Mike M.

Mike M. is the hands-on owner behind Iron Mako Media, the publisher of Bat & Bucket. He writes the site's guides the way he'd want them written for his own family: which certification stamp the league actually requires, what size fits which age, and which pick you can buy without second-guessing it.

How Mike chooses the gear on this site

Every page on Bat & Bucket is built the same way. Mike reads the governing body's rule (Little League's bat rules and division ages, USA Baseball's bat FAQ, NOCSAE's helmet standard) and quotes it; reads the maker's product page for the certification stamp, the sizes, the construction and the warranty, and quotes that too; reads the maker's or a named retailer's sizing chart for the age band; and scores each pick on the public rubric at the methodology page. The payoff for a parent is that every figure on the site links to where it came from, with the date it was read, so the stamp, the size and the spec can all be checked before the thing goes in the cart.

What every page he writes gives you

• The certification your league actually requires, quoted from the governing body with the link.
• The size that fits your kid, from the maker's own age, height and hand chart.
• One clear top pick per age band, budget and position, with a short “why we picked it” naming what it does well.
• Today's price on the buy button, straight from Amazon's own data feed, dated.
• Rankings set by the published rubric. Commissions never set a score or decide a pick.
• Named sources on anything health-related: NOCSAE on standards, pediatric sources on heel pain.

Contact

Questions, corrections and rule changes go to contact@batandbucket.com or the contact form. Mike reads every message. More about the publisher is at Iron Mako Media.