you are a carver maybe you could do something about that?" Sam was fixing his staircase and tried the piece of maple that he was using. The rest they say is history. Prior to Sam’s introduction of the original maple bat, the vast majority of wooden baseball bats were made of ash. 
Now, over 80% of bats sold to professional leagues are maple all from what started in Sam's garage!