The History of Wood Baseball Bats
Although the rules of baseball were written by Alexander Cartwright in 1865, ancestral versions date back to the 15th century. The wooden bat evolved in design along with the game.
Other People Are Reading
-
Stoolball
-
In the 15th century in Sussex, England, stoolball was often played by milkmaids who used their milking stools as a game base. They struck the ball with a wooden paddle shaped like a frying pan.
Evolutions
-
Other bat and ball games succeeded stoolball, and in many, such as cricket, a streamlined version of the flat-sided bat remained. In rounders, brought to America by English and Irish immigrants, equipment was often homemade and bats varied in pattern.
-
Early Baseball
-
Under the Cartwright rules, baseball players were to use a rounded bat, but the design was different than the one popular today. The first true baseball bats were continuously tapered from handle to striking end.
Louisville
-
In 1880, Bud Hillerich began making baseball bats for himself and friends in his father's turnery business. Bud purportedly made his first professional bat for Pete Browning in 1884.
Slugger Design
-
The Louisville Slugger, today's industry standard, shows a heavy cylindrical striking surface rather than a straight taper and a trademark flange at the handle end. Although early bats were turned from pine, maple and hickory, Hillerich chose American ash.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit Photo by Dave Hogg at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fourbats.jpg
