How Do You Know What to Buy?

Baseball is right up there with skiing, mountaineering, and golf in the "stuff" category. Players, and their parents, are always confronted with new bats, gloves, shoes, bags, performance undergarments, etc. To a certain extent word of mouth is how information on all the "stuff" that players need is passed along. Yes, you can look at catalogs to learn about all the new merchandise, but how do you know what works and what doesn't? How do you learn, maybe, the back story on certain glove designs or bat technologies? Most importantly, how do you know that the money you spend on something is going to be worth it?

To help with these questions, we've found a great resource that can be of service to folks on almost all levels of play. Baseball Equipment Review is filled with reviews and reference information on everything from cleats to training equipment. We love their wood bat section (and plan to provide guest reviews there soon).

One unique element of owner Brandon Bland's site is that there are numerous Google links built into pages that can take users directly to manufacturer's own sites. This allows the user to compare certain products easily and quickly without having to do a lot of work. It's a way to creatively use Google's Ad Sense system.

The site also has a useful set of recommendations for baseball equipment shopping and a very useful page on training aids that every Little League coach and dad of aspiring high school stars should bookmark and pay attention to.

If you know of other useful baseball equipment information sites, please send links along and I'll try to post information here at HittingWithWood.

In the mean time, I hope you're having good weather and that your coaches are encouraging kids to swing with lumber.

See you on the field.

Apology Post: A Personal Note to Readers

Since March, our family has been inundated by the initiation of Jesse Biddle's junior year of baseball with trips to Arizona State, Oregon State, North Carolina, and the University of Oregon (photo to left was taken in Portland at Game 2 of the renewed Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State, a cold and wet late March Saturday evening) -- all schools making scholarship bids to get the kid to pitch for them.

It turns out Jesse's choice of schools (after tremendous turmoil, he has verbally committed to George Horton's Oregon Ducks) was the easy part. We've been dealing with scouts, prospective advisers, media, focused training, lots of great high school games, and trying to match Jesse's schedule playing with the Philadelphia Senators with special opportunities to play in national showcases in June (USA Baseball Tournament of Stars) and August (East Coast Pro Showcase and Area Code Games).

This post, then, is an apology for not staying caught up on content. There's a lot going on in the wood vs. metal debate and I've dropped the ball.

At the same time, it's been an exciting and wild time watching this kid of ours move into the early phases of prime time as a player. Hopefully, now that the high school season is over and the summer schedule set, I'll do a better job reporting in these pages.

In the mean time, check out this short video clip that Comcast SportsNite did on Jess in April. More perspectives on hitting with wood soon...

See you on the field.

Maple Bats and Amateur Baseball: What Every Young Hitter Needs to Know

Last week I provided a summary of MLB's new maple bat rules that are designed to reduce the number of dramatic, multi-piece broken bat incidents seen so much in 2008. Go here to read this last entry. It's too early to tell how successful these rules will be (checkout this article about the Indians' Triple-A manager, Torey Lovullo, anyway), but it's important for every bat buyer to be aware of their implications.

Young and adult wood bat leagues and tournaments are on the rise throughout North America. In Canada and some northern sections of the country it is common to find high school baseball players playing with wood throughout the spring because of temperatures that render expensive metal and composite bats virtually useless.

Since Barry Bonds made maple Sam Bats the weapon of choice in his last few years of success as a home run hitter, amateur players all over the continent have been in search of the perfect sugar maple bat. Dozens of maple-focused small and medium-sized bat manufacturers have set up shop -- from Old Hickory, the Haag Bat Company, and Granite Bats to Pro Bats, the Ironwood Bat Company, and Rock Bats. In fact, virtually all bat companies now provide options for customers to choose bat models made of either ash or maple (and sometimes other woods like birch).

It's important to note that standard offerings of maple products tend to cost about $20.00 more than ash. So if you're going to choose maple, you're going to pay a premium. Now that we know what Major League Baseball feels needs to be done to solve the problem of dangerous maple breakages, are you going to get the same offerings as the pros? Meaning, can you buy maple bats with ink spots showing the slope of grain, and can you find a bat that has the trademark rotated 90-degrees indicating you should be making contact with the face grain rather than the edge grain (if you don't understand what I'm talking about here, read my last post or go to MLB's website and check out the articles and videos they've listed here).

