Hello Justin, We'd be happy to help you honor your sister. My Company Sandlot Stiks makes the Pink game bats too, I'm sure any of the other bat companies here on Check swing would be happy to make them too. There are some good guys in the Wood Bat makers group. If you'd like give me a call. I'd like to talk to you about this.

Best Regards,

Chris Corso, Sandlot Stiks CEO
 

Hi Justin, Recently I posted on our FB site we would be holding a contest for a three pack of white ash bats to help spread the word about my company Sandlot Stiks. Occasionally in life we run across something with greater meaning and more sincere values. We all honor the loss of our loved ones in different ways and I have always had a love of baseball. I owe and shared that love to and with my father. I lost him in 1999, the same year my company finally got off the ground. He never saw the results of the hard work he and myself put into it for the 4 years prior to his death.

Without trying to take anything away from the memory of your sister, I would like the opportunity to share this dedication of life with you by donating the three bats to you instead of holding our contest. It would be a great honor to help with a most admirable cause.

Please accept our donation in my fathers name... Richard N. J. Corso Sr.

Please contact me so I may get your shipping address. Since we are in California I'd like to have them on the way Monday.

My deepest condolences to you and your family for your loss.

Best Regards,
Chris Corso, Sandlot Stiks

Justin,

Its my honor to help. Just let me know what size and models you'd like to have and what inscription you want engraved on each bat. My email is chris@sandlotstiks.com

Best regards,
Chris Corso Sandlot Stiks

Chris,  

I started this discussion because I knew that the Checkswing community is a close nit family of sorts and usually one person will reply to your request or have some kind of answer for you, so when I posted my question up I thought maybe one or two people might respond, but I never expected the kind of response I received with all the love and support of complete strangers. This has been a rather difficult time in my life and I always thought  my younger sister and I would grow old together and the idea that this will never be, makes me angry and extremely sad. Yet, by having this outpouring of love for and compassion for a complete stranger makes the pain a little easier to swallow. Then came along your company. I never expected your generous gift and like I stated before no words can explain how overwhelmed me, my best friend, and father are for your generosity. I will always hold your small company in such high regards and I promise you that you have a customer for life as well as a new spokesman for your bat company, I know you didn't do this for publicity or to get your name out there, but I think that people should know there are still people in this world that care for there fellow man even if they live on the other side of the country. I looked on your website and I think we all agreed on the 331 Model. We would need 2 - 32" and 1 - 33". I also saw in an earlier posting that you said you offer the pink color but I didn't see it on the web site so I'm not sure if you can do that but if you can and it doesn't inconvenience you we would like them pink. If not the white wash color is fine. I would like the engraving to say: "In Memory Of Amy Contursi (1976-2010) if that's possible. Also I was discussing it with my dad and we both agreed that if you wanted to that on the other side or in smaller type somewhere but something about your dad or his name, I think us playing for him as well as my sister is the least we could do for all that you've done for me and my family and I'm just not talking about your donation. Again thank you for this generosity and I know you father is looking down on you proud of you and your company and the man that you've become. If you have any further questions feel free to email my information is below.

With Sincere Thanks,
The Contursi Family

Also I have my own baseball website if you get a chance you should take a look and know that I will be including you company with high praise in my links section in the coming days.

BASEBALL SITE: http://www.justincontursi.com/baseball/bbcarhme.htm
 

Hi Justin,
Stay with me on this because it may take a while to share my experience with you.

I've been making bats now for 15 years. I've had clients from little leaguers to Barry Bonds. I've played professionally, coached professionally and had the opportunity to reach the elite levels of baseball in every aspect of my career. My father was and is still the reason for that. He was the driving force behind everything I did. He was there to give me a pat on the back when times were good and kick my butt when times were tough. Without his guidance and support I would never have made it to any of the levels I did. He helped me start Sandlot Stiks in 1996, even so much as came up with the name of the company. I owe as much as I can give to him.

While we are in business to make money there are always exceptions. My partner Jon Macalutas and I both both played professionally and have been given some amazing experiences in life. We both realize that sometimes its about what you can give back that counts the most. After 15 years of dealing with people asking for free bats without any intention of ever supporting our company in return, I have learned to tell when someone is being sincere. It was very clear in your words what your intentions were, to honor Amy.

Although I grew up catholic I'm not deeply religious but I have been taught good values by great parents. I do know the heartache you feel and it was apparent in your request. You didn't once mention a donation just a simple request to have a bat made in a special way to honor your sister.

