36th Annual Sports Emmy(R) Awards put No. Easton's Picture Catcher Bat in full swing

(No. Easton, MA) – When the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) gathered in New York for the 36th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards on May 5, No. Easton, Massachusetts, resident Michael Hagerty was a big winner. That’s because Hagerty’s new baseball-themed picture holder, the Picture Catcher Bat® (PCB), was among just 30 items in the “swag bags” given to 900 influential attendees, including top athletes, sports journalists, television personalities, and technical and creative teams.

For Hagerty, who started the business after retiring from more than three decades at State Street Bank, the offer to showcase his American-made product at the Sports Emmy® Awards seemed too good to be true. “To be honest, I thought the email from the Emmy producer for the swag bags was spam,” he recalls with a half smile. “I wondered why they’d be asking me. I’m just a little guy.” After a further exchange of emails and a conference call proved the producer’s interest was real, Hagerty scrambled to manufacture and customize 12 cases of PCBs for the awards ceremony, which was less than a month away.

Getting the work done required a mad dash around the bases for the start-up accustomed to producing lots of 100 – 500 bats at a time, but a team of local businesses helped Hagerty cross home plate. “Valerie Cook, president of Effie Noren Graphics in Stoughton, hit it out of the park by designing a custom postcard with our logo and the words, “Picture Catcher Bat® salutes the 36th Annual Sports Emmy Awards,” on it,” Hagerty describes. Priority Printing in Canton printed the cards in less than a week. Maine Wood Concepts, a custom manufacturer of wooden components and products, produced 900 of the 6 1/8” tall, 4.3 oz., picture holders in record time.

Great for many uses

As American as apple pie and baseball, Hagerty’s PCB giveaways were made of fine grain maple and topped with the commemorative 4”x6” Sports Emmy Award® postcard designed by Cook. When they’re not starring at the Emmy’s, PCB’s versatile, patented picture holders can also be personalized and used to display sports memorabilia, photographs, baseball cards, concert tickets, holiday cards, baby announcements, even recipes. Barnstable Bat in Hyannis handles the laser cutting and personalization. The uses for PCB continue to grow as Hagerty fields orders from Little League coaches, minor league baseball teams, and corporate and private event planners. “The possibilities are endless,” he marvels.

Next up on the schedule is the College World Series (CWS) in June, where Hagerty will be on hand to pitch the Picture Catcher Bat® in the Omaha Baseball Village. In July, he is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first ball in a Cape Cod Baseball League face-off between the Harwich Mariners and Chatham Anglers.

For a man who planned to step back and catch his breath in retirement, the groundswell of interest in PCB has proved an unexpected surprise. “I produced 30 Picture Catcher Bats® to be used as VIP passes at the Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert and baseball celebration in January,” he describes. “Now I’ll be able to say they were at the Sports Emmy® Awards and the College World Series. That’s a pretty big leap.”

ABOUT THE PICTURE CATCHER BAT®

Crafted from high quality maple wood in Massachusetts and Maine, the American-made Picture Catcher Bat® (US patent D695,028) is an attractive baseball-themed holder for cherished photographs and other memorabilia. Priced at just $14.95, the Picture Catcher Bat® makes a hit at work, home and play by drawing attention to the items you love to display. Learn more online at www.picturecatcherbat.com.

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