U.S. Senator Dick Durbin holds one of Buddy Herberg's Firehouse Bats that Herberg makes in the backyard of his parents' Jefferson Park home. Durbin, a big fan of wooden bats, visited Herberg on Monday morning. View Full Caption Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin

CHICAGO — Buddy Herberg hasn't made one of his Firehouse Bats for a Major League Baseball player yet, but he crafted one for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin on Monday morning.

The senator visited Herberg's Jefferson Park home — Herberg creates the bats in a small shed in the back yard — for about 25 minutes Monday and received a custom "Dick Durbin U.S. Senator" bat at the conclusion, according to Durbin's Illinois Communications Director, Christina Angarola.

Justin Breen discusses Herberg's bat company:

"It's pretty big," Herberg said Monday afternoon. "It's really neat to have a bat that's possibly going to be hanging in his office. Probably the most notable figure I've made a bat for."

Durbin is a longtime defender of wooden bats. One of the senator's most known speeches, a rant proclaiming the sacredness of wooden bats, was delivered on July 26, 1989, and included: "if we forsake the great Americana of broken-bat singles and pine tar, we certainly will have lost our way as a nation.”

“When I read about the work Mr. Herberg was doing, I knew I wanted to see this operation in person,” Durbin said in an email. “Back in the late 1980s, when there was talk Major League Baseball might consider replacing wooden bats with aluminum bats, I gave one of my most well-known floor speeches defending the sanctity of wooden baseball bats. I’m happy to see a young entrepreneur share my love of America’s pastime and succeed in a field he’s passionate about.”

Herberg said he made Durbin's bat on Saturday.

"It was awesome meeting him," Herberg said. "I was so nervous [Sunday]. The anticipation was killing me."

Herberg, who played catcher at Whitney Young and earned a scholarship to Cardinal Stritch University, said his Firehouse Bats company is a perfect blend of his athletic and craftsmanship genetics. His great-grandfather, also Russell, was a woodworker, and Herberg constructed the shed with his father, again Russell — a Chicago firefighter — and uncle.

Herberg, 25, started making bats as a teenager after finding a lathe — which spins the wood as Herberg shapes the bat — in the basement of his father's firehouse. He never intended to make a business out of the hobby, but through contacts with summer league and other baseball organizations, Herberg developed a small clientele. He's still hoping to one day start making the bats for Major League players.

The bats are made from either ash, maple, birch or hickory and sell for between $35 and $45. The bats, which usually take about 40 minutes to create, average 30 ounces and 33 inches in length.

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