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The Art of Baseball Bats
Baseball bats are used in striking the pitcher's thrown ball. It is usually made out of wood and has 2 3/4 inches in diameter as its width and 42 inches as its length. However, in the highschool category, bats are not allowed to exceed 2 5/8 inches or 67 mm in diameter.
The baseball bat is shaped and designed for easy balanced swing without limiting the batter's power. Its parts include the barrel (bulky/main part), sweet spot (the best portion for striking the ball), tip (the end of the bat), handle (the thin part of the bat used by the batter to grip his fingers across), and the knob (located next to the handle and used to keep the bat in place from the batter's hands).
Baseball bats come in different types. These include the wooden and the metal alloy bats.
Professional leagues like the Major League Baseball, Atlantic League, and the Minor League Baseball only used wooden bats. They also prohibit corked bats (bats that are packed with light substances) because it decreases its weight and greatly affects the batter's hitting power. One advantage of using wooden bat is its safety measures. In fact, according to statistical evidence, there are more baseball-related injuries in using metal bats. Wooden bats also allow better distance and velocity with less batter strength.
However, amateur baseball leagues like the Rhode Island Independent Amateur Baseball League, Yawkey Baseball League, and the Minnesota Baseball Association, have allowed the use of both wood and metal alloy bats.
Wooden baseball bats are usually made from ash, hickory, bamboo, and maple trees. Some of the world's most famous batters include Hank Aaron (a.k.a. the Hammerin' Hank) and Babe Ruth (considered as the most popular baseball player in the 1920s).
The world-famous Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made by Hillerich & Bradsby Company.
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