What is the Source of Wood for Baseball Bats?
Wooden bats are rarely used except in the professional leagues despite the fact they give the batter more control and a better feel for the ball. Hitting with a wooden bat will improve the batter's skills because he must adjust to the inside pitch. With an aluminum bat, an inside pitch can be driven solidly, but that same pitch might shatter a wooden baseball bat.
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Hickory
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Hickory trees used to be the main source for wooden baseball bats because of its strength. But that strength came with the price of being extremely heavy, so hickory bats are rarely used. Legend has it Babe Ruth once used a 54-ounce hickory bat, which would be unheard of in today's game, where the average bat weighs 31 to 35 oz.
White Ash
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Northern white ash from upstate New York or Pennsylvania is the most common source of wood for modern baseball bats. Major League Baseball gets the top 10 percent of ash trees that are harvested for bat manufacturing to ensure the professional players have the best quality bats possible.
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Maple
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Maple bats cost more than those made from ash but will last longer and do not have the same problems with flaking or cracking. In the past, maple was thought to be too heavy to make a viable bat, but improvements in drying the wood has allowed manufacturers to extract enough moisture to create a lightweight bat.
Bamboo
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Bamboo trees are used to create very strong bats. The bamboo wood has a higher tensile strength than steel. Bamboo is often a popular choice for batting practice bats because it is durable enough to be used daily without needing to be taped for protection.
Prevention/Solution
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To reduce the risk of breaking your wood bat, always bat so the trademark is facing straight up or down. The bat manufacturers usually place their trademark on the area in the grain where the bat is most likely to fail, so you do not want to contact the ball in that spot.
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