Angels, All-Stars put faith in Trinity bats

Trinity Bat Company sales director Sam Orr shows off a bat after a rough cut and initial sanding has been completed on the copy lathe. He says that some players, such as Angels rookie slugger Mark Trumbo, have come to the Fullerton factory to watch this process.
Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo swings the Adrian Gonzalez PS27:1 in ebony stain. Trumbo went into Monday's game batting .257 with a team-leading and rookie-leading 13 home runs.
Switch-hitting Angels rookie catcher Hank Conger swings Trinity bats. The former Huntington Beach High player has been using bats by the Fullerton-based company since his days in the minor leagues because of how quickly the local manufacturer can meet his demands for custom bats.
Baseball's All-Star break is a busy time for Trinity Bat Company. That's when MLB club replenish their supplies of bats for their players. On this table at the Fullerton-based company are orders stacked according to the wood and model that will be used. Blue denotes an MLB order, which will be completed first. Yellow signifies minor league orders and white, high schools, such as Beckman High and Marina High. It takes about 2 1/2 weeks for a typical order to get completed but Trinity, which caters to MLB players, rushed to complete those orders in a few days.
A laser etching machine personizes the birch bat of Angels slugging first baseman Mark Trumbo, a former Villa Park High player who has used the Fullerton-based Trinity Bats since his days in the minor leagues. The etching process takes about 3 minutes per bat. Six bats can be etched at one time.
All custom bats for the more than 50 MLB players who swing Trinity carry a code and the player's name or signature in a 2 1/2 inch space on the barrel. That information is laser-etched into the bat.
In applying the decal, Trinity Bat Company operations manager Jeremy McKee has to make sure the decal's size and placement meets MLB standards.
Operations manager Jeremy McKee takes a finished bat from the drying rack and applies the high-impact Trinity Bat Company logo to the bat. Bats that have been stained or painted dry around him.
Unfinished bats stand in a bin in the workshop at Trinity Bat Company in Fullerton. The next step is to apply the finish, which will be black spray paint, a wipe stain applied by hand or coats of clear.
After grinding the end of the bat, Anthony Stefanelli uses a finishing mop to round the end evenly. He spends about five minutes working through this step in the process.
After the end of the billet is sawed off, Anthony Stefanelli uses a grinder to smooth out the end. The next step would be cupping -- if the player requested it.
Anthony Stefanelli uses a saw to cut off the end of the billet that remains attached to the barrel of the Trinity bat made for Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick, Model HK47.
For an ash bat, Anthony Stefanelli flame treats the bat, which tightens the grain and seals the wood. (This doesn't happen with birch bats.) The tighter the grain, the more dense the bat and the more durable and effective it will be against a 92-mph cutter.
Anthony Stefanelli, 42, of Riverside (center), makes bats at Fullerton-based Trinity Bat Company, which produces as many as 150 bats a day and has doubled its MLB sales in the past year. Half the Angels lineup, including rookie slugger Mark Trumbo (left) and more than 50 big-leaguers such as All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez (right) and Vladimir Guerrero, swing Trinity. Check out this slide show or the video below to see how Trinity bats are made and who's swing them.
Anthony Stefanelli uses a chisel to carve the knob into a bat on the lathe at Trinity Bat Company.
In the back workshop at Trinity Bat Company, Anthony Stefanelli compresses the barrel of the bat for density and proper weight distribution.
Trinity has 14 popular models that it makes all the time but 84 custom templates that it uses for its MLB clientele. Anthony Stefanelli, 42, of Riverside, tapers a handle on a bat. Another bat (right) is used as a template on the lathe.
Anthony Stefanelli, 42, of Riverside, has been making bats for 20 years, arriving at Trinity from a competitor when the company first began in 2005. He helped teached the trade to the McKees, who had been in the commercial printing business for five generations.
After the billet is selected, Anthony Stefanelli, 42, of Riverside, performs the rough cut on a bat using a copy lathe at the Trinity Bat Company in Fullerton. Stefanelli is one of four full-time employees at the company that has doubled its MLB sales in the past year and is the fastest growing bat maker on the West Coast.
Jeremy McKee, operations manager at the Trinity Bat Company in Fullerton, takes a 5-pound, 6-ounce ash billet from the shelf that will be made into a baseball bat for Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick, who made the switch from Louisville Slugger to Trinity during the last week of spring training.
On display in the lobby of Fullerton-based Trinity Bat Company are the bats for Texas Rangers All-Star Josh Hamilton, former Angels All-Star Vladimir Guerrero (now with Baltimore), and Colorado Rockies All-Star Troy Tulowitzki. In 2006, Guerrero was the first player to put Trinity on the map by swinging its lumber and batting .329 en route to being a Silver Slugger.
The bat making process begins with selecting the right billet or chunk of lumber. Trinity Bat Company gets ash from mills in Virginia and maple and birch from Canada. Jeremy McKee, the younger son of owner Steve McKee, is the operations manager and often selects the log for each bat. He carefully studies the straightness and tightness of the grain before making his decision.
In order to become an MLB-approved bat manufacturer, a company has to establish a need. The Angels were the first team to write a letter on behalf of Fullerton-based Trinity Bat Company, helping the family-owned company become one of the fastest approved MLB bat companies six months after it was founded in 2005.
"Currently, we're carrying more major leaguers (50-plus) than most companies, plus 123 minor leaguers," says Trinity Bat Company sales director Sam Orr. Orr is a former La Mirada High and Biola University shortstop who played three seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization before career-ending shoulder surgery. He lists half the Angels lineup plus All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero among Trinity's customers.

