Play ball: Fallen Governor’s Mansion tree turned into baseball bats

When Hurricane Idalia hit in 2023, the storm took out an oak tree at the Governor’s Mansion.

But the First Family is trying to put a positive spin on the experience, with Gov. Ron DeSantis revealing that the wood from the fallen tree was repurposed, like in “The Natural.”

“When the tree gets struck by lightning, he makes the bat Wonderboy. And I was like, ‘Well, there’s a lot of wood, so why don’t we do (it)?’ So we’ve actually got bats,” DeSantis said.

He added that some of the fabrication is “in the process, but it is going to be a commemorative bat, Hurricane Idalia.”

“It’s going to have all the stuff, and we’re going to … hopefully have those pretty soon,” the Governor said during a podcast conversation with Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, who may be the appointed replacement for now-U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis in the role of Chief Financial Officer later this year.

The bats won’t be used to actually play the game, DeSantis added, given that the wood isn’t the best for baseball bats.

DeSantis said in 2023 that the tree falling would create “more room” for the kids to “hit baseballs in,” and indeed, there is more recreational space now.

“That created this big playing field for us now in the front yard. So sometimes we do parents versus kids baseball, so it’s Casey and me versus the three kids,” he said. “Yesterday we did me and Madison versus Mason and the First Lady. And so we have this ability, we can do football, we can do other things there.”