Jack Marucci Made a Bat for His Son. Then Major Leaguers Wanted One.

Lee Habeeb (00:16):
This is Lee Habeeb and this is Our American Stories. October is Italian-American Heritage Month and all month long we’re celebrating the Italian Americans who helped shape our nation from Columbus to Capra. Up next, Jack Marucci’s story. Jack is the director of performance at Louisiana State University’s athletic department,

Lee Habeeb (00:38):
and he’s also the founder of Marucci Sports, a company known for making some of the finest baseball bats in the world. But the story of Marucci Sports begins not in a boardroom, but in a garage. Here’s Jack with his story.

Jack Marucci (00:58):
You know, we’re from a coal mining town. Pretty humble beginnings. We’re from a pretty immigrant family. My mom was 11 when she came from Spain. And my grandfather’s from Italy. So we’re half Spanish, half Italian. And that was the makeup of most of the people we grew up with.

Jack Marucci (01:16):
Everybody was pretty ethnic. You know, we went to the Italian church in St. Teresa’s. We thought that’s how it was everywhere. So my mom.

Jack Marucci (01:28):
Her dad came over to be a coal miner. And we went back to see her where she grew up. It was like San Diego.

Jack Marucci (01:36):
I’m going, why would your dad leave this place? They lived right by the ocean.

Jack Marucci (01:41):
But I guess times were so bad. They had a civil war. The economy was bad. And the war was breaking out. This was like in the early 40s. But her dad comes over here right before the war. And he’s trying to save money to bring the family up. But he can’t get back and forth. So my mom didn’t see him.

Jack Marucci (01:57):
Until 11 years, until we could save up the money. So she was 11 the first time she saw her dad. Then my dad sighed.

Jack Marucci (02:05):
My grandfather came over when he was 15. Then he got deported because you had to be 16. You can see it on the Ellis Island report. We found it.

Jack Marucci (02:14):
Somehow he got through all that. And they said, well, you’re only 15.

Jack Marucci (02:18):
So he had to go all the way back. He was afraid they were going to make him a priest. He didn’t want to become a priest. So he started a restaurant. It was called Shady Side Inn. It was built from nothing. It was just a little deli.

Jack Marucci (02:31):
And they built it into a place where banquets could seat up to 600, 700 people. I mean, it just kept growing. It was the same thing.

Jack Marucci (02:41):
That’s when I first probably came across the first professional athletes because we used to check coats. Me and my brother were like 10 years old. And you’re checking coats, man. And they’re giving you these big coats. And we’d stay up late, and we’re so tired.

Jack Marucci (02:53):
That’s the first time Willie Stargell.

Jack Marucci (02:54):
Came in with the Pittsburgh Pirates. We saw his coat, and we’re going, hey, let’s check in his pockets. We weren’t looking for money, but we found a business card with the Willie Stargell star. We thought, you know, so we used to get tips. They’d give you a buck you could make. If it’s 100 coats, you’re making 100 bucks. You split it, that’s 50 bucks each. Not bad for

Jack Marucci (03:15):
a 10-year-old. My dad ended up being… The butcher, I did the bartending. So we came up pretty much, you know, we had the one shower in the house. All three boys slept in one room, then my sister. So, you know,

Jack Marucci (03:37):
it teaches you a good work ethic, obviously. Western Pennsylvania is an.

Jack Marucci (03:40):
Area that’s blue-collar.

Jack Marucci (03:42):
And, you know, you’re going to learn things that you don’t think it’s going to pay off down the road. You know, you take that typing class back then, and now everything’s computers.

Jack Marucci (03:51):
You learn how to type. Then you take a woodshop.

Jack Marucci (03:54):
Class that you learn how to use a wood lathe, which down the road would become something that I could learn to use to my advantage and help develop a bet for my son.

Jack Marucci (04:10):
You never know what’s gonna influence you. My son, he’s about 70 years old, Gino, and we used to watch a lot of baseball.

Jack Marucci (04:22):
I didn’t even play old videos of Roberto Clemente, so that became his guy.

