Pictured above is a custom made torpedo bat Travis Wade made for his son Emerson.
By Bruce Rolfe
A Climax-Scotts High School graduate who makes custom made wooden bats, is taking advantage of a new bat style gaining popularity nationally by making his own version of torpedo bats.
Travis Wade, a 1993 graduate of Climax-Scotts High School, started making custom wood spun baseball and softball bats in the 1990s. He’s perfected his craft to where he sells the custom made bats regularly, adding the torpedo bat to the line of bats he sells under the name of wademadebats.
Demand for the non-traditional shaped bat skyrocketed after the New York Yankees slugged 15 home runs in their first three games during MLB’s opening weekend, with some of the home runs coming off the torpedo bat.
The C-S graduate said soon after the torpedo bats got national attention, he started to think about producing the bats himself.
“I didn’t really hear about it that much and then when the Yankees were using it. Actually, my buddy I played with in AAA, David Matranga, is (New York Yankee super star) Aaron Judge’s agent. I was talking to him a little bit. Once they (Yankees) started using it, I knew it was going to get popular,” said Wade.
His forward thinking is paying off.
“I’ve got quite a few interested here already. I’ve got 13 right now I’ve got to make,” said the C-S graduate,” who said most of the interest so far has come from students he gives pitching and hitting lessons to where he resides in Nebraska as well as
customers he has made bats for previously who have kids now playing baseball.
A graphic arts major at Kellogg Community College and Eastern Michigan University, Wade currently makes bats for college baseball players, professional minor league baseball players, Little League and high school softball players, travel league baseball teams, indoor hitting facilities across the country and kids who want a custom made bat.
He’s made custom bats for Jackson Reetz, who was called up to the majors for a period of time in 2021 with the Washington Nationals but currently plays for the New York Mets AAA International League affiliate in Syracuse.
Wade is not sanctioned by MLB or the minor leagues, however players can swing one of his custom made bats in batting practice or the off season, which he said Reetz does.
Instead of the traditional shape, more of the wood on the torpedo bat is moved toward the middle, or sweet spot, giving the bat an appearance similar to a bowling pin. The bat is fatter where the label appears and tapers off.
According to an article written by USA Today’s Steve Gardner, the torpedo bat design was devised by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT physicist who was a professor at the University of Michigan from 2007 to 2014 before joining the Yankees in 2018.
Wade said despite the different shape, torpedo bats take about the same amount of time as making a traditional bat.
The torpedo bats he makes are made within MLB guidelines of not more then 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length.
“On a conventional bat that I make you go straight from the end to the handle like a straight shot. But on these (torpedo bat), since the barrel goes narrower at the end, you start at the biggest point and work your way to the handle and then when you’re done you work the opposite way. You can’t work uphill on the lathe, you have to work down hill,” explained Wade.
“The biggest thing to me is obviously it moves the sweet spot down a little bit towards the emblem. But what it also does, it narrows itself down at the end. To me, it takes ounces off the end. The weight of the bat is the same, but the ounces at the end of the bat aren’t the same. So, if you’re swinging a 34 (length)-31 (ounces) bat, to me it actually feels more like a 34-30 or 34-29 just because the way it’s balanced. It feels lighter then what it is,” explained Wade.
Wade said he made a template of the torpedo bat approximately two weeks ago, allowing him to put the round wooden billet on his lathe and copy the procedure over and over.
One of the first torpedo bats Wade made was for his son Emerson.
Wade said part of the enjoyment he gets from making bats is coming up with different ideas, and the torpedo bats he now makes has allowed him to challenge himself.
He recently devised a top hand mallet bat that is only 17 1/2 inches but 32 ounces and is used for top hand work.
“It gives me something different to do. I’m always trying to come up with different stuff,” said Wade.
A former Kalamazoo King when he played minor league baseball, Wade was asked by the Kalamazoo Growlers to make bats with oversized barrels geared for more offensive production, for last summer’s Jacked Baseball event the Growlers hosted.
He said the Growlers recently contacted him about making special bats for a Star Wars theme night coming up this summer.
“They’re going to send me the Rawlings bats that they use and I’m going to make those bats into lightsaber bats,” said Wade.
Currently residing in Papillion, Nebraska with his wife and family, Wade specializes in offering baseball lessons to high school and college athletes at a local training camp in Nebraska. He said as the bat making business continues to grow, he may scale back on the baseball lessons and focus on making baseball bats.
The son of Jim and Lou Wade of Climax, Travis started making baseball bats on a wood lathe at his parents’ home as a hobby during a minor league baseball career that spanned 12 seasons.
The hobby continued after his career ended in 2009 and has blossomed into a small business for the C-S graduate.
The former Climax resident makes the bat to the specs requested by the customer.
Wade uses a torch to burn in a unique look on the bat before painting the bat, followed by two layers of polyurethane.
Wade was drafted as a relief pitcher out of Eastern Michigan University by the Houston Astros. He enjoyed minor league stints in Auburn, with the Michigan Battle Cats in Battle Creek, A ball in Kissimmee, Florida, at the AA level in Round Rock, Texas and at AAA New Orleans for a period of time.
He also enjoyed coaching stints with the Trois- Rivieres Aigles of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Independent League and in St. George, British Columbia in the Golden League where former Detroit Tiger Darrell Evans was also a coach.
For additional information on Wade’s custom made bats go to his Instagram page, Wademadebats or email Wademade12@gmail.com.
