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This Don Mattingly, Franklin Sports
Industries, Teeball baseball bat was the center of a
lawsuit filed by the Hillerich &
Bradsby Co. in 1989. Franklin produced
a Don Mattingly endorsed Batting Tee
set in 1987, that did not include a
bat. Sold separately, both a little League and Teeball bat
was made that carried a Don Mattingly
autograph. In 1989, Hillerich & Bradsby Co. sued Don
Mattingly, claiming he violated his
contract to endorse bats. Hillerich &
Bradsby, Manufacture of Louisville
Slugger baseball bats, charged that
Mattingly violated a contract he had
signed in 1980 as a 19 year old minor
league player with the Greensboro
Hornets.
H&B signs such contracts with many minor League players, supplying them
with custom made bats with the
intention of using the endorsements of
the few, such as Mattingly, that become
stars in the Big Leagues. Under the
1980 contract, Mattingly gave exclusive
rights to the use of his name,
autograph, nickname, initials, picture
and sketch to Hillerich & Bradsby for
the promotion of any Louisville Slugger
bat or any other bat the company makes.
In a letter submitted to the court Mattingly stated that the agreement was
"Unconscionable and unenforceable" and
that because H&B failed to pay him
royalties he threatened to take the
company to court if they did not stop
trying to interfere with his contract
with Franklin. A lawyer for Hillerich &
Bradsby pointed out that according to
the contract, the company does not pay
royalties, but pays a license fee when
the contract is signed.
Hillerich & Bradsby was asking the court to declare the contract with
Mattingly valid and to assess damages
against Franklin for using Mattingly's
endorsement even though it knew of his
contract with H&B. In May of 1990 H&B
dropped damage claims against Don
Mattingly, but expanded its lawsuit
against Franklin. The amended lawsuit
alleged that Franklin engaged in unfair
competition by inducing Mattingly and
KC Royals outfielder Bo Jackson to
violate exclusive contracts with H&B
endorsed bats. The lawsuit was latter
settled out of court.
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