By Mark Gregory
Editorial Director
@Hear_The_Beard
mark@buglenewspapers.com
In 2012 Tim Kuncis lost his job at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Since then, the Lockport resident has searched for the perfect job and it looks like he may have hit a home run.
Kuncis started Barnwood Sports Design — a company in which he creates handmade wooden American flags and flags in the shape of home plate and marries pure Americana with the great American pastime.
The company not only allows Kuncis to be his own boss, it allows him to get back to using the art degree he earned from Northern Illinois University in 1996.
“I have a degree in art, but I haven’t done art since college,” Kuncis said. “I worked at the Board of Trade right out of college and I got let go in 2012 and I jumped around job to job and I worked a little bit with Jim Bartuch of Garden Architecture, that does amazing woodworking and that is kind of where I got into this and I learned a lot from him, but there is nothing like working for yourself.”
The idea first started when Kuncis saw other woodworkers making American Flags on Facebook and knew he could replicate, if not improve, what was being offered.
Basic American flags turned into Chicago flags as well as military and first responder-inspired designs as well as the company’s signature home plate design.
“The home plate thing has taken off,” he said. “It is totally customizable.”
The transition was easy for Kuncis who played baseball collegiately at South Suburban, TCU and Northern Illinois University, while taking time off for shoulder reconstruction.
While his injury may have solidified the fact that Kuncis would never be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame — his design got him in.
His home plate design is sold online through the Hall of Fame, is in store at the Louisville Slugger Museum and hangs behind former Boston Red Sox player Kevin Millar in his studio office on the MLB Network show Intentional Talk.
“I still pinch myself. I am in the Hall of Fame,” Kuncis said. “It helps to know people. You can have all the help in the world, but if they are not the highest quality, the Hall of Fame is not going to accept them.”
While at the 2018 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, NY, he had a booth set up that was visited by a couple of names well known by Chicago baseball fans.
“(White Sox Executive Vice President) Kenny Williams was out running and he walked by and stopped in his tracks, he was as nice as can be,” Kuncis said. “He liked my stuff. Paul Konerko also stopped by.”
“It is exciting meeting all the players,” he said. “I played college ball with guys that have made it to the big leagues and I have met some Hall of Famers and they are just regular guys.”
He has not only created items for baseball players, he also made items for Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan, who stopped by his garage shop, as well as the rock band Tesla.
Right now Kuncis is doing his business online through barnwoodsports.com and via social media.
“I really have to market it and a lot of it right now is word of mouth,” he said. “A lot of the business has been through Facebook and the good thing is, I get business from it. The bad part is, people can steal your ideas. There are about seven or eight people copying it right now. I have a patent pending on [the home plate design].”
As he waits for the patent to come through, Kuncis says what sets his work apart from the competition is the craftsmanship and durability of his product. His are easy to tell apart from the rest because of the unique brand he burns into the back of every piece.
“I am getting established pretty fast,” he said. “It has been surreal. My goal is to be in every major league park and I think it can happen — I am going to make it.”