A Climax-Scotts High School graduate who makes custom made wooden bats, is taking advantage of a new bat style gaining popularity nationally by making his own version of torpedo bats.
Travis Wade, a 1993 graduate of Climax-Scotts High School, started making custom wood spun baseball and softball bats in the 1990s. He’s perfected his craft to where he sells the custom made bats regularly, adding the torpedo bat to the line of bats he sells under the name of wademadebats.
Demand for the non-traditional shaped bat skyrocketed after the New York Yankees slugged 15 home runs in their first three games during MLB’s opening weekend, with some of the home runs coming off the torpedo bat.
The C-S graduate said soon after the torpedo bats got national attention, he started to think about producing the bats himself.
“I didn’t really hear about it that much and then when the Yankees were using it. Actually, my buddy I played with in AAA, David Matranga, is (New York Yankee super star) Aaron Judge’s agent. I was talking to him a little bit. Once they (Yankees) started using it, I knew it was going to get popular,” said Wade.
His forward thinking is paying off.
“I’ve got quite a few interested here already. I’ve got 13 right now I’ve got to make,” said the C-S graduate,” who said most of the interest so far has come from students he gives pitching and hitting lessons to where he resides in Nebraska as well as
customers he has made bats for previously who have kids now playing baseball.
A graphic arts major at Kellogg Community College and Eastern Michigan University, Wade currently makes bats for college baseball players, professional minor league baseball players, Little League and high school softball players, travel league baseball teams, indoor hitting facilities across the country and kids who want a custom made bat.
He’s made custom bats for Jackson Reetz, who was called up to the majors for a period of time in 2021 with the Washington Nationals but currently plays for the New York Mets AAA International League affiliate in Syracuse.
Wade is not sanctioned by MLB or the minor leagues, however players can swing one of his custom made bats in batting practice or the off season, which he said Reetz does.
Instead of the traditional shape, more of the wood on the torpedo bat is moved toward the middle, or sweet spot, giving the bat an appearance similar to a bowling pin. The bat is fatter where the label appears and tapers off.
According to an article written by USA Today’s Steve Gardner, the torpedo bat design was devised by Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT physicist who was a professor at the University of Michigan from 2007 to 2014 before joining the Yankees in 2018.
Wade said despite the different shape, torpedo bats take about the same amount of time as making a traditional bat.
The torpedo bats he makes are made within MLB guidelines of not more then 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length.
“On a conventional bat that I make you go straight from the end to the handle like a straight shot. But on these (torpedo bat), since the barrel goes narrower at the end, you start at the biggest point and work your way to the handle and then when you’re done you work the opposite way. You can’t work uphill on the lathe, you have to work down hill,” explained Wade.
“The biggest thing to me is obviously it moves the sweet spot down a little bit towards the emblem. But what it also does, it narrows itself down at the end. To me, it takes ounces off the end. The weight of the bat is the same, but the ounces at the end of the bat aren’t the same. So, if you’re swinging a 34 (length)-31 (ounces) bat, to me it actually feels more like a 34-30 or 34-29 just because the way it’s balanced. It feels lighter then what it is,” explained Wade.
Wade said he made a template of the torpedo bat approximately two weeks ago, allowing him to put the round wooden billet on his lathe and copy the procedure over and over.
One of the first torpedo bats Wade made was for his son Emerson.
Wade said part of the enjoyment he gets from making bats is coming up with different ideas, and the torpedo bats he now makes has allowed him to challenge himself.
He recently devised a top hand mallet bat that is only 17 1/2 inches but 32 ounces and is used for top hand work.
“It gives me something different to do. I’m always trying to come up with different stuff,” said Wade.
A former Kalamazoo King when he played minor league baseball, Wade was asked by the Kalamazoo Growlers to make bats with oversized barrels geared for more offensive production, for last summer’s Jacked Baseball event the Growlers hosted.
He said the Growlers recently contacted him about making special bats for a Star Wars theme night coming up this summer.
“They’re going to send me the Rawlings bats that they use and I’m going to make those bats into lightsaber bats,” said Wade.
Currently residing in Papillion, Nebraska with his wife and family, Wade specializes in offering baseball lessons to high school and college athletes at a local training camp in Nebraska. He said as the bat making business continues to grow, he may scale back on the baseball lessons and focus on making baseball bats.
The son of Jim and Lou Wade of Climax, Travis started making baseball bats on a wood lathe at his parents’ home as a hobby during a minor league baseball career that spanned 12 seasons.
The hobby continued after his career ended in 2009 and has blossomed into a small business for the C-S graduate.
The former Climax resident makes the bat to the specs requested by the customer.
Wade uses a torch to burn in a unique look on the bat before painting the bat, followed by two layers of polyurethane.
Wade was drafted as a relief pitcher out of Eastern Michigan University by the Houston Astros. He enjoyed minor league stints in Auburn, with the Michigan Battle Cats in Battle Creek, A ball in Kissimmee, Florida, at the AA level in Round Rock, Texas and at AAA New Orleans for a period of time.
He also enjoyed coaching stints with the Trois- Rivieres Aigles of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Independent League and in St. George, British Columbia in the Golden League where former Detroit Tiger Darrell Evans was also a coach.
For additional information on Wade’s custom made bats go to his Instagram page, Wademadebats or email Wademade12@gmail.com.
C-S graduate Travis Wade is pictured next to some of the bats he made for the Jacked Baseball event hosted by the Kalamazoo Growlers.
Photo by Bruce Rolfe
Photo by Bruce Rolfe
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