Jack Marucci (04:26):
He wears 21 today. He wore it as a little league. He got back into 21 because of Roberto Clemente.

Jack Marucci (04:31):
So, again, western Pennsylvania, we’re a little bit obsessed, of course, and we’re going to force them to like the Pirates and the Steelers and the Penguins, so that’s just.

Jack Marucci (04:39):
Part of what we do.

Jack Marucci (04:41):
And he liked Bonds’ bat. He saw the black and two-tone and wood bat.

Jack Marucci (04:46):
He goes, Dad, I like that. Man, I want to play with a wood bat.

Jack Marucci (04:49):
That’s different, because wood bats weren’t even mentioned back then. Now you’ve got wood bat tournaments and everyone likes the wood bat. So I end up calling all these bat companies. None of them, they all had stock bats. None of them were small enough or short enough, really. It was really the size. Everybody maybe was an inch off.

Jack Marucci (05:08):
I needed a 27. They only stopped at 29 or they stopped at 28.

Jack Marucci (05:13):
So I started looking around and there were some old bats stored here at LSU. I’m looking at them and I said, all right. Then we had a quarterback, Matt Mauck. I started talking to Matt. Matt played for the Cubs for three years. And I said, Matt, I’m thinking about making a bat for my son. You mind if I’m going to make one and I’m going to bring it in?

Jack Marucci (05:34):
Since you played, tell me what we need to do to make this thing tapered right. So I made the first one. I have it in my office today. And top heavy. I use electrical tape to to do whatever, and I carved in, I think that one was the Gino Crusher. That’s what I did, and I put his

Jack Marucci (05:56):
school he was at, that was my first one. So the next one I start making, I got a lot better, and that was.

Jack Marucci (06:02):
The Gino Slugger. It was, I think, the next one. So he starts hitting with them, and.

Jack Marucci (06:11):
He had the DNA to hit. He had the good eyesight, he was a front-eyed, dominant kid, and he was He was pretty good.

Jack Marucci (06:20):
So he starts getting in little league. He’s using a wood bat. Okay.

Jack Marucci (06:23):
This is different, but he’s, he’s one of the best hitters. So everybody on the team goes, well, if he’s hitting good with that bat, I want one with my name, my kid’s name on it.

Jack Marucci (06:32):
So that’s when I formed, okay, we’ll form a little company, Marucci Bat Company. So I bought a shed. I bought it from Canada. It was a cedar shed. And, um, I told the.

Jack Marucci (06:44):
Guy what I wanted because I thought cedar is going to last longer in this weather. The mildew, the, you know, it’s not going to rot. I said, I want doors in the front and the back. He goes, why do you want that? I said, have you ever lived in Louisiana? I said, it’s like living on the equator. I said, I need airflow. So I put a fan in there and that was my bat shop. That was 2002. I

Jack Marucci (07:08):
always joke around. I said saving was a little stressful, so it was a nice stress relief.

Jack Marucci (07:11):
To get away from. So after football, I’d spend nights and the neighbor would come over and go, what are you doing?

Jack Marucci (07:20):
There’s sawdust everywhere. I go, I’m making bats. He goes, you’re making bats? He goes, give me a couple.

Jack Marucci (07:26):
As soon as they saw it, they go, I want one. So I started at 25 bucks. I mean, the wood cost probably 15. Because money was never a thing. I felt bad.

Jack Marucci (07:38):
I felt bad that I was going to even charge somebody for it. Then I said, well, I better start charging because, you know. The first major league bat was Eduardo Perez. I was going up for an athletic trainers convention, and we’re catching up, and I was going to go to the Cardinals game. And I told him what I

Jack Marucci (07:58):
was doing. He goes, bring me one up. And he gave me a model, which was a common model. Everything was based off of Louisville Slugger models, a C243. I said, all right, I think I can find one in the pile because LSU had some wood bats laying around and I found one. So I got the hanger and I would hang it on the hanger and.

Jack Marucci (08:15):
I would do it by feel. I would cut the bat.

