Louisville Slugger 2008

PRESS BOX / Press Releases

EXOGRID®
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER® EXPANDS BAT LINEUP FOR BASEBALL PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville Slugger® TPX®’s revolutionary EXOGRID® bat has been named “2007 Baseball Product of the Year” by ION® Awards. EXOGRID’s patented stiff handle design, developed in partnership with VyaTek Sports, provides maximum performance to help hitters reach their maximum potential. Now, more hitters at all levels can become the best hitter they can be as EXOGRID becomes available in the new youth model and additional adult and senior league models for 2008.

While the hi-tech process for making EXOGRID bats is complex, the concept behind the technology is simple – increase handle stiffness. EXOGRID’s revolutionary one-piece grid pattern design does just that by providing a new dimension in performance technology. The result is a better baseball bat.

The ION® Awards agreed. The annual honors, presented by Positive Ions, Inc., a strategic brand, business development, media and marketing company, recognize the sports and nutrition industry’s hottest new product innovations and are judged by a group of independent panelists.

For seven of the past nine years, including a run of five straight seasons, the college national championship has gone to teams swinging stiff-handle, Louisville Slugger TPX bats. That stiff-handle design reached unprecedented heights with the release of the EXOGRID in 2007. The 2008 EXOGRID lineup puts better baseball bats in the hands of more players, improving their game by enhancing individual performance. This year Cal State-Fullerton, Rice, and the University of Louisville reached Omaha swinging Exogrid and other TPX bats.

EXCLUSIVE EXOGRID TECHNOLOGY

The EXOGRID technology was developed in partnership with VyaTek Sports of Tempe, Ariz. (www.vyatek.com). The revolutionary one-piece grid pattern design increases handle stiffness without increasing weight with the super strong ST+20
alloy, the toughest and strongest bat alloy available today.

Metal is trimmed from the handle to reduce overall handle weight. Carbon inserts several times stiffer and lighter are used to replace the removed metal. For maximum stiffness, Louisville Slugger then inserts a carbon sleeve with
unidirectional fibers that run the length of the handle.

Finally, using a combination of heat and extreme pressure, the carbon inserts, sleeve and metal wall are bonded together to work as a single, solid unit. The result is stiffness and strength never possible with aluminum alone and a new dimension in performance.

The EXOGRID’s one-piece construction gives hitters better feedback when they make contact. The whippy, flexible-handle bats made by some bat makers are two-piece designs that result in weakness at the joint of the handle and barrel.

As top players and coaches will tell you, a flexible handle reduces performance for most players because it bends just when you don’t want it to – at the point of contact. Optimum performance comes from a stiff handle combined with a flexible barrel for maximum trampoline effect. EXOGRID technology ensures stiffness and performance unparalleled by other bats.

The EXOGRID technology and its complementary Bi-Fusion™ metal bonding technology are exclusive to Louisville Slugger through a licensing partnership with VyaTek Sports. The two companies worked collaboratively on the EXOGRID bat project for two years prior to the bat’s original release in 2007.

NEW IN 2008

The 2008 lineup of EXOGRID bats includes the all-new YB83X youth model available at a minus 12-ounce ratio and in lengths ranging from 28 to 32 inches. A new senior league model also debuts in 2008. The SL85X is a minus 5-ounce ratio and comes in 30-, 31- and 32-inch lengths. The minus 8.5-ounce senior league model (SL83X) returns for 2008 and comes in lengths from 28 to 32 inches. The minus 3-ounce adult baseball EXOGRID (CB82X) is available from 31 to 34 inches.

The EXOGRID also makes its fastpitch softball debut in 2008 with the FP84X.

All models of the EXOGRID are comprised of the ST+20 composite bat alloy and come with a synthetic grip on a 7/8” standard handle and the patented Pro Cup® End Cap. The adult baseball model uses a 31/32” tapered handle.

ExoGrid® is a registered trademark of VyaTek Sports.

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