As a business owner it is sometimes hard to look past the fact that people may perceive our actions in a way that might look like a way to get more business. One of the reasons I didn't want to tell you on the public string on Checkswing that I'd donate the bats is because people may feel I was doing it just for that reason. That's why I tried to keep it between you and I initially. However most of the guys know me by now and I have always tried to stand up for the good cause.

Your actions are the most honorable and sincere I have ever come across in all the years I've been in business and I am proud to say we could be a part of it. Having my fathers name attached is the one thing that really ties it all together for me. I've wanted to honor him in some fashion for years but didn't know how. So just know that while I know you will be playing for your sister, you are helping me honor my father at the same time. He was a great man as I'm sure Amy was a great women. I know you feel her life may have been cut short and I felt the same about my dad. I felt the same anger and emotions you have described to me here today, but the one thing I have learned over the years since he has passed is this...

What I shared with him while he was here can never be taken away. What I learned from him I will continue to learn from forever, and the love we shared for each other will always be what keeps him with me. I know in time you will understand what I mean.

I will do my best to make these bats something special and meaningful for us all. As you request, they will be Pink with the inscription you mentioned. I will make an inconspicuous inscription on the bat to honor my father without taking anything from your cause. I feel a deep condolence for you and your family and sincerely hope the pain you feel will soon be filled with great joy knowing how much good your sister Amy has brought not just to your life. She and you have provided an opportunity to help a complete stranger honor the memory of his father. I have 3 brothers, 2 sisters and a mother who will also be grateful to you your family and Amy for this opportunity. Again it is our honor to help you with this dedication to your sisters life.

Please keep us posted on how this works out for you. As I mentioned to Mark on my follow up post on facebook, I feel your day of honoring Amy will be magical. I don't know what will happen but something tells me it will turn out special.

If there is anything further we can do to help you honor Amy I'd be happy to help. Just let me know. I will have the bats out ASAP. When is the game? I want to make sure they are there in time.

Best Regards,

Chris Corso
Sandlot Stiks CEO
 

Thanks! Justin,

I want these bats to look really good, since the tribute game is really the 27th I'll work on some things today and I'll have them on the way tomorrow. These bats are for your sister Justin, the tribute to my father is the act of donating them to you. I'm going to simply stamp his initials on the bottom of the knob. You said it best...you may go 0-4 with four strikeouts, but it won't matter because the effort is for Amy. I still believe it will be a magical day.

I just want to shared two little stories with you before I go back to work.

My dad never saw me play in a professional game. I was always on the east coast or too far for them to travel. My career ended and he died a year later.

During that time we were putting the bat company together, so before we laid my dad to rest I dropped my first business card in his lapel pocket. Two days later orders started pouring in without solicitation. 9 years later 2008, I was a hitting coach for a minor league team. We got short on players due to injuries and I was activated as a player. Since we were close to where my mom lived I asked my brother to do whatever he could to get her to the game the next day because I was going to play. Turns out they made it up just in time for the start. It was my first professional game in 10 years. I ended up 2-5 with 3 RBI's and drove in the go ahead run in front of a packed house with my mom in attendance. My last hit of the season and my career was a homerun. You can't make up stuff like that because it comes from a different place.

I believe whatever you and your sister shared about baseball will appear in that game somehow. Just a feeling. Either way remember to hold the label up! We make great bats but they do break...LOL! Let me know when you get them so I know they arrived safely.

Best of Luck to you. I'll be pulling for you.

Regards,
Chris Corso
 

Hi! Justin,

Want to let you know the bats came out really great. We added our own touch to it. The pink is nice and soft the way it should be not hot pink like some.

Since we don't currently offer Pink Breast Cancer Awareness bats on the site we have decided to add them. We don't know how many we'll sell over the years but we'd like some of the whatever proceeds to go to a fund for Breast Cancer Research in your sisters name. Would you and your family be OK with this? If so maybe we could send the proceeds once a year to the hospital Amy was treated at or directly to Breast Cancer Awareness. Up to you and your family completely.

Get back to us when you have a chance to think it over. We may do a red bat in my fathers name for the American Heart Association.

You and Amy have inspired us...thank you!

Regards,
Chris Corso

P.S. Here is the tracking number for the bats shipped via UPS ground. I hope you like them. I think they turned out really nice.
 

