TILLSONBURG – Just a short drive south of Beachville, where the first officially recorded baseball game took place, ABO Baseball has emerged as Oxford County’s newest player in America’s beloved pastime.
This is why the company has been buzzing with activity over the past month.
The Tillsonburg-based bat maker is now just the fourth professionally certified bat supplier in Canada. They received approval from Major League Baseball at the end of January to produce bats for both minor and major leagues across North America.
“It’s kind of crazy… I was just in my shop (working) and now I’m talking to Major League Baseball coaches, which is like a dream come true really,” said Trevor Oakes, the owner of ABO Baseball, reflecting on the Jan. 21 certification.
Last year, there were 35 certified bat suppliers for the majors, but with Oakes and another supplier joining in, that number rises to 37 for the 2020 season. With nearly 800 professionals – each roster holding 26 players – plus thousands more at various minor levels, a consistent supply is always necessary.
As Oakes begins getting his bats into professional players’ hands, he knows it’ll be a moment filled with emotion when one of his bats connects for a big-league hit.
“I told my kids, ‘I’m going to cry that day.’ That will be the day when it all sinks in. The thought kind of blows me away a little bit. But at the same time, I’m so busy I don’t have time to enjoy it, so I can’t wait till that one day where I can just take off and just soak it all in.”
Oakes played baseball in Tillsonburg until he turned 16. He switched to slo-pitch at age 25 but returned to hardball at 40, playing two years with both the Tillsonburg Red Sox and then the Tillsonburg Old Sox in an over-35 league.
In 2017, while playing with the Old Sox, he began making bats.
After breaking a couple of bats one summer, he thought it would be smarter to buy a lathe from Kijiji and make his own using wood from Townsend Lumber in Tillsonburg.
Finding he had a talent for it, Oakes connected with folks in the Intercounty Baseball League and London Majors star Cleveland Brownlee.
He even started receiving orders from places like California, Texas, Florida and as far away as Kuwait and Australia before reaching his two-year milestone. Oakes set himself a goal of making bats for pro players within five years-he’s well ahead of that target.
“Obviously my dream is to get some big names swinging these bats – and it will happen,” he said. “I don’t want to be famous; I want the bats to be famous. I want the bats to be known everywhere more than people know me. I’ll talk to everybody all day long about baseball and baseball bats, but it’s not me. We’re just making them.”
Oakes continued crafting bats while also working full-time at Toyota. In 2017 alone he managed to create several hundred bats; this grew to about a thousand in 2018 and over 1,300 by 2019.
In April 2019 he left Toyota behind and opened up his ABO Baseball facility focused solely on bat-making while also offering batting cages along with Hit Trax baseball simulators and merchandise options.
The name ABO honors his kids-Audrey and Brandon-and combines them with his last name Oakes.
Deb Simmonds joined as co-owner of ABO back in September. The new location on Tillson Street launched in November under her management.
Latter this month Oakes will head off to Arizona as teams kick off their spring training sessions-with eight meetings lined up including discussions with both Chicago teams as well as Kansas City Royals.
“When I started this, that’s what I said. ‘All I want to do is make baseball bats and watch baseball.’ I remember my first tournament demo: I set up a tent while games were happening around me thinking ‘This is it; this is my gig now; this is amazing.’ And every time I’m involved like that-no matter what level-it feels great! Just hanging out enjoying sunny days filled with baseball.”
“This is amazing.”
cabbott
– Tillsonburg News
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