The answers to these questions are: probably not. We've found only one company (Rock Bats) currently offering maple configured the way the pros are getting theirs. Even Louisville Slugger isn't planning on making any changes to the bats they offer us mere mortals. If there are companies out there taking these new steps, we want to know about them.

But don't fret. Remember first of all that the new requirements add cost to the production process. This means that a normal $65-$90 quality maple bat may cost well over $100. Indeed, numerous bat makers are up in arms about the MLB requirements and the whole maple bat controversy. Their production costs are higher, their insurance premiums are going up, and to a certain extent their reputations are on the line. Some in the industry are saying that what we're really talking about here, if we truly want to resolve the problem, is the need for $200 maple bats. Others simply feel that it may be time to turn back to ash which at least breaks in a fairly predictable manner.

For now, however, if you're going to hit with maple there are certainly things you can do to ensure that you avail yourself of the new standards that MLB feels can help this problem.

First, make sure you buy your new maple bats with either a natural or clear finish for the handles. You may want to do the same with the barrel. At the very least, you want a finish where you can still see the grain like a light walnut. Having the barrel cupped, by the way, should mean that you will have an unfinished view of the grain from the top of the bat. This will let you see how the grain lays out on the barrel.

Also, if you're getting your bats custom-made, you may also want to talk directly to the bat turner and ask them if they can make sure that they're paying attention to the slope of grain. They'll know what you mean. Regardless of whether you talk to them, if you can see the grain when you get your new lumber, you'll know yourself whether you have a product you can use in games or that you just made an expensive BP purchase.

Also, if you can see the grain of the barrel, then you don't necessarily need the guidance of a trademark. You know that you want to hit with the face grain, so you just need to adjust your grip accordingly. In addition, most maple bats are trademarked with adhesive labels (apparently burning a trademark on can weaken the bat). So it's also possible to ask the manufacturer to place the label on the edge grain side. I'm not sure whether your suggestions will meet with a willing craftsman, but it's worth a try.

And for what it's worth, I would suggest bats with 1" (or very close) handles and also, if at all acceptable to you, a weight drop of no less then -2. They're still not sure about handle size and weight but if you're going to spend that kind of money, doesn't it make sense to be careful with your investment?

Why am I so concerned about all of this? I'll tell you. Last summer I watched my 12-year-old and his pals bust two perfectly good maple bats in under two weeks of early season BP. No more than 100 hits a piece.

Worse, although my 17-year-old pitched all summer for Norcal Baseball (meaning practically no hitting or even BP), in the fall, when he went back to being a position player with the Philadelphia Senators, he broke a dozen maple bats in the course of two months. Every one of those breaks showed the classic ovular pattern snap at the handle (there were a few partial ruptures). I'm hoping that the new insights we have from MLB will help. We just ordered both boys Rock Bats for early season BP. I'm keeping my fingers crossed here. Conor and Jesse know the difference between face and edge grains. But both also know that if they don't hit with the sweet spot (Rock Bats also mark the sweet spot region with a diamond pointing at the face grain side) it's likely they're going to break their bats anyway.

In the end, my final question to both of my sons is: are you possibly ready to try ash again? We know there are composite bats out there that are being touted as the next generation of wood, but for now, we're trying to hold fast to the purest ethic, swinging solid pieces of lumber. As far as I know, Derek Jeter uses only ash and if it's good enough for one of the best players of our time, it has to be good enough for a couple of wannabes.

Hitting with Maple

According to Major League Baseball, in 2008 a research team working for their Safety and Health Advisory Committee analyzed 2,232 broken bats gathered from July to the end of the regular season. 756 of these bats broke into multiple pieces (recall there were several instances during the season where people, including an umpire, were seriously injured by flying chunks of maple). The researchers found that maple bats were three times as likely to shatter into multiple pieces than more traditional ash bats. (Note that while all the press seems to be focused on maple as a problem, birch is also on the list of concern).

