From a Grandmother’s Garage to Major League Baseball: The Story of Old Hickory Bat Company

By

Sarah Ricciardi

Published

Oct 19, 2026

From a Grandmother’s Garage to Major League Baseball: The Story of Old Hickory Bat Company

“I wasn't a baseball player, not a woodworker, and not a businessperson,” says Chad Lamberth, standing in a room rimmed with baseball bats.

“God has funny plans.”

The story of Old Hickory Bat Company doesn’t start in a field of dreams.

It starts in a break room at work, with two friends talking about life.

Chad’s coworker, Jon Moyer, was talking about how he had owned a bat company in Kansas and how he loved cutting bats.

“I asked John why he wasn’t doing that anymore,” says Chad.

Bottom line, Jon didn’t have the physical room for his craft. “What if we had the space?” Chad asked, visions of his grandmother’s empty garage filling his thoughts.

That question sparked a dream Chad never knew he wanted, and Old Hickory Bat Company was founded in 1999.

Working nights and weekends in his grandmother’s garage and paying her a few hundred bucks in rent, Chad and Jon cut bats and started building a business around what would become a calling.

“We would not be here without my grandmother,” Chad recalls. “There’s no doubt about it.”

By August 2000, OHBC had made its first bat for a Major League player, thanks to Jon's relationship with professional player David Segui.

“We did it backwards. We actually started at the top and worked our way down,” laughs Chad.

Working full-time jobs, Chad and Jon enjoyed seeing their bats reach the Major League level while also recognizing they needed to spread their brand closer to home and beyond.

Weekend trips to wood-bat tournaments, their diamond logo on display, put their bats in the hands of players from middle school and beyond.

The grunt work met the grind of sawdust and varnish.

And they loved every minute of it.

Chad Lamberth Poses for a White House Chamber Photo Session

“Every job has a day that's fun and a day you wouldn't want to do, but I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else.”

In 2001, Chad and Jon expanded OHBC to a separate building. They had busted out of Grandma’s garage.

Then, in 2018, they expanded again. Production and shipping moved to their own building—a much larger, steel-fabricated structure that sits just down the hill from the original property.

Now, when you pull into the gravel drive, beckoned by the wooden sign marking the entrance, you greet a showroom first. Bats of all sizes and colors adorn the walls, stacked floor to ceiling.

You’ll see some merchandise behind an aluminum counter, branded “Old Hick.”

“The players started calling us that,” Chad explains, “and it stuck.”

A nickname wasn’t the only thing to stick.

“Baseball builds a lot of life lessons,” says Chad. For example, when tackling homework, he would encourage his son, Breyer, by saying, “You would be a Hall of Famer if you'd make a 30 on every test.”

So, just keep swinging.

Chad did. He and his wife, Christina, still do. (And so does Breyer. He’s playing baseball in college.) In 2021, Jon retired, allowing Chad and Christina to take full ownership of OHBC.

Chad can proudly declare that theirs is the only bat company in Tennessee currently making bats for Major League Baseball players. (Yep, they’re right up on that list with Kentucky’s famed brand.)

Remember that dream he didn’t know he had, using skills he hadn’t sharpened…yet?

“Find something you're passionate about,” Chad shares. “Something you love. Don't worry about money.”

And just keep swinging.

Editor's Note: This article was part of SPN's collaborative project with White House Area Chamber of Commerce's Live Local magazine publication. Pick up the latest edition at the chamber's offices or other participating businesses around White House.

Cover Photo: courtesy of Old Hickory Bat Company