Ahh, the sounds of summer! The roar of the crowd, the crack of the bat and… another bat cracks. It seems baseball bats are breaking more often than Jose Bautista hits home runs these days, and it would be a shame if all that splintered Ash and Maple goes to waste. These 9 examples of recycled baseball bats show there’s life in the old Slugger yet!
Baseball Bat Chopsticks
If you think baseball bats break far too often, the carnage in the disposable wood chopstick industry is enough to make you faint. So-called “Kattobashi” address both issues in a delightfully appealing way. Crafted from broken baseball bats, Kattobashi (a Japanese word derived from the cheer “Get a big hit!”) recycled from broken Japanese pro baseball bats come trimmed with the colors and mascots of your favorite team.
Kattobashi also help keep disposed wooden chopsticks out of the trash. What happens when you accidentally break your set reaching for that last futomaki? Well, they could always be recycled into toothpicks we suppose.
Baseball Bat Wedding Rings
Talk about entering wedded matrimony with two strikes against you! The crafty folks at Simply Wood Rings recycle all manner of previously enjoyed wood objects including baseball bats. You say you’re married to the game? Slip on one of these and we’ll believe it.
Combining reclaimed and reworked wood, artistic metalwork and selected gemstones, these unique rings might not be traditional but they DO make an ideal gift, say, for one’s Sliver Anniversary. Er, that’s “Silver”.
Recycled Baseball Bat Lamp
Steve Bewley (above, left) is the mastermind behind Rerun Productions, located in Arroyo Grande, CA, and the word “master” does indeed come to mind when describing his recycled baseball bat lamp. It’s one of the few upcycled baseball bat items that uses an aluminum bat as its centerpiece.
The Shop On Ash takes a more traditional route to home enlightenment, employing broken wooden baseball bats to create some pretty nifty baseball-themed collectibles. With one of these lamps on your side table you’ll finally have it made in the shade.
Baseball Bat Art
Baseball has been described as an art so when artists use baseball bats as working material, well, turnabout is fair play after all. This selection of bat art… that’s BAT art, highlights the talents of (clockwise from top left) David Adamo, Peter Schyuff, Alison Saar and Gary Mifflin.
Baseball Bat Bottle Opener
Beer goes with baseball like a beer bottle and a bottle opener, so the concept of a recycled baseball bat beer bottle opener is about as natural as, well, The Natural. Taking a swig of your fave brew while your team’s best slugger takes a swing at a pitch? That’s the stuff dreams are made of!
Companies like Tokens & Icons take the recycled game equipment thing to a new level by offering MLB authenticated reclaimed gear. It’s pricier to be sure, but what better way to get way into the game?
Recycled Baseball Bat Rocking Chair
“We will, we will, ROCK YOU!”… If you’re like me, you’re sick & tired of Queen’s overused sample from “We Are The Champions” being played, and played, and… well, you get the drift. Far, far better to drift off to your own personal field of dreams in a rocking chair made from old upcycled baseball bats. It’s the next best thing to a seat in the dugout.
As cool as a rocker made from baseball bats may be, Fred Friar goes one step further by making the chair comfortable. The Louisville Slugger Rocker above is handmade using genuine Louisville Slugger Baseball Bats with contrasting Cherry or Walnut for appearance sake. The bats are taken fresh off the automatic lathe at the Slugger Bat factory in Louisville, Kentucky. It takes 40-50 hours to complete one of these rockers, which are made under a license granted by Hillerch and Bradsby Co.
Recycled Baseball Bat Mallets
Once they hammered horsehide spheres out of the ballpark, today they hammer, well, anything you want! Jonathan McKinley noticed the many baseball bats that cracked, splintered or otherwise bit the dust of the on-deck circle and decided to do something about it. Thanks to his meticulous documentation, now you can too.
McKinley’s mallets use either the business end of a broken bat for the mallet head or the nicely turned neck of the bat, to which he crafts a head to serve his purpose. Mallets may take a lot of abuse around the workshop but hey – so do baseball bats and their are more than enough of the latter to go around.
Broken Baseball Bat Table
Queeny3 from HGTV’s Share My Craft shares her craftsmanship with the world at large by displaying this small but strong tripod stool. Sez Queeny3, “Hubby gets lots of broken wood bats where he gives baseball instruction. So we recycled some into table legs. Got plain table round from hardware store painted it like a baseball. Then attached bats cut to same lengths on underside with table leg brackets. He uses these in his den beside his chair. Great for a kids room also.” It may not be a grand slam but at least hubby’s a hit around home plate.
Baseball Bat Salt & Pepper Shakers
You might cork your bat but can you salt it? Keith Palmer can, and he’s not opposed to playing a little pepper while he’s at it. Palmer, wielding his trusty wood lathe, turned an experimental Baseball Bat made by Weyerhaeuser into one of the spiciest salt shakers you’ve ever seen!
Palmer took on the project as a favor to his buddy who already had a similar pepper mill. Once turned, finished and detailed, he topped off the big league shaker by epoxying part of a water bottle which, along with its original cap, would act as a durable bottom stopper. Mr Palmer, take your base!
Since the MLB Player’s Association seems to be in no hurry to tackle the problem of broken baseball bats, we’re glad at least America’s resourceful home craftsmen are finding new and better ways to reclaim, reuse, recycle and upcycle the timber tools of the national pastime.