Jack Marucci (08:18):
I got pretty good by that. By eye and feel. So I made him, I think I made him two. And I’m thinking, what’s he going to do with these? Maybe he’s just going to put it up in his house. I thought it was neat that a major league.

Jack Marucci (08:33):
Guy, you know.

Jack Marucci (08:34):
So he meets me in front of the hotel and he He pulls out of the box and his eyes light up.

Jack Marucci (08:40):
And he goes, man, he goes, I’m going to use this tonight. I said, what?

Jack Marucci (08:45):
I said, this thing’s going to explode, Eddie. I said, I’ve seen seven and eight-year-olds swing this. I said, you’re going to swing this thing? I said, he goes, I’m going to sneak it in because I wasn’t licensed.

Jack Marucci (08:56):
You know, the logo is this big logo.

Jack Marucci (08:59):
There’s all these regulations which you find out. And he goes, I tell you what, I want you to come down for batting practice. meet some guys.

Jack Marucci (09:09):
I said, okay.

Lee Habeeb (09:12):
And you’ve been listening to Jack Marucci tell the story of how his bat company came to be the child of immigrants who came from Spain and Italy. What happens next? More of Jack Marucci’s story here on Our American Stories.

Lee Habeeb (09:39):
And we continue with Our American Stories and with the story of Jack Marucci. And if you’re a ball player, a baseball player, that is the story of Marucci bats who came on to challenge the almighty Louisville Slugger and from a shack in his home in Louisiana.

Jack Marucci (09:59):
So.

Jack Marucci (10:00):
He gets me down there and he goes, this bat is unbelievable. He goes, I use it in the cage. Then he introduces me to Barry Larkin. He’s playing for the Reds. I got a picture of Larkin holding this bat. He says, I tell you what, we’re playing in Houston. I want you to make me one. I said, all right, I’ll make you one. So me and my son go

Jack Marucci (10:23):
to Houston and he says, get there early for batting practice. He wants you to bring the bat. So I’m walking in the stadium with a bat. I gave it to my son. I go here, Gino, you take it. He was only nine at the time. And I said, they won’t yell at you. I said, I’m not going to bring a bat in the stadium. So he’s bringing it

Jack Marucci (10:45):
in and We walk all the way down. They’re taking batting practice. And there’s people around in the stands.

Jack Marucci (10:51):
I don’t know what to do.

Jack Marucci (10:52):
This is the first time I’ve done this. I actually brought a bat to the game. And Larkin kind of sees us. He gives us thumbs up. And everyone behind us is going, oh, that’s funny. He recognized, you know, they’re all like amazed that because they’re all trying to get autographs and there’s people everywhere. We’re in the stands with everybody else right behind the dugout. So the bat boy comes over.

Jack Marucci (11:13):
We hand the bat over to him. Everyone’s going, wow.

Jack Marucci (11:16):
How’s he getting him to sign that bat? They’re all going, how’s he getting a sign? We’re trying to get all of our, they’re kind of getting mad. So the bat boy takes it right over to Larkin. Larkin starts putting on the, called a moda stick, the tackiness and like pine tar it up.

Jack Marucci (11:29):
And everyone starts going, wait a minute. He’s going to hit with that bat. I mean, we just brought it to him. It’s a bare bat. He starts taking BP with.

Jack Marucci (11:39):
It. So we’re watching the game. His second at bat, he was the first guy to get a hit with it up the middle.

Jack Marucci (11:44):
It’s big time. And to me, I said, that was it.

Jack Marucci (11:47):
I mean, this thing was in my backyard a couple days ago, and this guy’s using a Major League Baseball game. I said, oh my God. I mean, this is ridiculous. That was probably one of the best ever, and still probably one of the best moments ever. And Eduardo Perez, I can’t say enough.

Jack Marucci (12:01):
Good things about him. He’s one of the best human beings.

Jack Marucci (12:05):
He helped the company more than anybody, because he talked to all these players, and he’s shown them, and I’m sending him more bats, and he’s sneaking them in the game, and he’s leaving me voicemails.

