Rawlings

By Alexis
Last Updated on

​What is Rawlings?

Rawlings is a sporting goods company that offers a variety of sports equipment and accessories, although they’re best known in the world of baseball with that classic baseball Rawlings logo, in the past (and a few of these until now), Rawlings has offered equipment and gear for:

  • Football
  • Golf
  • Polo
  • Tennis
  • Shooting
  • Fishing Tackle
  • Other athletic goods

You’ve probably heard of the “Gold Glove” award, this has actually been introduced to the baseball world by Rawlings! They also sponsor the Minor League Baseball, as well as the Rawlings Executive Woman of the Year. So if you’re into baseball or softball and you’re interested in seeing what Rawlings is all about, you’ve come to the right place! You’ll get an inside look at what they’ve been up to and what kind of products they have available!

Rawlings 1

Rawlings History

Two brothers, namely George and Alfred Rawlings, set up this sporting goods company in St. Louis, 1887. In 1906, they started providing baseball gloves for the St. Louis Cardinals, one of the players Bill Doak patented his design in which he added the webs of the glove, and sold it to Rawlings- this design is now what you see in baseball gloves, and Rawlings is the top choice brand for baseball gloves in Major League Baseball.

Spalding bought Rawlings in 1955 for making baseballs but in 1968, it was released due to an investigation for anti-trust, but both built an agreement to manufacture baseballs for Spalding with the Spalding logo since they had also come up with their own Rawlings logo.

Apart from webbed gloves, Rawlings also introduced the all-weather football, as well as football shoulder pads, which just goes to show just how much Rawlings has been a part of the evolution of the American Sports industry!

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Rawlings Bats Technology

Rawlings is great when it comes to discovering and optimizing the best kind of technology you could find in baseball metal bats. Through decades of research, they’ve been able to create and recreate different features that bring their already awesome metal bats to an all-time quality high with features that improve a bat’s weight, swing, contact with the ball, durability, negative vibration dampening, and much more. Let’s take a closer look at their most popular technologic features they offer on their metal bats!

Tru-View

This technology by Rawlings is more of a design feature that allows you to see the true composition of the bat on the inside, hence the term “Tru-View”. It’s a long strip that runs from the top the bottom of the bat and shows you the changes of material within that features composition for performance in the barrel to the connection. To get a glimpse of the Tru-View feature.

Vibration Dampening Technology (VDT)

Do you know that sting most metal bats give you? That’s negative vibrational feedback from energy accumulated when the bat comes in contact with the ball, bouncing around inside and causing a sort of “shock” which doesn’t just sting but can cause hand injuries whenever your hands are the ones absorbing all that energy. Another problem with negative vibrational feedback is that the vibration tends to keep the bat stuck to your thumb, which can also cause injuries because you have less control of letting go of the bat completely, but it can also slow you down because running to a base means every half second counts.

Luckily, Rawlings has come up with the Vibration Dampening Technology, or VDT, which you can find as the collar of the handle, made of a silicon infused material that absorbs most of the extra shock that isn’t used to flick the ball further, keeping you and anyone around you safe and earning you that extra second on the run!

rawlings quatro pro bbcor
Courtesy of Rawlings.com

Precision Lasered pOp and pOp 2.0

POP stands for Precision Optimized Performance. The pOp feature basically takes away the weight from the bat without decreasing barrel size by using different variable layers within the core of the bat, keeping it a super light baseball bat for a metal. The pOp 2.0, the updated version, goes a little extra by removing much more volume from the barrel core through the creation of a long groove inside the barrel. Fear not about the durability of the bat because although the reduced weight is a huge difference, it doesn’t affect the strength and durability whatsoever!

Ultra-Responsive Big Barrel

The Rawlings Ultra Responsive Big Barrel feature basically means that the bat that holds this feature has a large sweet spot, and a great weight distribution that allows better contact upon hitting the ball, since this feature is usually on bigger barrels, you can expect that the largeness of the barrel doesn’t affect the performance as Rawlings has definitely put thought into this, giving you a great balance and an awesome feel when hitting the ball!

Consistent – Composite – Compaction (3C)

The Rawlings 3C technology pretty much boasts of durability when it comes to the bats with this tech feature. In bat reviews, the bats that feature the Rawlings 3C usually have great comments about the bat to ball contact and mostly compliment on how incredibly affecting the compaction makes the ball just absolutely fly off of the bat with such great power and speed, yet there is no compromising the control you have over the bat itself.

It brags a consistent hit with a consistent build of extra durable composite material and impact is strong because of how compact everything within the bat is. Compact, yes, but it’s still lightweight!

Silver Comp-Lite End Cap

Now here’s a feature that bat reviews have just been going on and on about the Rawlings Silver Comp-Lite End Cap which is a fiber reinforced composite end cap. The end cap is basically the top “cover” or cap of the bat’s barrel. Rawlings has come up with this Silver Comp-Lite End Cap to lessen the weight of bat which is quite important when it comes to picking a bat with a good end cap because this typically lowers what the baseball players refer to as the “MOI” count, which is the measure of the Moment of Inertia, a basic physics explanation that greatly affects the performance of a batter.

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Rawlings Top Series

Now that you’re familiar with some of the most sought after Rawlings technologic features, let’s take a look at their top series bats. These series may include wooden bats which obviously don’t need the special technology, but most of these first few series mentioned are Rawlings metal bats.

So go ahead and take a look at some of the popular products from Rawlings and see what options they have available for each product, read carefully and choose wisely if you’re planning to grab a Rawlings bat for yourself!

Rawlings Quatro Series

The Quatro series is best for those who prefer a longer bat, it features an awesome flex system within the design of the handle and barrel hinge which helps you follow through hitting the ball with incredible speed. Some of the new technical features you’ll find in this Quatro series is the Tru-View that shows the inner carbon fiber composite, and the vibration dampening technology collar on the upper part of the handle/neck of the bat connecting to the barrel. You’ll know you’re dealing with a Rawlings Quatro bat when you see its signature neon yellow design!

Quatro Series Bats

Type

Drop

Sizes (in)

Barrel

Material

Game

Barrel

Handle

2018 College/Highschool

-3

31, 32, 33, 34

Technique

Balance

Traditional

Traditional

Medium

College/Highschool

-3

31, 32, 33, 34

Technique

Balance

Traditional

Traditional

Medium

2018 USSSA

-10

28, 29, 30, 31

Technique

Balance

Traditional

2.25″

Medium

2018 Coach/Machine  Youth

-4

28, 29, 30, 31

Technique

Balance

Traditional

2.25″

Medium

College/Highschool Softball

-3

34, 35, 36

Power

Balance

Traditional

Large

Medium

Senior League

0

Standard on Deck

Speed

EndLoad

Custom

Custom

Custom

2018 USA Baseball

-3

25, 26, 27, 28

Accuracy

Balance

Traditional

Traditional

Medium

  • Bat Grip: 0.5mm, 1.00 mm, 1.75mm
  • Knob: Standard, Smart Ready
  • Bat Length: 31″, 31.5″, 32″, 32.5″, 33″, 33.5″, 34″, 34.5″
  • Weight (drop): -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2
  • Wood Type: Maple, Ash

Models

Sizes

Weight (drop)

Our Rating

BBCOR

34″

-3

Junior Big Barrel

25″, 26″

-10

Senior League 

30″, 31″

-5

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AUTHOR
Alexis
Alexis has been playing baseball since he was around 10. He is a 2020 high school graduate that currently trying to achieve his dream of becoming a professional baseball player.