By Marcia C. Smith | Orange County Register

June 28, 2011 at 3:45 p.m.

Tucked in a maze of mostly white, boxy and forgettable commercial buildings off Orangethorpe Avenue in Fullerton sits an increasing source of major league baseball’s offensive power.

Half the Angels’ lineup and more than 50 big-leaguers, including All-Stars Adrian Gonzalez, Vladimir Guerrero and Josh Hamilton, are swinging custom wood bats made at this one-stop retail store, factory and headquarters of Trinity Bat Company.

A six-year-old company handcrafting the tools of America’s pastime, Trinity has become a heavy hitter in the not-so-cottage industry long dominated by Louisville Slugger. Of the 31 MLB-approved bat manufacturers, Trinity is the fastest growing MLB supplier on the West Coast, its MLB sales doubling in the past year thanks to the power of viral marketing.

“People said we couldn’t make it business-wise,” said Trinity vice president Jeff McKee, the elder son of owner Steve McKee. “We started by going into clubhouses, showing guys our bats and offering to make them exactly what they wanted. They loved it and turned their teammates onto Trinity.”

Check out a slide show and a video of how Trinity bats are crafted.

Walk into the tiny lobby of this 4,000-square-foot, family-owned, four-employee operation, and you’re hit by the smell of lumber and the modest symbols of relatively overnight prosperity.

On the front wall, beneath a large graphic of the company’s oval ‘T’ logo is a Plexiglass box containing Gonzalez’s top-selling 34-inch, 32-ounce Pro Model PS27:1, which gets its coding from the San Diego Padres-turned-Boston Red Sox first baseman’s favorite Bible verse, Psalm 27:1.

Below it hang company T-shirts on plastic hangers. Photos of Trinity’s big-league customers – baseball clubs actually buy bats on behalf of players – and framed testimonials from MLB team equipment managers dot the surrounding wall between illustrations and quotations of Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

Prominently displayed behind the reception desk are photos of Guerrero and Orlando Cabrera, the first two MLB players – and Angels – who began using Trinity bats exclusively in 2006.

“We will never forget what these guys did for us,” said Trinity sales director and tour guide Sam Orr, a former La Mirada High and Biola University shortstop who played three seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization before career-ending shoulder surgery.

“They started a trend that has taken off. Currently, we’re carrying more major leaguers than most companies, plus 123 minor leaguers.”

The facility’s dominating decor is bats. Sixteen custom models in a corner rack, among them Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo’s crimson 34-33 birch and catcher Hank Conger’s HC16 33½-31½ ash model, look like rungs in a ladder. All 84 of Trinity’s retail models line the narrow hallway walls like vertical blinds, knobs near the ceiling, barrels stretching toward the floor.

A high-pitched buzzing sound of sharp, well-oiled blades cutting into — at this moment — the turning billet that will become Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick’s ash bat, echoed through the place.

In the back workshop, Anthony Stefanelli, a 42-year-old Italian man wearing safety goggles, faded Trinity T-shirt, black sweatpants and sneakers, stood in a spray of sawdust, his meaty hands gently running sandpaper atop a spinning barrel.

“Not a lot of people know we’re here but this is where it all happens,” Orr yelled over the noise. “We just overnighted bats to J.D. Drew a day ago, and he hit a home run with Trinity last night.”

That’s Trinity’s best commercial.

SWINGING FOR THE FENCES

McKee said he and his younger brother, Jeremy, Trinity’s director of operations, grew up in Santa Ana “dragging bats around the backyard since we were 2 years old” and going to Angels games.

They got their first jobs at age 16 as the fifth generation to enter the family’s printing business. But the advent of the paperless business and home publishing prompted their father, Steve McKee, to sell Orange County-based OCT Digital in 2005 and swing for the fences in an industry they knew nothing about.

They knew they were in a thriving Southern California baseball market and saw the shift on all levels toward using wood bats. So they figured there would be a need for custom products in what has been a high-volume bat industry.

Trinity set out to make a player’s perfect bat by listening to how he would modify the one he used. Trinity adjusted handle and barrel size, length, weight and finish and then personalized each bat with a player’s name. A small company catering to a few hundred customers could make and ship out the perfect club in a few days.

