Wood Bats

[SAump]

"Lighter and thinner equal higher and farther."

Harder and FASTER equal higher and farther, too.

[SAump]

I was merely expressing my opinion of the new hardwood bats that are being marketed out of Canada. Bats are rated by the number of wood grains along the barrel. The tree rings grow farther apart with age. Less than nine grains is optimum for Pro-ball and is usually found only in a more mature tree. One must be more selective prior to buying just any new bat.

Many older MLB players were also taught to "bone" their bats along the sweetspot of the barrel. Most want to trim the round circular part into an oval shape along the grain of the bat. The flatter oval surface is not detected along the sweetspot where the grain is supposed to compress into a nice {fatter} hitting surface. It is beleived that this treatement also extends the lifetime of a bat.

I can say that all those parents who are looking to replace a broken bat may look at the wood grain first and try the BONE on it. Now whether this is all player superstition or simple myth is another matter.

[smac1231]

I work in a JUCO conference that requires wood bats. Games are faster, more ground outs, pitchers aren't afraid to come inside. When a kid gets jammed, it's a broken-bat-out instead of a bloop single over the first baseman's head. When we check bats and hats before games, I'm seeing a lot of composite bats, to cut down the cost of replacement. There is nothing on this Earth like the smell of burning wood and leather on a foul tip when I'm behind the dish.

[hardball3b]

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