Jake Mangum custom Pokémon bats for Players’ Weekend

LOS ANGELES — Like many kids growing up in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Jake Mangum collected Pokémon trading cards and played the popular Nintendo Game Boy video games.

But unlike the millions who played, watched, collected and otherwise engaged with the Japanese media empire that became a global phenomenon (this writer included), Mangum will take his fandom to a new level this weekend…