NBC10’s Neil Fischer talks to Bruce “Bat King” Tatem and some of the other Victus Sports wood-shaping and painting artists making lumber for the Philadelphia Phillies at their King or Prussia, Montgomery County, business.
The crack of the bat is one of the signature sounds of the MLB playoffs and this Red October the Phillies' stars are using lumber crafted right in the team's backyard.
King of Prussia-based Victus Sports will become one of the official bats of Major League Baseball in 2025.
This season, the Montgomery County company planned on cutting, sanding and sending around 120,000 baseball bats. However, with the partnership, Victus plans on making 150,000 bats next year.
Jared Smith, founder of Victus Sports, tells NBC10 that approximately 30% of MLB players use their products.
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“From day one, we always had the goal of making the best bat,” Smith said.
Several members of the Philadelphia Phillies swing Victus, including superstar slugger Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Johan Rojas and Garrett Stubbs.
Victus has thousands of player profiles in their bat making machines. This allows athletes to pick the perfect specifications for their model.
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The suburban Philadelphia bat company also makes unique, one-of-a-kind bats, thanks to Bruce “Bat King” Tatem. The bat man has been with Victus for five years but has been airbrushing since he was 17 years old. Before focusing on baseball bats, Tatem put his art on motorcycles.
“It’s certainly not something that I would have ever imagined that I’d be putting artwork on,” said Tatem.
Victus has grown in popularity throughout the baseball community with one model in particular, the “Pencil Bat.”
The “Pencil Bat” is Tatem’s favorite creation. The idea for it came from his son, who was 12 at the time.
“He’s like, ‘you should make a bat look like a pencil,’” Tatem said.
Tatem -- who already helped shape Harper's London Series bats -- has also created special postseason inspired bats for the Phillies.
“We’ll give the bats to the Phillies to swing in BP(batting practice),” Tatem said. “We have the 'Red October,' we got the bell, and we got the 'ring it' on there.”
There’s a special feeling around Victus when the baseball postseason rolls around.
“Getting to wake up every day, come to work and do something fun like this, making baseball bats, like making a difference in the game, especially in October, this place gets buzzing,” Smith said.
The Victus logo is recognizable by a large “V” in the middle of the bat. Smith said it was designed that way so no matter which way the bat faces, you can still see the “V” of the logo.
The company believes their bat will be around for the entire postseason.
“We’re pretty confident to say that we’ll have some Victus athletes in the World Series,” said Doug Trimble, marketing director of Victus.
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