High flier. (The Roving Eye).

SAMMY Sosa received a seven-game suspension when he was found to be using a corked bat during a June 3 game. For Westlake Village-based Tuffbat, the discovery was a home run.

The bat manufacturer, which counts dozens of major leaguers as users, received an onslaught of free publicity that has sent sales of its high-end bats soaring.

The firm said it sold $15,000 worth of its X Bats, the model used by Sosa, the day after the incident. The rush was due largely to publicity generated when the large black "X" emblazoned on the barrel could be seen on television and in newspapers.

Jack Kasarjian, a real estate developer and winery owner, founded the company in 1999 as a hobby. His plan was to make only top-of-the-line bats carved from the hard maple in a 600-acre forest he owns in upstate New York. The site is adjacent to a lumberyard, which makes the bats for him.

Allotting only $50,000 a year for advertising -- not enough for player endorsements -- Kasarjian relied on word of mouth to become a player in the equipment industry.

That effort was helped when he convinced his neighbors -- Mike Lieberthal, a catcher with the Phillies, and Matt Franco, a first baseman with the Braves -- to give the bats a try during spring training last year.

Kasarjian said that by the end of last season, 86 major leaguers were using his bats. He said 161 players now use the bats, which cost $60 each.

"With the kind of money they make, it certainly makes sense that baseball players would want to get the best equipment available," he said.

He expects to sell 25,000 to 30,000 bats this year, up from 8,000 last year.