The team of researchers include: David Kretschman of the Forest Products Laboratory (part of the USDA Forest Service); Dr. Carl Morris, a Harvard professor of statistics; Dr. James Sherwood, an engineering professor and director of the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell; and representatives of TECO, an independent wood certification company based in Wisconsin.

The researchers' recommendations were presented to MLB in December. Their initial findings are based on the structure of maple as a wood vs. ash. Maple is considered a diffuse-porous wood, and ash is a ring-porous wood. In a nutshell, ring-porous wood has different growth stages during the spring and summer, whereas diffuse-porous wood grows more evenly. The result is that diffuse-porous wood yields a sort of sandwich layer between dense wood and less dense, more porous, layers. The less dense layers are the ones that flake and split on ash bats. For maple there is no real sandwiching. Growth layers are more uniformly dense and, therefore, harder. As a result, when maple breaks the rupture is often far more dynamic and unpredictable.

All of this, according to the researchers, relates to trademark placement for bats. Traditionally, trademarks provide hitters with an indication of which face of the bat to hit with. To compensate for the porous layering of ash bats, the idea was for batters to use what is called the edge grain side of the bat (think of hitting something with the side of a deck of cards rather than the top or bottom card). Trademarks, thus, are placed on the face grain side as markers. At one time or another most of us old-timers who learned to love the game swinging wood were told that the trademark denotes the weakest part of the bat. This is why.

(See photo to the right depicting the two different radial faces from the vantage point of the top of a bat).

According to researchers, the side of the bat hitters use is very likely a big part of the problem. Maple is not like ash. Recommendations to MLB are to place the trademark one quarter turn (90-degrees) for maple bats. Players should, in fact, be hitting with the face grain side of the bat (the top or bottom card in the deck).

This issue of wood grain overall is what has researchers most concerned right now. Besides the hitting side of the bat, researchers also believe that many maple bats break because the grain isn't straight enough. The "slope of grain" should be less than 3-degrees at the handle and taper end of the bat where most maple ruptures occur. In essence, the straighter the grain the stronger the wood. This is the main concern at the moment that researchers want to focus on and it implies a host of steps that they want addressed. To that end, the research team has made a number of recommendations that MLB is willing to institute. These are:

1. Bats must adhere to a slope of grain requirement of a bit less than 3-degrees for the handle and taper regions.
2. Bat makers must place an ink dot on the face grain side of the handle for maple and birch bats to gauge the slope angle
   
3. The hitting surface for maple and birch needs to be the face grain, not the edge grain, meaning a quarter turn (90-degrees) placement of trademarks on bats
4. Handles for maple and birch bats must be either natural or clear finished (to see the grain and ink dot)
   
5. Bat makers need a system to track maple and birch bats that leave their shops
   
6. Bat makers need to participate in an MLB sponsored workshop on engineering and grading of wood
   
7. Bat makers will be visited and audited for manufacturing processes and tracking systems
8. Audits will also be made randomly (does that sound familiar?) at ballparks
   
9. An on-going third-party certification program needs to be set up to deal with any new innovations that come along in the future

In addition, Major League Baseball has doubled its bat certification fee from $5,000 per company to $10,000. They've also doubled the liability insurance requirement from $5 million to $10 million. As you might expect, a number of quality companies, especially with our current economy, can't make this cut anymore. Also, while a typical pro maple bat might cost about $70 bought in bulk last year, now the price is at least $100 in order to manage all these new costs.

To conclude, it should be noted that the research team MLB is working with by no means feel they have gotten to the bottom of the problem with maple. Wisely, however, they are starting with a first attempt to understand what they believe to be the most salient variables -- the slope of grain, and hitting with the opposite plane of the bat than ash. There are questions as well about some maple drying processes, big barrels, narrow handles, and the possibility that maple hides cracks and fissures while ash doesn't.

It will be interesting to observe how many bats break this year, and maybe a good diversion from all the talk about past steroid transgressions by top players. After all, what is more interesting: whether A-Rod was taking steroids seven years ago; or whether his bat is going to break on the next pitch? I'll let you answer that for yourself.

See you out there on the field soon.

Next week we will delve a bit into the implications of these regulations. Until then, check out all the bat companies we've referenced at this site and find yourself the ultimate wood bat for the 2009 season.

