Something about Harrison Bader, the charismatic Twins outfielder, makes him impossible to miss. Whether it’s his colorful batting gloves and pads, his long dirty-blond hair or all-out play, there’s an aura around Bader that’s unmistakable.
Even in batting practice, your eyes drift to Bader, who joined the Twins as a free agent just before spring training. On a recent homestand, Bader leaned on the batting cage waiting his turn, decked out in distinctive color and style — a red sleeveless hoodie, bright gold and red batting gloves, with a teal compression sleeve on his right arm. On a steaming hot afternoon, he pulled the bottom of his pants legs above his knees, revealing black mid-calf socks.
No other Twin sported such an eye-catching collection of accessories. And most of Bader’s teammates think it’s cool.
“He’s got his own little flair,” said All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton, who plays alongside Bader in the outfield. “He’s one-of-a-kind when it comes to that type of stuff. But that’s what makes him him.”
As manager Rocco Baldelli put it, “I’ve never been around someone like Harrison Bader, and I say that in all the right, positive, inspiring ways. He’s one-of-a-kind. When he’s done playing, I don’t know what he’s going to end up doing, but it’s going to be something, and it’s going to be big.”
Bader and Bruce Bolt
Here’s something else different about Bader: Loyalty and individuality. Most players get their batting gloves, pads and shoes by contract from one of the major sporting goods companies — Nike, Franklin, Under Armour, Mizuno, etc. Not Bader. He goes with a small company out of Austin, Texas, Bruce Bolt, distinguished by its lightning bolt logo. Bader essentially put Bruce Bolt on the map, signing up as its first pro client in 2020.
“At the time, we were really nothing,” said Bear Mayer, who co-founded the company as a 16-year-old with his father, Gard, in 2017. “It was really just a project to have something to bond over with my dad. I’m very thankful for Harrison taking a chance on us.”
So how did Bader get hooked up with this little-known startup? That’s a story in itself.
A third-round pick by St. Louis in 2015 out of the University of Florida, by 2020 Bader was a fixture in center field for the Cardinals and a Gold Glove finalist. But he didn’t like his Nike batting gloves, which tore easily. “They obviously make great products, but specifically their batting gloves were giving me some trouble,” Bader said.
Bader grew up in Bronxville, N.Y., a village just north of New York City. Before college Bader played travel ball with the New York Grays, a Bronx-based outfit of mostly Latino players founded by David Owens, who also coached Bader at Horace Mann High School. A Bruce Bolt rep knew Owens and gave him some batting gloves for his Grays players to try in 2020. Owens knew Bader was looking for new gloves and passed along a pair of white Bruce Bolts, made with soft, durable Cabretta leather.
“I put them on. I loved them, loved the feel,” Bader said. “Then I set up some meetings to learn more about the company, the history.
“It was a dream deal for me. I was very young, just getting started. They had a really big presence with younger baseball players, high school going to college. Just from the standpoint of trying to map up the next five years, I was very excited for the potential the company had.”
So Bader canceled his Nike deal, which included shoes, to go with Bruce Bolt. Since Bruce Bolt doesn’t make shoes, Bader buys his own.
“Scrapping the entire deal early was something that my agents pushed me against,” he said. “It’s important to go for what you believe in, and I’ve believed in the company from Day One. Bruce Bolt gave me a lot of confidence, which ultimately reaffirmed my decision every single day.”
Struck by lightning
The company name is a nod to Mayer’s grandfather Bruce, who according to family lore was hit by lightning — twice — and survived. Now it claims more than 150 pro and amateur clients, with Bader, Fernando Tatis Jr. of San Diego, five other major leaguers and golfer Sergio Garcia leading its Signature Series line.
Bader quickly learned what set Bruce Bolt apart from other equipment providers: Clients collaborate with Mayer to design their gear. For Bader, that included batting gloves, elbow guards, shin guards, elbow sleeves and a sliding mitt.
“We’ve got to compete with some pretty big companies,” Mayer, now 23, said in a telephone interview from Austin. “They’re able to pay these guys some pretty big bucks to wear their gloves. Because we didn’t have the same capabilities of these companies, we had to work something that drew their attention away from what they were seeing, over here to us.”
Bader and Mayer settled on baby blue and red, mimicking the powder blue Cardinals uniforms from the 1970s and ‘80s the club brought back in 2019. His hands finally comfortable, Bader had his best offensive season as a Cardinal in 2021, hitting 16 homers with 50 RBI despite missing 58 games with injuries.
As Bader moved on from St. Louis to the Yankees in 2022, the Reds in 2023 and the Mets last year, he and Mayer experimented with different colors to match his new teams.
“I try to put two colors together that look good on TV and look good in person,” Bader said. “Beyond that, I do try to highlight certain aspects of the uniform.”
‘I just really love that color’
He couldn’t be too outrageous with the traditional Yankees, sticking with dark navy with a splash of teal in a Statue of Liberty theme. Given more freedom with the Mets, he chose a lavender inspired by the purple of the No. 7 Train, the elevated subway line that runs past Citi Field.
“That purple is kind of more of a plum, which is a bit too oversaturated for me, so I kind of wanted to do something that was a little softer, a little more pastel-ly,” Bader said. “In my own way, I was highlighting the 7 train with those lavender colors. I’m still using those this year because I just really love that color. I think it’s awesome with our uniforms.”
You’ll only see those a few weeks longer; Bader and Mayer say Twins-specific gear will drop next month. Bader said the design incorporates Twins red with the yellow of its City Connect uniforms. Mayer added it’s inspired by Greek mythology — specifically, the story of Prometheus defying Zeus and giving fire to the human race.
“He did what Harrison usually does,” Mayer said. “He goes with what’s speaking to him in the moment.”
That sets Bader apart as a player, too. A 2021 Gold Glove winner in center field, Bader shifted to left field with the Twins to accommodate the speedier Buxton, though he’s also filled in in center and right.
Bader has standout stats, too
In a season where virtually every Twin besides Buxton has struggled, Bader has been steady at the plate and in the field. He enters this weekend’s home series with Washington tied for third on the club in homers (12) and fourth in RBI (38). Earlier this month he hit four homers in four games, including a game-winner against Tampa Bay on July 4. In Wednesday’s 4-3 walk-off loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Bader drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth with an infield single, and just missed a diving catch in the ninth that would have ended the game.
Defensively, he’s 15th among all MLB players in runs saved with 11, 10 via range and positioning and one with his arm, per Sports Info Solutions. That’s by far the best of any Twin regardless of position. He’s saved eight runs strictly as a left fielder, third-best in the majors.
Per Statcast, Bader ranks in the 95th percentile of all major leaguers in fielding range. That means Buxton doesn’t have to chase as many balls in the left-centerfield gap.
“I like his game,” Buxton said. “I like the way he goes after balls, I like the way he plays the outfield. And he’s versatile. Any position you put him out there, he plays it at Gold Glove caliber. That’s something you don’t really see too much of. To be able to play with him is fun.”
Bader chuckled when asked if he tried to recruit any current or former teammates to Bruce Bolt. Most, he said, lack the nerve to get out of their equipment deals.
“I spoke to a couple of players around the league many times, that this was going to be big and they’d be great for the brand and this and that,” Bader said. “They declined. But they’ve actually circled back. I said, it’s out of my hands. The roster’s filling up. You should have listened to me earlier.”
