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A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although historically bats approaching or 48 oz were used, modern bats of are common, topping out at .
The "bat drop" of a bat is its weight, in ounces, minus its length, in inches. For example, a 30-ounce, 33-inch-long bat has a bat drop of minus 3 (30 − 33 = −3). Larger bat drops help to increase swing speed, due to less mass per unit length; smaller drops create more power, due to greater momentum to transfer to the ball.
Manufacturers position each bat's label over the mechanically weaker side of the wood. To reduce chance of fracture, and maybe deliver more energy to the ball, a bat is intended to be held so the label faces sky or ground when it strikes the ball during a horizontal swing. In this orientation, the bat is considered stiffer and less likely to break.
Different types of wood will fracture differently. For bats made of Fraxinus, labels will generally be where the grain spacing is widest. For maple bats they will usually be positioned where grain is tightest.
Maple bats in particular were once known (circa 2008) to potentially shatter in a way that resulted in many sharp edges, sometimes creating more dangerous projectiles when Maple bat manufacture evolved significantly, in cooperation with Major League Baseball, paying special attention to grain slope, and including an ink spot test to confirm safest wood grain orientation.
Based on consistent anecdotal reports of sales at sporting goods stores, and because of the Emerald ash borer epidemic, maple appears to be displacing ash as most popular new baseball bat material in the United States. Next and rising in popularity is bamboo, which has more isotropic fine grain, great strength, and less weight for a bat of any given size.
Within league standards there is ample latitude for individual variation, many batters settling on their own bat profile, or one used by a successful batter. Formerly, bats were hand-turned from a template with precise calibration points but more recently they are machine-turned to a fixed metal template. Historically significant templates may be kept in a bat manufacturers' vault; for example, Babe Ruth's template, which became popular among major-league players, is R43 in the Louisville Slugger archives. Ruth favored a thinner handle than was the norm in the 1920s, and his success caused most to follow. Ruth used an unusually large bat, which he reduced in size incrementally during his career. In 1920 he was using a 40-inch, 54-ounce bat, made of ash, with a slender handle."Playing The Game, My Early Years in Baseball." Babe Ruth, 1920, United News, syndicated in numerous newspapers including the Atlanta Constitution. Republished 2011 Dover Publications, Mineola, NY. p. 29 in this book. In 1928 he wrote, "A few seasons ago I used a 54 ounce bat, long and with the weight well at the end. Now I'm using a 46 ounce club--and each season when I have a new set of bats made, I have an addition ounce taken off.""Babe Ruth's Own Book Of Baseball," George Herman Ruth, 1928, G.P. Putnam's Sons, NY. p. 171.
Once the basic bat has been turned, it has the manufacturer's name, the serial number, and often the signature of the player endorsing it branded into it opposite the wood's best side. Honus Wagner was the first player to endorse and sign a bat. Next, most bats are given a rounded head, but some 30% of players prefer a "cup-balanced" head, in which a cup-shaped recess is made in the head, introduced to the major leagues in the early 1970s by José Cardenal; this lightens the bat and moves its center of gravity toward the handle. Finally, the bat is stained in one of several standard colors, including natural, red, black, and two-tone blue and white.
Bats are not allowed to be hollowed or corked bat—that is, filled with an alien substance such as cork which reduces the weight. This corking is thought to increase bat speed without greatly reducing hitting power, though this idea was challenged as unlikely on the Discovery Channel series MythBusters. Mythbusters, season 5 (Corked Bat)
Both wooden and metal alloy (generally aluminum) bats are generally permitted in amateur baseball. Metal alloy bats are generally regarded as being capable of hitting a ball faster and farther with the same power. However, increasing numbers of "wooden bat leagues" have emerged in recent years, reflecting a trend back to wood over safety concerns and, in the case of collegiate summer baseball wood-bat leagues, to better prepare players for the professional leagues that require wood bats. Metal alloy bats can send a ball towards an unprotected pitcher's head up to away at a velocity far too high for the pitcher to get out of the way in time. Some amateur baseball organizations enforce bat manufacturing and testing standards which attempt to limit maximum ball speed for wood and non-wood bats. "Bat-testing regulations modified" "Baseball Rules Committee Focuses on Clarification of Bat Standards and Sportsmanship During Pre-Game Practice"
In high school baseball in the United States:
In some 12-year-old-and-under youth leagues (such as Little League baseball), the bat may not be more than in diameter. 2007 Regulation & Rule Changes However, in many other leagues (like PONY League Baseball, and Cal Ripken League Baseball), the bat may not be more than in diameter.
