University鈥檚 Baseball Research Lab Featured in National Geographic
09/17/2013
By Edwin L. Aguirre
As baseball fans know, nothing beats the sight and sound of a player鈥檚 bat solidly hitting the ball, sending it flying off into the bleachers and beyond for a home run.
But do you know what happens to the wooden bat when it strikes the ball?
鈥淎 90-miles-per-hour pitch impacting a bat swinging at 70 miles per hour can exert a force greater than 8,000 pounds,鈥� says Patrick Drane, assistant director of the University鈥檚 Baseball Research Center.听
鈥淭his peak force is exerted for a small fraction of the 1,000th of a second that the ball and bat are in contact,鈥� explains Drane. 鈥淲hen the ball impacts away from the bat鈥檚 鈥榮weet spot,鈥� much of the energy goes into vibrating the bat. These vibrations can cause even the strongest of woods to break.鈥�
The Baseball Research Center 鈥斅爁eatured in a one-page article written by National Geographic editor Johnna Rizzio in the magazine鈥檚 September issue聽鈥斅爃as been studying the durability of wood bats for Major League Baseball (MLB) for more than five years. The Center鈥檚 specialized tests include using an air cannon to generate collision velocities up to 180 miles per hour and utilizing a high-speed video camera to analyze the impacts and breakage.
According to the National Geographic article, major leaguers broke 1,697 bats between July and September 2012. Part of the problem has to do with the kind of wood used in making the bats, with more players preferring maple over ash.听
鈥淎sh had been the most popular wood species used in Major League Baseball bats for more than a century,鈥� notes Drane. 鈥淚n the past decade, however, maple bats have become much more popular among players because they like the hardness, look and feel of the bats, and some actually think maple bats perform better. Ash and maple bats produce the same batted-ball speeds.鈥澛�
As maple bats increased in popularity, the number of bats splintering into multiple pieces was perceived to increase, so the MLB began studying ways to improve the bats鈥� durability without changing the players鈥� approach to the game.
鈥淪trict grading of the wood, along with inspection, training and other regulations, has been implemented over the past five years and has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of multi-piece failures that occur during games,鈥� says Drane. 鈥淎ll wood, not just ash and maple, are now regulated to ensure that the best-quality raw material is used in making bats for the professional baseball players.鈥�
Drane adds that ash forests that supply bat manufacturers are also being threatened by the 鈥渆merald ash borer,鈥� an invasive insect species that is killing the trees.
鈥淎sh, therefore, will be in lesser supply in the future,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he effect of this change in the supply will necessitate the use of alternatives to maple, such as yellow birch.鈥