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Tucci, a former professional player, was a first-round pick for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996. During his baseball career, he would adjust his own bats to get the right feel. After retiring from the minor leagues in 2001 with a hand injury, he started to make bats full time. Tucci Lumber bats are now used by more than 150 Major League players on nearly every team.
"There's a lot of companies out there who were light years ahead of me as far as being able to produce a bat and what it took to produce a bat, but they didn't know as well as I did what the end product needed to be," Tucci said. "From a first-hand basis, being an ex-professional player, knowing what I demanded out of my bats, knowing what I demanded out of a bat company, I knew what the end product needed to be."
Tucci gave a tour of his workshop to U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th District) on Friday, showing him how he takes wood shipped from Pennsylvania and New York and fashions it into baseball bats. The bats are primarily made from maple wood, and each piece is X-rayed before to make sure there are no imperfections.
The visit was part of an effort to speak to local businesses and understand how they are doing, Himes said.
"As we think about policy, we need to think through how we can help businesses like this do better," Himes said. He added that he wanted to bring attention to success stories in Fairfield County such as Tucci Lumber.
"A lot of people don't think of this area as a manufacturing area, but here we have a company making bats that are known around the country and around the world."
Tucci acknowledged that it's tougher for small businesses to launch and grow in this economy, and that it's taken a lot of hard work to expand Tucci Lumber.
"It's pretty surreal to realize three years ago I was in my garage doing this, and now we have guys who are going to be using our bats in this year's upcoming playoffs, and hopefully the World Series. So sometimes you've got to look back and realize what you've accomplished, but at the end of the day there's a whole lot more I have yet to accomplish."
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