There are limitations to how much and where a baseball player may apply pine tar to a baseball bat. According to Rule 1.10(c) of the Major League Baseball Rulebook, it is not allowed more than 18 inches up from the bottom handle. An infamous example of the rule in execution is the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983. Rules 1.10 and 6.06 were later changed to reflect the intent of Major League Baseball, as exemplified by the league president's ruling. Rule 1.10 now only requires that the bat be removed from the game if discovered after being used in a game; it no longer necessitates any change to the results of any play which may have taken place.
Rule 6.06 refers only to bats that are "altered or tampered with in such a way to improve the distance factor or cause an unusual reaction on the baseball. This includes, bats that are filled, flat-surfaced, nailed, hollowed, grooved or covered with a substance such as paraffin, wax, etc." It no longer makes any mention of an "illegally batted ball". In 2001, MLB approved the use of Gorilla Gold Grip Enhancer in major and minor league games as an alternative to pine tar.
Many players "bone" their bats, meaning that before games, they rub their bats repeatedly with a hard object, believing this closes the pores on the wood and hardens the bat. Animal bones are a popular boning material, but rolling pins, soda bottles and the edge of a porcelain sink have also been used. Pete Rose had his own way of hardening his bats: he soaked them in a tub of motor oil in his basement then hung them up to dry.
Fungo bats are longer and lighter than regulation bats, with a smaller diameter. Typical fungo bats are long and weigh . Longer bats are preferred for outfield practice and shorter bats for infield practice. The reduced weight allows a coach to hit many balls without tiring. It also lets them swing the bat one-handed, as they often throw the "pitches" to themselves with their free hand.
Baseball bats have also been used as weapons in various forms of entertainment. As a professional wrestler, Mick Foley sometimes brandished a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, which he named "Barbie". Other pro wrestlers have used baseball bats as weapons, and wrestling video games sometimes include bats as special weapons.
Bats are common weapons in fiction as well. Negan, a character on the TV show The Walking Dead carried a barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat named "Lucille", which Jeffrey Dean Morgan has compared to Mick Foley's "Barbie". Harley Quinn, as a member of the Suicide Squad, carries a baseball bat.
Environmental threat to ash wood
The emerald ash borer, an exotic beetle imported accidentally from Asia, has killed more than 50 million white ash trees in the eastern United States and in 2017 threatened groves in New York's Adirondack Mountains that are used to make baseball
Regulations
In the American major leagues, Rule 1.10(a) states:
The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.
Care and maintenance
Players can be very particular about their bats. Ted Williams cleaned his bats with alcohol every night and periodically took them to the post office to weigh them. "Bats pick up condensation and dirt lying around on the ground," he wrote, "They can gain an ounce or more in a surprisingly short time." Ichiro Suzuki also took great care that his bats did not accumulate moisture and thus gain weight: he stored his bats in humidors, one in the club house and another, a portable one, for the road. Rod Carew fought moisture by storing his bats in a box full of sawdust in the warmest part of his house. "The sawdust acts as a buffer between the bats and the environment," he explained, "absorbing any moisture before it can seep into the wood."Baseball Explained by Phillip Mahony, McFarland Books, 2014. See www.baseballexplained.com
Fungo bat
A fungo bat is a specially designed bat used by baseball and softball coaches in practice. It is a light bat swung by a coach, used to hit balls to players who are practice fielding these hits. The etymology of the word () is uncertain, but the Oxford English Dictionary suggests it is derived from the Scots language fung: "to pitch, toss, or fling". Oxford English Dictionary entry for "Fungo", http://www.oed.com/
As a weapon
Baseball bats are sometimes used as weapons by civilians, criminals, protesters, and mobsters. Baseball bats are effective weapons because they are inexpensive compared to other weapons, and, unlike many other weapons, they can be carried without raising suspicion or violating laws, due to their primary purpose as sports equipment.
See also
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