Chris,

Knowing how you and your company have already surpassed all my expectations thus far I'll probably be blown away yet again. I know I keep saying it but thank you does not begin to express my gratitude for what you have done. I have had many great experience playing and being around the game of baseball, but I never thought that my most memorable moment would be the day I was contacted by you and your company and given such a compassionate gift, from such an amazing human being. You really have helped me in my grieving for my sister and making this tribute become something special as well as renew my faith in the kindness of us human beings. I never expected this outcome because not only did I get an awesome gift that will be a perfect way to honor her, but I've made a new friend and helped him honor his father in the process. I was blown away by your decision to continue making the pink bat and your generous idea of donating some of the proceeds to a cancer charity in my sisters name. My dad and me have been emotional two or three times this week due to your generosity and selflessness. I discussed it with my dad and he said that he would like the donation when the time comes to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Again we are stunned not only for your generosity and glad that CheckSwing brought us together and helped both of us deal with our grief in our own way, I truly think that meeting you will go down as one of the greatest baseball memories I will ever have.

Your New Friend,
Justin Contursi
 

Hi! Justin,

Sorry it took me a while to respond, we just switched servers and we haven't yet had the mail forward to our new accounts.

We are really happy to have helped you and your family in remembering Amy. This may sound Corny but I remember a line from "Field of Dreams" where Doc Graham says something to the likes of..."We don't recognize our most significant moments while they're happening." Well after many years I've begin to realize the reason I started this company was to help people realize their dreams by supplying them with the best equipment to do so. Your situation was the true meaning of supplying the best equipment for realizing a dream. We rarely get a chance to do anything like this and I wanted to make sure it was done right.

I'm nobody special believe me, just an average hard working baseball loving guy. So believe me when I say this if we ever do meet I will be the one meeting a real hero. There are some real good people left in the world, you just need to weed through sometimes to find them. Very glad we had this opportunity.

I was talking to my mother just yesterday about this whole thing. At 80 years old she has started to see life in a completely different respect, her memories and family are what keep her going when times are tough. She was so happy when she heard about this. She told me my father would have loved to have been a part of this. This whole event has started something new for us here and we will do our best to make it turn out well. We just made the prototypes for the Breast Cancer awareness bat and the Heart Disease awareness bat in honor of my father. We plan to have them on the website very shortly.

The timing of it all is very strange indeed. I just heard from a good friend that his fiancee has breast cancer and needs a double mastectomy. I guess they caught it in time but she is going through some tough chemotherapy right now. I suppose in a way what we are doing supports her too.

In our town we have a store that promotes products made here, I think it will be a perfect spot to start selling our Pink and Red Bats and have some of the proceeds go to the fund. We will also promote them at our local minor league games. I'll be trying to get some radio or TV airtime donated for the Dare to Wear Pink day this season. We may be able to sell Pink mini bats or even full size gamers there this year. That would certainly help with a donation for the fund.

If you have any ideas let us know. We'd be happy to see what we can do together. Thanks again Justin and let me know what you think of the bats when you get them.

I'll keep you posted on the progress with the Pink and Red bats.

Your new friend indeed,
Chris Corso

How do I put into words how amazed, thankful and overwhelmed I am about the bats, there beyond anything that I could've imagined, perfect color, like the added touch of the ribbon just awesome and can't wait until opening day next week to use it. I'm so excited and touched by your gift that I had to immediately take picture and share it with everyone. I included the image I created and feel free to use it on your site. I know you wanted no recognition for this but I think my sister would've wanted me to make sure you and your amazing company was recognized for your amazing work and gift. Your words from Field Of Dreams were touching and to this day I can not watch that movie without getting emotional from the first scenes and then sobbing by the end, so it really got to me. I'm glad that this connection has help both of our families deal with the loss of someone close to us. My family is amazed at your generosity and touching contribution to the memory of Amy. I've read all your letters to my dad and kept him abreast of this whole thing and we've both cried numerous times from your kind words and amazing actions. Opening night will be one to remember and you've inspired me in trying to make opening night a magical night. I worked it out with my coach and were going to have a moment of silence before the game and then I'm going to present the bat to my dad and have him throw out the first pitch (which will be a surprise because I don't think he will be able to do it if he knows ahead of time). I also invited my grandmother and other family members and friends to come and join us in remembering Amy. It will also be cool because Mark and I bat first and second in our order so we will be able to unveil your amazing bats to everyone right away. Again Chris i wish there was a different word to express how thankful its been to meet you and I hope that someday I can pay it forward in someway to you and your family or just someone else going through this horrible loss, but as I said before you have a customer and friend for life and I will let you know how opening night goes but if you ever need a graphic designer/web designer for anything don't hesitate and I know that your intentions were not for self promotion but it would be an honor and privilege to help your company in some small way. I will be in touch and have a wonderful Easter.