Jack Marucci (12:14):
Man, I hit Alenia against Nomo.

Jack Marucci (12:16):
I mean, it was just the excitement of, it was like contraband. You know, we’re sending contraband up there. And he goes, you’re going to get a call from Manny Ramírez.

Jack Marucci (12:30):
I said, okay.

Jack Marucci (12:32):
So I get a call from Manny Ramírez. He goes, I need some bats for the playoff run.

Jack Marucci (12:38):
I go again. You’re going to be in the playoffs. You can’t use these bats. He goes, no, he wants them. I talked to him about it. He saw mine. I said, okay.

Jack Marucci (12:47):
So Manny calls. I said, well, Manny, we’re about to take off. We’re about to play Georgia. So we’re getting on a flight, and I’m cutting them off. And I said, let me get back, and I’ll cut them. So I spent three nights making bats. I made three bats for him. And I said, maybe we’ll use.

Jack Marucci (13:04):
Them for batting practice or whatever. I don’t know. So I put a model number on it. It’s called a CB24.

Jack Marucci (13:12):
I send it up to him. And Kevin Millar saw them. He got all excited about them.

Jack Marucci (13:17):
So this is 2004.

Jack Marucci (13:18):
And I got pretty good by then making them. The finish, I was hand doing everything, putting a nice, I mean, it looked shiny.

Jack Marucci (13:26):
It looked like furniture. That’s what Eduardo Perez said. It looks like furniture.

Jack Marucci (13:30):
So fast forward a couple years ago, I saw Orlando Cabrera.

Jack Marucci (13:36):
On that same team.

Jack Marucci (13:38):
And why he’s significant, I’m watching the game, and Orlando Cabrera is using these bats in this playoff game.

Jack Marucci (13:45):
So I asked him.

Jack Marucci (13:46):
I never talked to Orlando about it. He used Manny’s bats, I said. I said, weren’t you afraid you were going to get in trouble?

Jack Marucci (13:52):
He goes, no. He goes, let me tell you something.

Jack Marucci (13:55):
I hit like 370 in that series, and those bats, that ball was coming off. He goes, I remember like it was yesterday. So this was two years ago I’m talking to him about that 2004 playoff. And he goes, I remember those bats like it was yesterday. He goes, you know, we put the tape on the bottom, kind of flared out. The other one, he goes, I wanted a little thinner handle. So I got the trainer scissors and I shaved the handle down, made it thinner. And

Jack Marucci (14:17):
he goes, I always wanted to know. I didn’t know what company it was. I wanted to order more, but never heard of it. I didn’t even know what this was. And he goes, that model number, that’s CB. I said, well, let me tell you something. Somebody gave me a tip about five, six months after that series.

Jack Marucci (14:33):
They were on eBay. I found two. I said, I have them in my office. I bought them back.

Jack Marucci (14:37):
I didn’t tell them where I was. I had those two bats that you hit with in the playoffs. You know, you never know how they get out of the clubhouse. I said, you know what the CB stood for?

Jack Marucci (14:46):
He goes, no. I said, Curse Buster.

Jack Marucci (14:48):
I put CB to break the curse. I said, I put it to Curse Buster of the Yankees. And that’s when the Red Sox were down three games and they came back and they won the World Series. And I have those bats in my office. It’s just, it’s one of those things. You just never know. You know, it started getting bigger, the business. I always wanted them to order small.

Jack Marucci (15:06):
Amounts because I had to cut them at the time.

Jack Marucci (15:09):
And I was getting tendinitis. I swear to God, I got bad. It’s the first time I had epicondylitis. And then we got more automated, obviously. But we were trying to turn down business, and people were wanting them. The next big player would be Carlos Beltrán. Carlos Beltrán, and we end up having a whole MET team from José Reyes, Beltran, Lo Duca,

Jack Marucci (15:32):
you name it, David Wright. And all those people in the division saw those bats. Those guys were hitting well. He would tell everybody that these bats are unbelievable. So at the time, you know, he ordered a half dozen. So he orders the bats. We ship them out. And I get a phone call from him. Jack, you only

Jack Marucci (15:55):
sent me five bats.