Peacock Bat Company

The Peacock Bat Company, a relatively new bat maker based in Indiana, has just gone online. You can check them out by clicking on their logo to the right.

We've been in contact with company owner, Clay Peacock, thanks to FaceBook, and he is committed to quality ash and maple products. "I started Peacock Bats with the desire to improve the wood bat market," he says. "I don't have the desire to sell 10,000 bats a year if I'm not confident in my quality or in my product. I'm dedicated to ensuring that the bats that leave [my] shop are of a standard second to none...If I use this as my business motto, then I'm sure things will work in my favor."

Clay says they're still working on the customized ordering section of the site, but you should go check them out now and bookmark them for future reference. Peacock Bats run between $70 and $90. They've got discounts for quantity purchases as well. We like the 15% off 6-pack deal for $356.99 -- $46 less than a composite metal TPX Triton.

If anyone is looking to represent Peacock regionally, get in touch with them. Clay is looking for a few committed souls.

Happy New Year to all, and to all: be careful out there tonight.

New Year's Resolution: Post our master list of wood bat makers and re-sellers by the end of January.

What's In Your Bag? MaxBat Kicks Ash

Wood bats continue to grow as a trend for serious amateur players from high school through adult league. The must-attend, premier high school events run by Perfect Game are virtually all non-metal tournaments. Through their World Wood Bat Association (WWBA) group, Perfect Game hosts the National Underclass Championship and the World Championship in October every year where all the best players in the country step out in showcase mode to show what they can do with wood. And in July at the unparalleled East Cobb Baseball Complex in Marietta, Georgia, WWBA runs a series of age group tournaments with 128 teams per tournament swinging nothing but lumber.

We've noted here in the past that these games tend to be far superior in quality than metal bat tournaments. The reasons for this are obvious: metal provides players with far too many opportunities for cheap hits; and full barrel contact with trampoline power means the difference between a metal home run and a wood fly out. I've been to enough showcases and elite tournaments and heard scouts and college recruiters bemoan the use of super bats. "How do I make a judgment about whether this kid can hit?" a regional scout for the Red Sox asked another scout. The answer is, you can't. (Although, I've also talked to college coaches who say that they want to see kids hit with metal since that's what they use in NCAA competition).

All this said, amateur players who love to hit with wood are having a ball these days messing around with various bats from specialty companies. There seems to be a preponderance of maple in dugouts that I frequent. MaxBat is really picking up steam out there on local diamonds. Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, and Jimmy Rollins probably have something to do with this. But the company is also focused on the maple market and as such pay close attention to wood quality, looking to ensure straight wood grains and low moisture content. As with most top-notch bat companies, they provide a phenomenal number of options for customization. Certainly if you're after a maple bat, MaxBat is a company to check out. We like the moxy of their "Our Bats Kick Ash" campaign too (although ash bats have their merits without doubt).

It's close to Christmas now, but we really like MaxBat's special packages with multiple custom bats, plus accessories. These typically run between $200 and $350 and offer great products. There's a blemished bat package that starts at $135 for three. Check them all out here and think about the fact that you can buy a top of the line composite/metal bat for only $400.

See you on the field.

We're Back!

Hitting with Wood is back after a long hiatus. And we're more excited than ever to be bringing you leading edge news and commentary on the wood bat revolution.

Over the past year or so a great deal of new research has gone into the bat war phenomenon. We aim to bring you tidbits on that very shortly, but for now, with the holidays coming up soon, I want to alert you to pay attention to bat makers web sites. Many of them are having special sales and promotional opportunities. You need to support them and make sure they are filling orders.

One such company right now is Trinity Bats. We just received an email that they will be cutting folks great deals at the Quakes Baseball Academy in Laguna, California this weekend. Sadly, we're stuck on the East Coast with heavy rain and cold weather. But you can still check out Trinity's deals at their website.

Phoenix Bats is also doing a promo with free shipping and engraving, but you better hurry since Christmas is almost here.

