A bat with a full end has a slight taper where the billet is beveled off but the wood is left intact. A cupped end will have up to 1. A full end will offer greater centrifugal force as a hitter swings, but this will also make it more difficult to control. There are several types of wood that are used to make bats, and each has its own characteristics.
Hitters should try and find the species that best suits their own hitting style. Louisville Slugger makes 1. Even fewer will see live game action, since hitters set aside their lesser bats for practice only.
After Major Leaguers get their share, the best remaining bats are sent to minor leaguers, then advanced collegiate summer leagues, and so on. In a word, the grade comes down to the grain.
The process of choosing a wood bat was a lot easier when everyone used ash bats, because ash is known as a ring-porous species. This means there are porous wood cells in every year of growth — what we think of as the rings in a tree trunk.
The rings or grains are clearly visible in ash, which makes grading an ash bat a fairly straightforward process. First, a hitter should look for grains that are as absolutely straight as possible. Grains that are perfectly parallel to the center line are the strongest formation a wood bat can have, and the bat weakens exponentially the further from center the grains are.
The second element a hitter should look for is the spacing of the grains themselves. Here, wider is better. Since each ring represents a year of growth, wide spaces are years where the tree received a lot of water and nutrients to grow densely. The rings themselves are also where moisture accumulates within the wood — more rings or grains means more places for water to stay, which means heavier weight.
Most amateur bats have 20 or more grains in the barrel; a top-of-the-line major league bat will be under 10 grains. When it comes to other types of wood, grading the grains can be a little bit trickier. Maple and birch are known as diffuse-porous species, which means the pores are spread throughout the wood material instead of in clear lines as they are in ash. The pores of maple, in particular, are smaller and tightly packed together, which makes for a dense and strong wood that continues to compress, instead of flake, with usage.
Staring in , MLB required that all maple bat handles remain unfinished and that the manufacturer stain a small section of the handle so the grain itself became visible. Maple is an extremely hard and thick wood. What does that mean? Well, the harder the surface, the quicker the ball will bounce off the bat. This is one reason maple has turned out to be so well known as a go-to bat.
On the technical side, according to Hitting World, Maple is a closer grained wood than Ash. As hard Maple wood is, Ash is a flexible wood.
Doug Bernier , founder of Pro Baseball Insider. He has Major League time at every infield position, and has played every position on the field professionally except for catcher. You should click to watch this great defensive play by Bernier Where is he now? After 16 years of playing professionally, Doug retired and took a position as a Major League scout with the Colorado Rockies for 2 years.
There are many types of birch. Maybe more. Which birch is best for bats? From where? Also, since birch is generally a softer wood, can it be condensed through some form of pressurization either before or after the cutting process?
Ash bats flake of you hit on the label side. It is actually stronger than hitting on the growth rings. In other words when you hit with an ash bat with the label up you are hitting on the weakest part of the bat. Ash is so flexible that it can survive the violence of a hit. Maple, birch and beech are close grain wood unlike ash and do not flake like ash bats do.
Manufactures have turned the label on these three woods 90 degrees so that you are hitting on the flat of the bat stronger not on the growth rings weaker.
You will see more birch and beech bats coming into the market soon. The issue with maple is there are fewer cross fibers in the wood ash has many cross fibers causing the wood to fail along growth lines creating sharp projectiles.
Ash, birch and beech all have cross fibers that hold the bat together more when broken. Maple tends to shatter like glass where ash, birch and beech crack and hold together as one piece then broken.
Seguignol, according to Sam Holman, the maker of the now famous Sam Bat, was the first player to homer with a Maple bat. If you are continually or other wise breaking your bats, no matter what kind of wood they are you are most likely making contact with bad pitches, on or near the handle or the end of the barrel.
This is due to the hardness, durability, and overall performance of the wood. Bonus baseball and tree-related content — why have I heard about pine tar and baseball? In baseball, pine tar which comes from the stumps and roots from pine trees is that brownish-black, tacky substance some players decide to put on the handle of their bats to help improve their grip and prevent the bat from flying out of their hands.
It also allows players to have a more relaxed grip, which can provide more pop on contact. Contact Information. Online Store. Get Updates.
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