Jack Marucci (15:56):
I ordered six. I said, I know. He goes, what do you mean you know? I said, do you understand that I was trying to get you the sixth bat? I cut like 10 to 12 bats. They weren’t the quality I wanted. In silence. He goes, that is unbelievable.

Jack Marucci (16:10):
So he goes, you don’t make batting practice bats?

Jack Marucci (16:12):
You just don’t fill it? No.

Jack Marucci (16:13):
What do you mean batting practice bats? I’m not going to mention companies, but it was Louisville and Rawlings, basically.

Jack Marucci (16:19):
That was it. I mean, there was other companies. Cooper.

Jack Marucci (16:23):
Companies that he was using says, you know, I only could get. He could only use four to five bats out of the dozen. He thought the other ones were subpar. So they did it. So being naïve. and thinking, I’m just going to give you the best quality. And he loved it. It was the right thing to do to make it look right. You know, the paint was going

Jack Marucci (16:44):
to look good, the detail in the stamping and the knob. You know, I would stamp in the player’s number. So all that detail.

Jack Marucci (16:53):
Was in there. When it was made, like a born-on.

Jack Marucci (16:56):
I mean, no one had that. Everyone was just mass-producing bats. You know, these guys, that’s their living. You know, Albert once told me, he goes, you know, I love a lot of things in life. You know, I love my wife. You know, I love my bats. I love my kids. Maybe not sometimes in that order. But, you know, he was joking because their bats are livelihood. So no one

Jack Marucci (17:16):
was making bats like that for these guys. You would think they would be. He coined the phrase, every bat’s a gamer. So every bat’s a gamer.

Jack Marucci (17:24):
Yeah.

Jack Marucci (17:25):
So I always told people, you know, we were always chasing the quality. You’re not going to chase the dollar. You’re not going to chase them. Chase the quality, the stuff will come. So that spread like wildfire. So the word of mouth was so powerful. And baseball is a close-knit community. And that’s where that really took to another level.

Jack Marucci (17:47):
We became the number one bat company probably about two and a half years ago.

Jack Marucci (17:50):
We passed the Louisville Slugger.

Jack Marucci (17:53):
And by a pretty large margin now. But, you know, you’re in sports. And probably one of the best things that you do here all the time, it is a game of inches. And if those companies made that bat one inch longer, I wouldn’t have probably made bats because they would have made a bat for my son and that would have been it. But one inch dictated to

Jack Marucci (18:15):
do something.

Jack Marucci (18:17):
And you.

Jack Marucci (18:21):
Think about this also, it’s the last sport that has used a wooden instrument. Golf has gotten away from wood. Lacrosse, tennis, used to use tennis, wood rackets, hockey. So the purity of it allowed somebody to do what we were able to do. And it’s created jobs, probably over close to

Jack Marucci (18:45):
100 jobs, 80 jobs for people, just because of a woodshop class. So there’s a lot that humbles you when you look at that stuff. You know, you can go to an airport, and, you know, there was a little kid that was flying back from home, from Pennsylvania, and

Jack Marucci (19:08):
I was laying over in Charlotte Airport, and the kid had the name on his shirt, and he had the bag, and he was sitting next to me at the, we were waiting.

Jack Marucci (19:21):
I said, those bats aren’t any good. Why are you wearing those bats? I said, Louisville’s a lot better. He’s getting all mad at me. And he’s getting mad.

Jack Marucci (19:29):
I said, I can’t even pronounce that name. I said, I wouldn’t use that stuff. I said, Louisville’s much better. And he was there flying with his grandfather. He says, no, he loves those bats now. So I found out they were coming down for a baseball camp at LSU.

Jack Marucci (19:46):
Wow.

Jack Marucci (19:50):
The story with them and I had them come over to the office and show them all the stuff.

Jack Marucci (19:55):
It was pretty fun.

Lee Habeeb (19:58):
The story of Jack Marucci and Marucci Sports. Celebrating Italian-American heritage all month long here on Our American Stories.