And, sadly, we're dismayed to learn that Mike Randolph, one of our favorite bat turners, has decided to pull the plug on his Talbott Turnings Chesapeake Thunder operations. Mike's going back to making furniture. We wish Mike luck. And he's got his equipment for sale if anyone out there is looking to start a bat making venture. Make sure to check out the photo of some of his work at the top of the page!

See you out there soon...

Enter the $400 Bat

Louisville Slugger and DeMarini have done it. The $400 bat ($399.99 plus shipping and/or tax) is here. Amazing!

We are told that there is no performance difference between wood bats and metal alloy composites, but now we're being sold $400 metal bats that have cool names: "The Louisville Slugger 2008 Air Exogrid," "The 2009 DeMarini CF3 Black," and "The 2009 Louisville Slugger TPX Triton." don't ask me what the 2009 moniker is about...

Here's what Louisville Slugger has to say about their 2008 Air Exogrid:

New for 2008! For 7 of the past 9 years the National Championship at the College World Series has gone to teams swinging Louisville Slugger TPX bats exclusively. The TPX EXOGRID Technology increases the handle stiffness and strength without increasing the weight. To achieve this, the one piece construction design has metal that is trimmed from the handle in a grid pattern to reduce the overall handle weight. The metal is replaced with carbon inserts that are several times stiffer and lighter than the metal it replaces. For optimum stiffness and the heart of the TPX EXOGRID Technology, we then insert an internal carbon carbon fiber sleeve with unidirectional fibers that run the length of the handle. This step provides greater handle stiffness than aluminum alone ever could. Finally, the exclusive TPX EXOGRID Bi/Fusion Process begins by using a combination of heat and extreme pressure, the inserts, sleeve and metal wall are bonded together to work as a single, solid unit. The TPX EXOGRID is designed with the new St+20 Hybrid alloy which was designed specifically for the TPX EXOGRID.

Wow! Just like my son's Marucci...and my other son's Chesapeake Thunder.

Wood and Non-Wood Bat Myths and Misconceptions

On average, during the baseball season I track down two to three articles a week by journalists and laymen writing about the bat wars. One very strange phenomenon is that many of these articles regurgitate the same basic misconceptions and myths about bats and the players who use them. I'm not sure, but it appears that these journalists are reading some Master Article, recycling information that is just flat-out wrong. Here's what I'm talking about:

1) At least 20 articles I've read in the past year talk about the fact that good metal bats cost around $250. This is not really true. A good Little League-approved metal bat costs about $250 these days, but good high school (and beyond) metal bats range in price from $329-$399. Rarely is it pointed out that cheap metal bats are often as difficult to get hits with as wood and highly prone to damage.

2) Almost as many articles claim that wood bats break regularly -- "Players may shatter three wood bats, at $60 a pop, in a game." This may be true in an extreme case, but most high school players who play with wood in the summer go through three or four bats in the entire season. A number of players I talked to this past summer said they were still using the bat they bought in May (note, all of these guys were swinging top-quality maple which costs more like $75-$125 a pop).

3) The economics of wood, because it is breakable, have been called into question, especially for school systems who claim they will have to buy hundreds of new wood bats for their teams. This is ridiculous. Most players at all amateur levels buy their own bats. Schools will often purchase two or three metal bats for players who don't have the funding. Obviously, if a school is going to buy three Easton Stealths at $350, for the same price they would be able to order about 20 quality maple bats from any number of companies mentioned in other entries of this blog. (Note: the new 2008 Louisville Air Exogrid -3 is retailing at $399.99).

4) North Dakota's metal bat ban for high school ball came about for the most part because most of the ND season is played while it is still cold (ie, below 60-degrees Fahrenheit). Metal bats are prone to break in the cold and don't perform well at all below 60-degrees. All the bat manufacturers put that information in their bat care literature. This means, in essence, that using a metal bat in the cold is very likely counterproductive for hitters and the people who invested in the bat (usually parents). It also means that high school players who are paying attention to how their bat feels end up replacing their metal bats two or three times during the year (can you say, $1,000?).

5) An auxiliary component of the issue above, is that it just isn't true that metal bats last for several years. You can often tell when a bat is beginning to go just by the sound of the "PING" it makes. The trampoline effect begins to break down when the metal walls get brittle and have, essentially, worn down on the inside of the bat.

