Louisville Slugger announced that it will be partnering with Perfect Game USA, the premium high school tournament and showcase operator. Louisville Slugger
will initiate the partnership at Perfect Game tournaments and showcases across the
country. In addition to promotion and sales, Louisville Slugger will use the
partnership for purposes of research & development, product testing and focus
groups.
“This is huge for Louisville Slugger and for Perfect Game,” said Louisville Slugger president Bill Clark. “Perfect Game has produced the highest national-level individual-player showcases and team tournaments across the U.S. for years. Eighty-five percent of players drafted by MLB clubs were Perfect Game participants. That is an astonishing number.”
Louisville Slugger, owned by Hillerich & Bradsby, is the official bat of Major League Baseball.
Major League players like Joey Votto, Buster Posey, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Justin Upton and Jason Heyward took part in Perfect Game events. Perfect Game events produced over 1,300 MLB draft picks in 2011, including 294 of the first 331 players selected.
“Perfect Game events are also the place where top college coaches go to evaluate and recruit talent,” Clark said. “They have a database of nearly 100,000 active prospects that we’ll be able to communicate with.”
Continued Clark, “We’re very excited to bring our 128 years of baseball knowledge, innovation and product development with elite players to Perfect Game events. We’ll learn from these outstanding young players just as we learn from players in Major League Baseball.”
Perfect Game said the partnership will make its already outstanding tournaments and showcases even better.
“Louisville Slugger makes great, innovative products,” stated Jerry Ford, owner and president of Perfect Game. “And their unique and historic position in baseball allows them to create experiences at our Perfect Game events that no other company can.”
Among those experiences, amateur players at Perfect Game events can order MLB-quality wood with their own names engraved on bats, just like Louisville Slugger does for its guys in Major League Baseball. Perfect Game events will be the only place amateur players will be able to order these special MLB wood personalized bats.
Louisville Slugger will also bring a one-of-a-kind experience to Perfect Game events with a version of the popular Hold a Piece of History exhibit from its Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. It will take players and their families from the very first Louisville Slugger bat through history to those used today by stars like Derek Jeter, Josh Hamilton, Joey Votto, Buster Posey and many more.