“The extent of my training was two years of woodshop at Tustin High,” said Jeff McKee. “But we learned and worked day and night to make a high quality bat that would perform better than the rest.”

The father, his sons and their almost-holy love of baseball named the company “Trinity” to reflect their Christian values. Their miracle success began when Steve and Jeff McKee visited Angels spring training before the 2006 season and urged 2004 AL MVP Guerrero to give Trinity a try.

The Angels designated hitter batted .329 in 2006, with 33 home runs and 116 RBI, earning Silver Slugger and All-Star honors and giving Trinity credibility. His Pro Model T-VG27, a Trinity’s modified version of the Louisville Slugger C243, became the company’s first signature bat.

Soon, Guerrero’s teammate, second baseman Orlando Cabrera, wanted to swing Trinity. So Jeff McKee pulled an all-nighter to make Cabrera his custom bats the next day. (Custom orders from high-volume companies usually take two to six weeks.)

Trinity quickly built a reputation for quality products, personal attention and a quick turnaround. The McKees and Orr, who joined company in February 2010, traveled to spring training camps and provided free sample bats to players, from leadoff batters to powerful sluggers, hoping to land customers, love at first at-bat.

Unlike gloves and spikes, which players receive as part of personal endorsement agreements, MLB teams purchase bats for players in orders of 6, 12 or 24 and at discount rates of $55 for each ash bat, $65 for birch and $85 for maple.

“I’ll hear from a player, call his equipment manager, call back the player and place the order,” Orr said. “I’m constantly in touch and trying to take care of our guys.”

Angels slugging first baseman Kendrys Morales, before his season-ending ankle injury, used Trinity. On a whim, Angels third baseman Alberto Callaspo used Morales’ bat and decided to start swinging Trinity full time. Utility infielder Maicer Izturis followed suit.

Trumbo (Villa Park High) and Conger (Huntington Beach High) turned to the company in the back yard of Angel Stadium to get their tools while they played in the Angels minor leagues. Angels pitcher Trevor Bell noticed Trumbo clobbering majestic, 450-foot home runs and decided to order Trinity bats for 2011 interleague play.

“Nobody’s going to start using bats just because another guy is using them, but you notice,” said Kendrick, the newest Angel with a Trinity arsenal. “I’ve always used Louisville, and in spring training, they (Trinity) sent me some bats out of the blue, so I tried them and liked their feel so much I switched.”

Orr had sacrificed his big-barreled, old-school Louisville Slugger C243, which he got when he was 12 years old, to use as a template for Kendrick’s Trinity HK47.

Trinity’s business grand slam came in 2008.

“I was at Home Depot getting supplies when Adrian Gonzalez called and wanted us to make a bat for him and code it with his favorite Bible verse,” Jeff McKee recalled. “That’s changed everything for us.”

Gonzalez’s model currently accounts for 35 percent of Trinity’s MLB sales. Red Sox right fielder Drew, on the suggestion of Gonzalez, swings PS27-1, as does Trumbo, Dodgers first baseman James Loney and Colorado All-Star first baseman Todd Helton, among others.

“Landing a top-10 player in the game and one that’s now playing for the Red Sox has taken the business to another level,” said Orr. “He’s batting .358 and people are noticing what he’s using.”

MEETING THE DEMAND

In the workshop that produces as many as 150 bats a day, Jeremy McKee pulled two billets – 48-inch-long cylinders of ash – from the lumber shelves organized by wood (maple, birch or ash) and weight to the exact ounce.

He inspected each log carefully, examining each 5-pound, 5-ounce chuck. He sought the tightest, straightest grain so he could make Kendrick the densest bat that wouldn’t splinter on contact with a 92-mph cutter. He spent about five minutes staring at two logs, standing on their ends, before making a selection.

“The right bat depends first on picking the best log,” said Jeremy McKee, his backdrop nearly two stories of ash from Virginia and maple and birch from Canada. “I’ve spent hours looking at wood.”

After the log selection comes Stefanelli’s rough cut, grinding, sanding, mopping and, if necessary, cupping. Then Jeremy McKee wipe-stains or spray-paints, clear-coats and hand-decals each bat before laser-etching a player’s name on the finished barrel.

These weeks approaching the All-Star break, when teams want to replenish their bat supplies, are the busiest. About 50 order sheets color-coded for MLB, minor league, high school and youth leagues fill a conference table.

Late nights are in order. Stefanelli will likely be busy at the lathe making another gamer while the Angels game blares on the radio. Brothers Jeff and Jeremy McKee will jump into the assembly line while Orr will report on how well the latest Trinity bat performed in the hands of a ballplayer.

“This is our way we get to be a part of the game,” said Jeff McKee from Trinity headquarters, making bats for the diamond from the rough.

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— Reporting from Fullerton

Contact the writer: masmith@ocregister.com