6) Wood wears down as well. There is no doubt about that. Many people believe that maple bats break more dramatically than ash bats because maple doesn't flex as much. Relative stiffness coupled with players who demand ultra-lite lumber and thin handles can create an "explosive" like phenomenon with maple. Bats break. Playing the game is not cheap. But for Little Leaguers who don't swing the bat that hard and don't face pitching much beyond 58 mph or so, breaking a wood bat is a very difficult feat of strength.

Bat Speed Doesn't Matter?
There are many more myths and misconceptions out there. According to Ari Fleischer and Steve Keener in a press conference they gave this summer, "Just because the bat is lighter and easier to swing doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to produce a ball that comes off the bat faster and harder." In other words, they're saying that it's not true that bat speed gives a hitter more power. Technically, that's true. You have to have strong hands to transfer the kinetic energy of your body into the bat and to absorb the vibration and energy of the bat as it is struck by the ball.

The thing is, right before Keener and Fleischer brought up the weight issue at their press conference, they were explaining why metal bats are so much better to hit with than wood: i.e., even weight distribution and a larger sweet spot with a trampoline effect. Add to all of that a lighter bat and, therefore, faster bat speed, and it would seem like these guys are talking out of both sides of their mouthes (remember that Fleischer is being paid by the companies that sell metal bats).

Hopefully during the '08 season as the bat wars heat up again and more and more players leave Little League and American Legion clubs specifically because they want to play with wood, we'll see better, more informed reporting.

See you out on the field. Spring training is only 61 days away...

Buying a Wood Bat: Younger Players

Every kid needs a wood bat for Christmas or their birthday. Whether we're talking about Little League standouts going into their last year, a six-year-old who will start tee-ball in the spring, or a high schooler who just plays for fun, owning at least one wood bat will keep young players in touch with the right way to play the game.

It's not too difficult to pick up a cheap-o Rawlings, Louisville Slugger or Easton at a sporting outlet, just make sure you're not buying something that's insanely big for your kid (read below on sizing).

But if you want to do something special this year, you may want to consider purchasing a wood bat from one of the choice maple bat companies that kids are talking about these days. The hottest bat manufacturers in most elite amateur's equipment bags come from:

Sam Bat - Barry Bonds' main bat company
Max Bat - Chase Utley's bat maker of choice
Marucci - Ryan Howard and Carlos Beltran swing Jack Marucci's products

These three are by no means the only game in town, they're just the "IT" companies right now. All of the bat manufacturers written about here at Hitting with Wood carry marvelous wood bat options for kids. Please check out the other entries.

Also, JustWoodBats.com says that if you are after something off the shelf and aren't worried about customizing, they probably have a deal for you. They carry more than 20 brands. Order directly, or give them a call. We love any company called Just Wood Bats!

Sizing
Generally speaking, kids' bats can be made any size. Little beginners should probably be swinging nothing longer than a 26-inch bat. Intermediate players who haven't hit their growth spurts yet should be looking to swing 26-30 inch bats. 28-inches is a good happy medium. Older kids with stronger hands and forearms should buy 30- 32-inch bats to play with and 34-inch bats for batting practice and spring training.

Most Popular Length by Age
Age	5-7	8-9	10	11-12	13-14	15-16
Length	24"-26"	26"-28"	28"-29"	30"-31"	31"-32"	32"-33"

Source: Superior Bat Company (makers of the A Bat)

Also, some of the better customizing opportunities we've seen of late can be found at:

XBats - maybe the mother of all customized bat

ABats - good customizing options, great reference material for the novice parent/coach

Zinger Bats - great teen selection, still working on their youth offerings

Numerous athletic equipment outlets offer stock bats that are relatively inexpensive. Try FogDog, Anaconda, Online Sports, and Sports Authority.

The entry below, "Hitting with Wood: a preparatory guide for young players," tells you everything you need to know about why wood bats are so important for young players. What we neglected to mention is that wood, as opposed to metal, is better to hit with in cold weather. When we see snow we think: "Time to get out the old maple club and do some outdoor tee work."

Cheers and Happy Holidays!