CANADA
The Sam Bat Rideau Crusher (pronounced Read-oh Crusher) is a phrase coined by Sam Holman the Founder and creator of the SAM BAT, it has become a staple not only of SAM BAT but the entire maple baseball bat industry. It has been inscribed on nearly every bat produced by the company dating back to as early as 1997 when The Original Maple Bat Corporation was formed. This has become the legendary catch phrase of SAM BAT.
Contrary to popular belief the phrase does not indicate any specifications or level of quality! It is there as a way to honor the heritage of the company and the Sam Bat brand. The Rideau Canal runs through the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which is where the company was founded and still run to this day, the Rideau Crusher gets its name from this UNESCO World Heritage Site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rideau_Canal
“Rideau Crusher” was hand stamped onto every bat used by Barry Bonds, using them to set the pro record for most home runs hit ever in a season and in a career. All of our professional SAM BAT’s have had our slogan either hand stamped or lasered on, “Rideau Crusher” has been inscribed on bats for legends such as Miguel Cabrera, Jose Canseco, and Alfonso Soriano just to name a few!
The Rideau Crusher not only pays homage to the city where it all started but was Sam’s response to the “Louisville Slugger”. As Sam Holman outlined to me in an email “So I, like almost all boys, knew of Louisville Slugger. In 1997 the Rideau Crusher was my response to the other River City”.
(From Sam) Although my birthday is in March, our family trips to Kansas City were done in the summer when my Dad's Veterinary practice was quiet. We usually stayed with my mother's parents, Ralf, and Ethylene George. It was my favorite place to stay when in Missouri. RD loved going downtown in his Studebaker Silver Hawk to Polk's Hobby Shop to look at HO railroad stock, all things miniature as a mechanical engineer. He made many models of projects he had designed and built over the years. For example, we had a 1927 Chevy fuel about three feet long in the middle of our Library in Aberdeen, South Dakota. RD had patents on how the aluminum tank was a continuously poured vessel. The transfer case ran off the engine to power the pump that unloaded the fuel in the tank. Rd held many Patents over his 76 years.
He was into carving model ships for each of his grandsons unfortunately only the first grandsons got their ships, mine was a four-mast whaler complete with blubber reduction pots. So the trips to Polk's were always fun and in addition to the hobbies was a sports shop. In my introduction to Louisville Slugger and Baseball, when. I was ten. I was allowed to pick out a Babe Ruth model. Granddad muttered, "That is the most expensive piece of wood that I have ever bought." It was $9.99 in the summer of 1955.
So I, like almost all boys, knew of Louisville Slugger. In 1997 the Rideau Crusher was my response to the other River City, plus our cottage was on the Upper Rideau Lake. Given the records Sam Bat has achieved in its short life, it has become a very appropriate response
The SAM BAT Rideau Crusher has earned its stripes as the bat of choice for multiple record holders across the world of baseball, use a SAM BAT Rideau Crusher to set your own records!