Your Friend,
Justin Contursi #23
 

Hi! Justin,

I have been pretty busy lately so I apologize for not getting in touch sooner. We have been getting some response and good ideas for raising money for the cancer research and heart awareness funds. As we begin to put this together we are seeing that there needs to be donation to the breast cancer research center too. I can't recall the name but I think its the Susan G Komen fund or something of that nature. What we are thinking of doing is this... bats sell for 69.95. From that $10 per bat goes to Amy Contursi memorial Sloan-Kettering fund and 10 goes to Susan G. Komen fund for breast cancer awareness. In addition, any red heart health awareness bat we sell, (and this is my decision solely here at sandlot stiks)...10 will go to the Richard Corso Sr. memorial American Heart Association fund and 10 will be donated to Amy's fund for Sloan-Kettering.

My father would have wanted it this way. It was you and your sister that gave the inspiration to this idea and I want to make sure we recognize that properly.

I told you I would respond to your last email but its taken me this long to figure out how to say Thank You and the best I can do is this...

I don't know why this whole thing has come together but I can honestly say it has been a life altering experience for me. People I have never met have been reaching out to us to by bats in memory of loved ones they have lost. That is an incredibly emotional thing for me and something that I simply cannot describe. We will continue to support the cause on our end, but for me the real treasure here is the way this has changed me for the better. You have no idea what this event has done for me and I want to thank you for sharing your emotions and experience, it has truly been an inspiration. You should be extremely proud of your actions. .

Again, thank you for the inspiration. Please keep in touch.

Best Regards,
Chris Corso

Hey Chris,

Thank for your email I haven't had a good cry in over a week and your words and generosity got me emotional yet again. Thank you for your kind words and your generous gift towards a fund in my sisters honor, as much as I've changed your live and inspired you, you've done the same for me and my family and if we can help you out in any way I will do all I can to help (and I know that you didn't do this to benefit in anyway, but that's just how touched I am not only for your gifts but your amazing words and newly formed friendship. Again thank you from the bottom of my heart and my family as well even though thank you doesn't even come close to a word to describe our gratitude. I have enclosed with this email three pictures the first two pictures are my dad's bat and the little modification that I did to it since he's not going to use it. I found at our local craft store this stuff that lacquers pictures onto different surfaces. I took the picture I made up of me and my sister that I made shaded it the color pink of the bat and using this stuff adhered it to the bat it looks really sharp if I do say so. I also gave Mark his bat this weekend and he loved the feel and can't wait to use it. I included a picture from our game this weekend with our other team that we play for, we didn't use the bats yet because were waiting for the first game with our other team(because it has more of connection with the whole ordeal with my sister) and hopefully again this wednesday were going to try and do the moment of silence and present my dad with his bat and have him throw out the first pitch. If you like what I did with my dad's bat I would be honored to do that for one of the bats for your dad. All I would need is you to send me some pictures of your dad playing baseball or with you and your family and I'lll try to put something together like my dads. Don't feel obligated or anything I just thought it's a way I can give back to you and your family and if not for you you could give it to your mom or brothers just a thought anyway Again thank you and I will be in touch as soon as we get to use the bats.

Your Friend,
Justin Contursi #23
 

Hey Justin,

The pictures look great! I like how you added the picture of you and Amy to the bat. Real sharp! Looks like you and Mark make up the lefty righty combo! What is the league you play in?

I was curious as to where Florida, New York was and it sounds like you're in Orange County. Pretty famous neck of the woods with the whole OCC and Paul Jr. Designs/ American Chopper thing. I really like Paul Jr. and his whole new adventure. Kind of reminds me of me!

I have thought many times of how we could get Discover Channel to incorporate a show around our business. The bat world is so crazy, you wouldn't believe what goes on here. It was especially crazy when we were dealing with Major League player and clubbies daily. I think it would be interesting but not sure how they could make enough substance out of it to have a long lasting show. Who knows.

At any rate I am glad everything is moving forward with our new line of Pink and Red bats and I wish you the best of luck tomorrow. Weather permitting it should be a great day!

Thanks again and let me know how things turn out.

Best Regards,
Chris Corso
 

Chris,

So I'm starting to think My sister is getting the last laugh because are game was cancelled for the second time due to the rain. I think we play next wednesday so hopefully the third time is the charm I'll keep you posted.

- Justin -
 

I'm trying to figure out where all your rain is coming from. It was 90 degrees here yesterday and it was so hot this morning I had to get out of bed because The sun shining through my window was giving me a sunburn! Well everything happens for a reason. When the timing is right you guys will play!

Keep Me Posted,
Chris