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Former minor league pitcher turns baseball bats into mugs
POLK COUNTY, Fla. – It's an idea carved from a lifetime in baseball.As a minor league pitcher, Randall Thompson wanted to break hitters' bats.Now, as a businessman, the Orlando native takes birch barrels and turns them into mugs.“I was coaching college baseball. I just saw a bunch of loose barrels sitting in the dugout and asked myself the question, ‘if I hollow this out can I drink from it,’” said Randall Thompson, founder, and president of Dugout Mugs in Winter Haven.The idea came to him back in 2014.He sketched a prototype, then eventually partnered with Kris Dehnert to help get the concept out of the batter's box."You know honestly I thought it was a little strange at first but he told me 'I get that a lot, so just take it out and walk