World Series bats, including Bryce Harper's, made by King of Prussia company

Victus Sports now produces bats for about 30% of Major League Baseball.

Alicia Vitarelli Image
Saturday, October 29, 2022
These locals make the bats Bryce Harper swings for HRs
Batter UP! When many of the Phillies' stars head to the plate during the 2023 MLB season, they'll be swinging bats made by Victus Sports in King of Prussia.Batter UP! When many of the Phillies' stars head to the plate this MLB season, they'll be swinging bats made by Victus Sports in King of Prussia.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- When you watch the World Series, look closely at the bats, and look for the Vs.

On Thursday, Victus Sports in King of Prussia packed up and sent handmade, hand-cut, hand-stained bats, custom created with hometown love and luck for players on both teams.

We got a sneak peek before they got shipped out to Houston for tomorrow's game.

"There's Stubbs, Marsh, Harper, Stott, Hoskins, Bohm, those are Phillies that have swung or will swing our bats," said Jared Smith, CEO of Victus Sports. "And then for the Astros, we have Altuve, Chas McCormick, Jeremy Pena, Alvarez and Christian Vazquez."

And yes, Bryce Harper is on that list.

The Phillies MVP has hit a lot of home runs with Victus bats, including the one that sent the team to the World Series.

"He always swings with maple bats," said Jared Smith, CEO of Victus. "We've made him a three-pack essentially for every series so far. In the last series, he swung that all-grey one. That's the one he used to hit the home run with, so we made him another one like that just because that has a little special luck in it."

Smith and Ryan Engroff started Victus Sports in a garage in Central Pennsylvania and turned their passion into a company 10 years ago.

Today, they're making 70,000 bats by hand each year in a massive King of Prussia facility, with 50 employees.

"They all get to say, 'Hey, I turned that bat, I carved or sanded it and painted it or put the logo on it," Smith said.

Bruce Tatem is known as the "Bat King" of Victus.

"This is my kingdom where they let me create," he said.

He just finished special "Ring The Bell" bats for Friday's batting practice, ahead of Game 1 of the World Series.

"It's pretty amazing," Tatem said. "It really is, just to know that we might have a small piece, a small part of history. It's a great feeling."

Victus Sports now produces bats for about 30% of Major League Baseball.

That makes them the most-swung bat in the MLB.