Louisville Slugger Torpedo Bat Makes TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (October 9, 2025) – TIME revealed its annual list of the Best Inventions, which features 300 extraordinary innovations changing our lives. The Louisville Slugger® TPD1™ Torpedo bat made the list under the Sports & Fitness Category.

To compile this year’s list, TIME solicited nominations from TIME editors and correspondents around the world and through an online application process. TIME then evaluated each contender on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.

“It’s an incredible honor for Louisville Slugger to be named to the TIME Best Inventions of 2025 list,” said Jake Misener, marketing manager for Louisville Slugger. “Louisville Slugger has been making history since our very first bat was made in 1884, and we continue to make history nearly 150 years later with yet another incredible advancement in bat design.”

The Louisville Slugger TPD1 torpedo-shaped bats first made their mark in the big leagues, but demand quickly filtered down to the minor leagues, adult amateur leagues and youth baseball.

Photo: Louisville Slugger Pro Prime Natural TPD1 Torpedo-Shaped Baseball Bat

“Every day when I walked into our bat factory during the 2025 baseball season, I saw hundreds of TPD1 torpedo bats in various stages of production,” said Rick Redman, PR chief of Louisville Slugger. “It took a team of highly experienced and dedicated staff working with professional baseball teams and players to develop and refine the Louisville Slugger torpedo-shaped bats that set baseball abuzz at every level this year. This recognition from TIME is a testament to their efforts.”

Louisville Slugger was founded in 1884 and is part of Wilson Sporting Goods.

Wilson is a long-time member of NSGA. John Hillerich and Frank Bradsby of Hillerich & Bradsby, which created the Louisville Slugger bats, and Chris Considine, Jim Baugh, L.B. Icely and Fred Bowman of Wilson are members of the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame.