Which Bat Is Better?
By: Stephen Hintz
Vocabulary To Know
- Pine tar: A sticky, sap-like substance that puts a different spin on the ball so it goes further.
- Trampoline effect: The effect of a ball hitting the bat. The energy from the bat goes to the ball and acts as a spring making it go further.
- Composite: An aluminum like material but built to have more of a trampoline effect.
Types Of Bats
Metal:
- Aluminum (Good spring effect but can be dangerous)
- Composite (Like aluminum but even more spring effect)
Wooden:
- White ash (Good for contact and very light. Most common bat.)
- Maple (Very heavy but very powerful)
- Bamboo (Not very common, good for ground balls)
Which Bat Is Better?
In tests it's been said that aluminum bats are better. Some of the reasons are because aluminum bats have a bigger area for the sweet spot. Also, metal bats are hollow so they feel much lighter with makes them easier to swing, and aluminum bats don't break like wooden bats so you don't need to buy new ones again, and again. The biggest thing about the aluminum bats that makes them better is the "trampoline effect". The trampoline effect is the energy from the bat going to the ball in a collision. The energy makes the bat act like a spring with makes the ball fly further. But, there are some downsides to aluminum bats.
Why Aluminum Bats Can Be Bad
Although, aluminum bats hit further and don't break, they still have some downside to them. The reasons why aluminum bats can be bad is because...
- If aluminum bats were being used in the MLB today there would be so much hand injuries from the shock on the hands.
- Aluminum bat would dent on almost every pitch that is hit. I don't think an aluminum bat would be able to stand a 100 mph pitch.
- Even if you're bat wouldn't dent, it would be a never ending inning because it would always fly into the outfield.
- There have been broken jaws, brain damage, internal bleeding, fractured skulls, comas, and even deaths because of aluminum bats hitting a ball right at the pitcher. The pitcher only has .003 seconds to react to the ball coming at them.
- In 2009, 108,976 kids were sent to the hospital because of baseball related injuries. More than half were caused by bat related injuries.
History, Rules, And Regulations On Bats
Since baseball began MLB players used wooden bats and they still do. But in 1970, the aluminum bat was invented, so then little leaguer's had a choice of using wooden or aluminum bats. Because aluminum bats were so popular in little league they just decided to use those in little league and its been that way ever since.
Some ways people have tried to cheat with wooden bats is to hollow them out and then fill it with cork because that gives it more of a trampoline effect and it feels lighter. You can also put pine tar on your bat but you can only put so much on or else its cheating. Another way for more power in your bat is to have a bigger barrel. There is a restriction on how much of a barrel you can have.