YORKTON - You might not expect to find a bat maker in Saskatoon, but one exists.
Vince Shivak the man behind Back 2 Back Bats said people are still generally surprised he is making bats.
“Why not have it here?” he said.
Thanks basically to word of mouth his efforts are becoming known.
“It’s been steady but it hasn’t been crazy which is perfect,” he said.
As for how Shiva began turning bats, he noted, “it’s a little bit of a longer story.”
Shivak said to start with the bat business is not how he pays the bills, but he is creating a niche.
“It’s a hobby. That’s what it is right now – sort of a side hustle,” said Shivak, who was raised in the Stockholm area, and attended high school in Esterhazy before several years of roving before settling with his family in Saskatoon.
That said the idea grew out of a simple family-infused passion.
“I love baseball,” said Shivak. “Mu dad coached me. He was a farmer. But he always took time off to coach us.”
Shivak said it was typical of his youth in the 1980s his dad would pile the team in a cube van and travel around to neighbouring communities for games.
“He always took time out of his days to coach,” he said.
Shivak said it was a connection to the game of baseball he has never lost. In fact he still plays the game regularly, admittedly not at a high level “just for the love of the game.”
And like his dad, from the time his son was five until he aged out of ball at 18, Shivak was there to support him.
Then with his son no longer playing minor ball something else happened.
“COVID hit and I was sitting on the couch and going crazy,” related Shivak, adding he needed something to do. “I knew I didn’t want to watch TV anymore.”
As it happened Shivak’s dad would sell the farm.
“Dad gave me a bit of money (from the sale),” he said, adding he used the money to buy a used lathe.
Then he found a source of maple wood billets, basically the rough piece of wood which ultimately become bats.
“It was just a way to relax, to do something during COVID,” he said, adding he had always liked working with wood.
Shivak turned a bat on his lathe, and then another, and suddenly he was selling a few to friends and teammates and now produces 50, or so a year, still working in maple but other woods like yellow birch too.
“Maple is a very hard wood,” he explained, adding amateurs like that for hitting.
Ash provides more flex.
The birch has a bit more ‘whip’ to it, and the strength of maple .
“It’s supposed to be the best of both words,” he said.
That’s a huge element of what Shivak offers, working with the bat buyer to ensure the bats are the right length, weight and even the final engraving and colouring.
“I don’t make bats anyone can just buy,” said Shivak, adding they are custom made for every buyer.
It’s all work done by hand, a bat taking four or five days that includes lathe turning, sanding, engraving, painting and polishing.
Shivak said he has created a program to help select the best ‘billet’ based on its weight for what he is creating – including the so-called ‘torpedo’ bats -- “it looks like a bowling pin”-- currently creating a buzz in the game.
“I’ve made myself one. I always use myself as a guinea pig,” he said, adding “. . . people have been asking.”
Generally Shivak said he is finding the bat business a great sideline to a full-time job.
“It’s a fun thing to do. I use it for meditation in a way,” he said.
