Detroit rock all-star Jack White and Detroit Tigers all-star second baseman Ian Kinsler (pictured center) have partnered with independent sporting goods company Warstic. The company boasts a full line of baseball and softball equipment including helmets and gloves, but wood and metal bats are the company's most high-profile items – especially since Kinsler used a Black Maple Warstic with gold embellishments when hit his first home run of the season.

But how did the head of Third Man Records get involved in the sports business? White (a noted Tigers fan) said in a statement that he was drawn to the "simplicty and harshness" of the bat designs. "Most baseball bats and equipment in the sports world do not impress me much, but I think that there is a lot of room to explore aesthetic ideas in just baseball alone that can bring beauty and purpose to the weapons that athletes use to accomplish their goals," he said. "This can be accomplished not only through form following function, but also to bring in outsider ideas into the zone of athletics steeped in history and sometimes bogged down by its own weight."

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Warstic was founded in 2011 by former minor league player Ben Jenkins and make bats out of American Ash, Maple and Birch woods. Kinsler is the first MLB player to represent the brand, but Warstic said he and White are "currently hand-selecting a team of pro players that truly embody the warrior spirit of the brand and its lifestyle."

White added, "I think we can make beautiful objects for not only professionals, but also young children just beginning to understand how important the tools of the trade are to their passion for competition."

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