Before I start with the baseball bat review, let’s begin with the name. Miken is a combination of the names of its two founders, Mike and Ken. I had always thought it was the name of a well known softball player. Miken was founded in 1997 as a manufacturer of composite golf club shafts and soon began manufacturing softball bats with its composite material. They expanded into baseball bats and continue to manufacture composite only bats.In 2004 Miken was purchased by K2 (the ski company) which also owns the Rawlings and Worth brands. So there’s no doubt Miken composite material is well integrated into Rawlings and Worth bats. I’m sure there are identical bats under each brand except for the name and color. Case in point, the Rawlings 5150 Comp and 5150 Hybrid have eerily similar designs to the Miken bats.

In 2010 Miken has decided to FREAK out as their entire 2010 line-up carries the Freak brand name.

Here’s what they offer:

Miken Composite Bats

• Freak Flex & Stiff: 100% composite, one-piece, multi-wall bat with a stiff or flex handle and intermediate swing weight. Miken, like Easton, is wise to offer their top bat in both a stiff and flex handle design. Unfortunately, this bat is priced too high in my opinion. The Adult -3 model retails for $379 putting it in the Stealth/Synergy Speed category which is a proven commodity. This bat should be priced as s second tier composite bat and so I’d take a pass on the Freak.

Miken Hybrid Bats Continue reading →