CHASE YOUR DREAMS - #004 - Jeremy Mitchell and Mitchell Bat Co

CHASE YOUR DREAMS #004 - JEREMY MITCHELL and MITCHELL BAT CO

by Ethan Bryan

When he was ten years old, his favorite player was Darryl Strawberry, the iconic southpaw-swinging slugger. Now, the Chicago Cubs fan admires the Bronx Bomber whose mammoth blasts come from the opposite side of the plate – Aaron Judge.

Jeremy Mitchell’s unexpected baseball dream has launched an epic business as wonder-filled and awe-inspiring as watching either of those talented batsmen. On October 30, 2013, during the 7th inning stretch of Game 6 of the World Series, Mitchell Bat Co entered the world.

The inspiration behind his dream occurred the previous summer. “I’d been working with fellow Nashville designers on a rebrand for Salemtown Board Co., a skateboard company with a hand-crafted approach that struck a chord with me. I’d been creating digital work for years, and watching them work with wood and paint got me thinking: What if I could design my own physical product?”

Jeremy quickly decided on baseball bats and started experimenting with a variety of stripes and colors sketching designs in a notebook. He posted his designs on Instagram, and received enthusiastic response and great excitement from his followers.

“I launched Mitchell Bat Co. during Game 6, and what happened next was beyond anything I expected. Within days, I had orders from Nashville, Boston, New York, Oakland and even internationally. Two weeks after I launched, ESPN reached out to include us in their Holiday Gift Guide. I was floored.

“From that initial spark in 2013 to today, Mitchell Bat Co. has been about passion and craftsmanship — creating a product that connects people with America’s favorite pastime.”

Jeremy has made bats for household names like Nike, Jack Daniel’s, the Boston Red Sox, and New Era. He currently has licensing for 20 collegiate teams including Vanderbilt, Tennessee, and Ole Miss. He’s made so many custom bats for businesses and brands he’s lost count.

His favorite bat is one he made for himself for his 40th birthday, “a Jordan 3 Elephant Print bat with a faux Tinker Hatfield signature big on the barrel. That bat is available on my site and it’s priced according to the difficult level of the paint job. 

Jeremy has lots of dreams for Mitchell Bat Co.

“I have a dream that every single man cave in the world has a Mitchell bat hanging in it. I have a dream that one day my kids can work at Mitchell Bat Co part-time and then full-time, if they want to. I have a dream that I will never fully retire from working but paint bats and work on ideas for Mitchell Bat Co until I’m very old. I think this would be a pretty sweet job for me in my golden years.”

Chasing dreams is a courageous, frustrating, and challenging work. “It’s hard to be patient,” Jeremy said. “It’s hard to earn a living and also experiment too much or take risks that could be catastrophic. Time is money and you have to use your time wisely.

“The first 10 years of running Mitchell Bat Co I had a full-time job as a creative director leading creative teams. I still take on client work, but Mitchell Bat Co is the main thing for now. Most people thought it was my full-time job this whole time. But the truth is, I had two full-time jobs. So, I guess in some ways it was my full-time job. It was my 5pm-9am job.”

Aaron Judge once said, “You define great players as guys that are out there grinding, battling every day with their team.”

This is a quote that, I think, resonates with the amazing work Jeremy does through Mitchell Bat Co. as he brings joy and wonder through his art, figuring out what’s next, and turning dreams into reality with every billet turned into a bat.

To learn more, visit www.mitchellbatco.com or find Jeremy on Facebook or Instagram