radial (wedge) bat

[west coast orange and black]

Ward Dill thinks he has an answer to all the shattered bats that have been hurtling across big-league infields in the past several years. It's called the Radial Bat, and it's made of 12 long wedges of wood bound together by a powerful adhesive.

Dill, 55, who has a master's degree from MIT, said that while his bat may crack like a normal bat, it won't shatter. That's because even though two or three of the wedges might break, the other wedges would keep the bat intact.
-tom fitzgerald, san francisco chronicle staff writer, friday, 1 may 2009

read the article here

[conky149er]

Ward Dill thinks he has an answer to all the shattered bats that have been hurtling across big-league infields in the past several years. It's called the Radial Bat, and it's made of 12 long wedges of wood bound together by a powerful adhesive.

Dill, 55, who has a master's degree from MIT, said that while his bat may crack like a normal bat, it won't shatter. That's because even though two or three of the wedges might break, the other wedges would keep the bat intact.
-tom fitzgerald, san francisco chronicle staff writer, friday, 1 may 2009

read the article here

unforuatley, its agaisnt the rules, mlb states the bat has to be one solid piece of wood

otherwise maple composite bats like DeMarini Pro Maples and bamboo would be everyhwere in the leauge

but i agree the rule should be changed

[wogdoggy]

unforuatley, its agaisnt the rules, mlb states the bat has to be one solid piece of wood

otherwise maple composite bats like DeMarini Pro Maples and bamboo would be everyhwere in the leauge

but i agree the rule should be changed

interesting to know how many games have been played and how many injuries have been caused by a shattering bat?

[skipper5]

A few years ago a spectator (one) was killed at a hockey game by a puck, and instantly nets were erected at rinks around the country. It's lousy watching hockey through a net.

Eventually, a spectator at a MLB game will be fatally impaled by a shard from a maple bat (ash isn't a problem), and then we'll have the darned nets.

That's why shattered maple bats are a problem.

Batters are deluded that maple has more "pop" than ash, which is 100% untrue.
It will be interesting to see if the recent changes to the specs for maple bats are decreasing the no. of breaks where the barrel detaches.

[wogdoggy]

A few years ago a spectator (one) was killed at a hockey game by a puck, and instantly nets were erected at rinks around the country. It's lousy watching hockey through a net.

Eventually, a spectator at a MLB game will be fatally impaled by a shard from a maple bat (ash isn't a problem), and then we'll have the darned nets.

That's why shattered maple bats are a problem.

Batters are deluded that maple has more "pop" than ash, which is 100% untrue.
It will be interesting to see if the recent changes to the specs for maple bats are decreasing the no. of breaks where the barrel detaches.

maybe the players continue to prefer the maple bats because they DO have more pop?????? don't know but if everybody seems to use them they must have some advantage...how would the stats fluctuate if ash were the only bat allowed?

[skipper5]

maybe the players continue to prefer the maple bats because they DO have more pop?????? don't know but if everybody seems to use them they must have some advantage...how would the stats fluctuate if ash were the only bat allowed?

Bat-testing nowadays is extremely sophisticated. The physics are extremely well-understood. The top research facility in the country--the Baseball Research Center at Lowell ,Ma.--did a study that fired baseballs against different species of bats and determined that maple doesn't have more "pop" than ash.

Myth. Placebo effect. Superstition.
Or, consumerism? That is, a country that is so addicted to spending dollars for enhanced performance that it can't accept the fact that you can't buy a longer hit by spending extra $$ on a more expensive species of wood. In other words, the only thing that will improve the hits of a wood-bat hitter is HARD WORK in the cage and at the batting tee. Now there's an antique notion for you.

From what I see of 2009 America, the "maple has more pop" myth will endure.

[wogdoggy]

Bat-testing nowadays is extremely sophisticated. The physics are extremely well-understood. The top research facility in the country--the Baseball Research Center at Lowell ,Ma.--did a study that fired baseballs against different species of bats and determined that maple doesn't have more "pop" than ash.

Myth. Placebo effect. Superstition.
Or, consumerism? That is, a country that is so addicted to spending dollars for enhanced performance that it can't accept the fact that you can't buy a longer hit by spending extra $$ on a more expensive species of wood. In other words, the only thing that will improve the hits of a wood-bat hitter is HARD WORK in the cage and at the batting tee. Now there's an antique notion for you.

From what I see of 2009 America, the "maple has more pop" myth will endure.

what bats were more popular back in the willie mays and hank a days? if we went all ash would this skew the current and future statistics?

[skipper5]

what bats were more popular back in the willie mays and hank a days? if we went all ash would this skew the current and future statistics?

The guys in the 1950's were using ash.

Sorry, I couldn't find the link for the following:

In 2005, alarmed by the increasing number of broken bats, baseball gave $109,000 to a man named Jim Sherwood and asked him to compare maple bats with the ash ones that used to be the norm. Sherwood runs the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and the conclusion of the study did not jibe with the hundreds of players who swear maple leads to better performance.

“We found that the batted-ball speeds were essentially the same for the two woods,” Sherwood said. “Maple has no advantage in getting a longer hit over an ash bat.”

The study also found something evident to anyone watching baseball: Ash bats crack while maple bats snap.

[west coast orange and black]

^
the maple bats are more brittle because manufacturers reduce the moisture to reduce the weight of the heavier maple.