Hillerich Bradsby

A jury found that the maker of Louisville Slugger baseball bats failed to adequately warn of the dangers the product can pose, awarding a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son in a baseball game. The family of Brandon Patch argued that aluminum bats are dangerous because they cause the baseball to travel at a greater speed. They contended that their 18-year-old son did not have enough time to react to the ball before it hit him in the head while he was pitching in an American Legion baseball game in 2003.

Truck driver Wang Yonggang has never seen a baseball game or sung "Take Me Out to the Ballgame. " He couldn't explain a sacrifice bunt. But Wang's got a good eye for bats. His is a lightweight aluminum model with a long barrel and a sticky rubber grip. He treasures his Chinese-made club so much that he keeps it tucked under the seat of his rig. "I need it for protection," said Wang, 32, a native of Inner Mongolia who hauls heavy equipment across busy northeast highways stalked by thugs looking to steal loads and siphon fuel.

The baseball bat is a factor in the explosion of home runs in the major leagues this year, maintains John A. Hillerich III. "Of course there's a lot more involved than the bat, but the bat definitely has something to do with it," Hillerich said. He ought to know. His grandfather made the first Louisville Slugger in 1884. Hillerich, 46, is president of Hillerich & Bradsby Co.

A jury found that the maker of Louisville Slugger baseball bats failed to adequately warn of the dangers the product can pose, awarding a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son in a baseball game. The family of Brandon Patch argued that aluminum bats are dangerous because they cause the baseball to travel at a greater speed. They contended that their 18-year-old son did not have enough time to react to the ball before it hit him in the head while he was pitching in an American Legion baseball game in 2003.

Truck driver Wang Yonggang has never seen a baseball game or sung "Take Me Out to the Ballgame. " He couldn't explain a sacrifice bunt. But Wang's got a good eye for bats. His is a lightweight aluminum model with a long barrel and a sticky rubber grip. He treasures his Chinese-made club so much that he keeps it tucked under the seat of his rig. "I need it for protection," said Wang, 32, a native of Inner Mongolia who hauls heavy equipment across busy northeast highways stalked by thugs looking to steal loads and siphon fuel.

In what appears to be another attempt to distance itself from the South's Confederate past, the University of Mississippi will banish longtime mascot Colonel Rebel from the field. In the last decade, the school has moved to phase out racially divisive symbols such as Confederate flags at football games and has dropped "Dixie" as the school's unofficial fight song.

It is not expected to hit the bestsellers list any time soon, but Bill Riddell's guide to collecting professional game-used bats has apparently struck a chord with the hard-core collector. In two days at the national sports collectors' convention in St. Louis, Riddell sold out of 200 debut copies of "Bats--Professional Hillerich & Bradsby and Adirondack, 1950-1994."

Elijah Pitts, a star running back with the Green Bay Packers during the Vince Lombardi era, was named running back coach of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. Tiger Williams, the National Hockey League's all-time penalty leader, cleared waivers and was assigned to the Detroit Red Wings' Adirondack farm club at Glen Falls, N.Y. The Detroit Tigers have signed former pitching coach Roger Craig to scout the National League and to work as a special minor-league instructor.

Don Mattingly no longer is being asked to pay damages from a breach of contract suit filed against him by the makers of Louisville Slugger baseball bats. Hillerich & Bradsby Co., however, is asking the court to recognize the validity of its contract with the New York Yankees' first baseman, which he signed in 1980 as a minor leaguer.

In what appears to be another attempt to distance itself from the South's Confederate past, the University of Mississippi will banish longtime mascot Colonel Rebel from the field. In the last decade, the school has moved to phase out racially divisive symbols such as Confederate flags at football games and has dropped "Dixie" as the school's unofficial fight song.

It is not expected to hit the bestsellers list any time soon, but Bill Riddell's guide to collecting professional game-used bats has apparently struck a chord with the hard-core collector. In two days at the national sports collectors' convention in St. Louis, Riddell sold out of 200 debut copies of "Bats--Professional Hillerich & Bradsby and Adirondack, 1950-1994."

The baseball bat is a factor in the explosion of home runs in the major leagues this year, maintains John A. Hillerich III. "Of course there's a lot more involved than the bat, but the bat definitely has something to do with it," Hillerich said. He ought to know. His grandfather made the first Louisville Slugger in 1884. Hillerich, 46, is president of Hillerich & Bradsby Co.

Everybody, it seems, has a Yogi Berra story. No exception was Frank Ryan, late vice president of Hillerich & Bradsby where he was in charge of supplying customized Louisville Sluggers to major league players. The Sporting News said Berra once complained to Ryan that he was breaking a lot of bats and blamed the wood. Ryan went to watch him bat and noticed that he didn't keep the label up, as is customary, but turned it to one side. Berra always claimed the label distracted him.