What is a baseball bat made of? How long is it? How much does it weigh?
Baseball is a sport that relies on only two things: a ball and a bat. Today we take a look at the stats of the hitter’s weapon
The rules of baseball are pretty simple. One guy throws a ball and the other one tries to hit it with a stick.
There are a number of stick-and-ball games that have been and gone through the centuries, such as stool-ball, tipcat, Gilli Danda, and Knurr and Spell, but in most countries where this tradition persists, it is in one of two forms: baseball and cricket.
Top Trivia: the first person killed in the struggle for American independence from Britain was a free black man named Crispus Attucks. What was he doing that instigated his shooting by British soldiers? Allegedly “waving a tipcat bat in a menacing manner”.
In Major League Baseball, a bat must be wood, although in other leagues, non-wood materials are acceptable. The MLB rules are clear, stating, “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.”
While historically, bats weighed anything up to three pounds, modern bats are normally between 33 and 36 ounces. With the maximum length specified at “not more than 42 inches”, the minimum is unrestricted. Most batters will go for a 33 or 34 inch bat, some of the rangier hitters will opt to carry more lumber, in the 36 inch range.
While traditionally, bats were made from maple or hickory, modern bats are largely made from ash, although bamboo is becoming more popular with big league hitters.
Most manufacturers will place a stamp on the barrel of the bat, which is to mark the weakest side of the wood. Contrary to popular belief, this stamp should not face away from the mound, but rather should face either straight up or straight down at the point of contact.
Over the last decade, MLB has devoted much time and energy to studying wood strength and the science of how they shatter. This is one of the reasons cited in the rise in popularity of bamboo as a wood source, and who knows, perhaps one day we will see bats made of willow, as cricket bats are, in baseball.