West Chester resident Steve McCardell has already won over some Phillies with his handmade bats, and he’s now hoping to get the attention of the rest of Major League Baseball, writes Diane Mastrull for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
McCardell, a Henderson High School graduate and former shortstop at Shippensburg and Penn State, dreamed of starting his own bat-making company while working on his father’s farm after college.
He first purchased a lathe off Craigslist four years ago, and began making bats in the barn after work. His self-taught hobby turned into a profession a year later, when he founded Prowler Bats.
But the real boost came after the growing safety issues surrounding aluminum bats started to open the market for his handcrafted wood products.
“I sold 234 bats my first year,” he said.
Today, McCardell offers his custom Prowlers in a number of colors and styles at his shop, and Phillies coach Matt Stairs has already given them the thumbs-up.
Now “the long-term, way-in-the-distance goal is to get to the major leagues,” said McCardell.
Read more about Steve McCardell in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.
