The Worst of 2011

December 28th, 2011

Scandal

While the highlights of the 2011 MLB season are unforgettable, the lowlights have a persistence of memory all their own. Fatalities, fiascos and epic fails make the list of MLB lows in 2011.

Geek Squad Meets Baseball Bats

December 13th, 2011

If you’ve ever wondered how to calculate bat performance, this will give you plenty to consider…

Low-Density Maple, Bat Safety and Grandfathering

November 28th, 2011

Major League Baseball’s new ban on low-density maple bats excludes currently active MLB players.

The message, we guess, is that bat safety is of paramount importance – for rookies.

Remembering an innovator

November 21st, 2011

batting glove

We tweeted about this last week – marking the passing of Irving Franklin, co-founder of Franklin Sports and co-inventor of the batting glove.

Franklin teamed up with Mike Schmidt in the 1980s to design and make the batting glove that remains today the flagship product of the Franklin Sports brand – and a favorite of batters stepping up to the plate.

Little League Bats

November 9th, 2011

Little League International has announced bat specs and standards for the 2012 season – check it out here.

Although the ban on composite-barreled bats remains in effect, some composite-barreled bats have received waivers based on the Bat Performance Factor and the Accelerated Break-In process.

For your ease of use, here’s the list of approved composite-barreled bats for the Little League Majors Division in 2012.

Wood Scientist at Work

October 25th, 2011

ws

In the quest to make bats better, stronger and safer, leave it to the Wood Scientist to lead the way.

This one places among our favorites in the pantheon of great job titles. We hope it’s on his business card.

Just Do It (until you decide not to)

September 19th, 2011

What’s going on with Nike bats? College baseball teams contracted to use Nike bats can now choose to use other bats if they wish. Is this due to performance problems?

We can’t speak from first-hand experience: we haven’t used Nike bats yet, though we’ve been meaning to try them out. Have you used Nike bats? Get on the forum and tell us what you think.

Knockout!

September 9th, 2011

It’s only fitting that Louisville’s own Muhammad Ali be honored with a commemorative bat made by Louisville Slugger.

Check out this tribute to the boxing great. A nice collectible!

Battle of the Bugs

August 30th, 2011

wasp

One thing may be standing in the way of the resurgence of wood baseball bats: a wood boring beetle that’s devouring ash forests in New York state.

But the USDA has a plan to combat this ash-eating invader – they are fighting bugs with bugs.

Unless we get this beetle under control, maybe we’ll all be switching to aluminum bats!

Fire and Ice

August 17th, 2011

Here’s an interesting take on making bats stronger and more durable: put them in a deep freeze.

This innovative approach has yielded bats that are about 26% stronger than untreated bats, according to proponents.

Seems like one way of getting a hot bat is to give it the big chill. What do you think?