Josh Hamilton is having an amazing season for the Texas Rangers, with 26 home runs, 106 runs batted in and a .308 average in 108 games. Hamilton, who will face the Yankees on Monday night, has been so good that some opposing players want to know his secrets.
While Hamilton smashed homer after prodigious homer during the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium three weeks ago, Chuck Schupp, Louisville Slugger’s director of professional baseball, fielded calls on his cellphone from players who wanted to know what bat Hamilton was using.
“I know that David Ortiz called,” said Rick Redman, a spokesman for the 124-year-old bat company. “I heard that several other players did as well, but I never verified who those guys were.”
Whoever called Schupp discovered that Hamilton was swinging a C353 ash Louisville Slugger model, which was Jeff Conine’s model. Redman said Hamilton began using it when he and Conine were teammates with the Cincinnati Reds last season. Hamilton’s model is cupped at the top......