Louisville Slugger's wood bats are formed mostly out of northern white ash or maple, but a small percentage is made out of birch. The timber comes from forests in New York and Pennsylvania.

Hillerich & Bradsby — the Louisville-based company that makes the Louisville Slugger bats — worked with players and engineers for 18 months to design the torpedo bats.

Ruth, a Hall of Famer who often used a Louisville Slugger bat during his prolific major league career, would send Hillerich & Bradsby Co. — the company who owned the Louisville Slugger trademark ...