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Gulf States Gumbo

How Louisiana continues to change the sports world

A handcrafted torpedo bat for New York Yankees first baseman, Paul Goldscmidt
Alana Schreiber
/
WWNO
A handcrafted torpedo bat for New York Yankees first baseman, Paul Goldscmidt

On this week's episode, we round the bases with a couple of sports stories, like a "torpedo bat" design giving baseball players newfound power.

But what is it about these bats that allows players to hit the ball so deep? WWNO's and WRKF’s Alana Schreiber visited Marucci Sports, a bat manufacturer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to find out.

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders says football should be open for everybody. That’s why the two-time Super Bowl champion says his youth football camp is inclusive to the queer community.

Our sports and culture reporter Joseph King talked to Saunders about how his allyship intersects with football.

This week’s Gulf States Gem: Hog Heaven in Laurel, Mississippi.

This episode is hosted and written by Joseph King. He's also our social producer. The podcast was produced by Stephan Bisaha, Orlando Flores Jr., Kat Stromquist and Ryan Vasquez. Nellie Beckett is our audience engagement producer. Our theme music is by DJ Supreme.

To get in touch with the team, email connect@gulfstatesnewsroom.org.

And support our local station partners by donating to WWNO, MPB, or WBHM.

READ MORE:

Baseball fans everywhere are talking about torpedo bats, the oddly-shaped bats giving hitters newfound strength. We visited one of the top bat manufacturers in the country to learn just how these bats are made.