CANADA
The New York Times
Friday, June 19, 1998
A Bid to Build a Better Bat Uses Maple to Battle the Traditional Ash Need Good Wood? A Batmaker Tries Maple; Sam Holman makes maple bats for major leaguers. - By Jack Curry “Joe Carter was standing behind the plate… sermonizing about his bat. How it allowed him to whip through the strike zone faster and how other major leaguers will ultimately want one.” “Carter, bat evangelist as well as a member of the Orioles, at last persuaded Pat Borders of the Cleveland Indians – formerly his teammate in Toronto – to take a swing. Borders swung the bat once, twice, three times and then nodded his acceptance. Carter cackled with knowing approval…” Carter: “When you first use them, it’s a totally different feel from a normal bat. I mean totally different. After you use them, you don’t want to go back.” Sam Holman: “I couldn’t make a better ash tree, and I knew there was more than one way to make a bat.”