What Are Baseball Bats Made Of?

Baseball bats are composed of either wood or metal. Different types of wood are used today to make baseball bats, as opposed to in the past when ash was almost exclusively the wood of choice for their production. Birch and maple are now being used to make baseball bats, which have also been made of aluminum alloy since 1970.

Ash has long been considered the strongest timber, a feature which makes it attractive to bat manufacturers. The Louisville Slugger Company, a major producer of bats, states that ash is pound-for-pound the strongest wood. Ash has a flexibility to it that makes an excellent material for wooden bats. A baseball that's hit by a bat made of ash will compress the wood, with the wood having the effect of a spring board on the ball, sending it out with great force. Ash is lighter than other woods used to make bats and although an ash bat will break when a ball hits it on the handle, or on the label where the wood grain is flat and weaker, the bat will not shatter.

Maple bats have been becoming more prevalent as players choose maple since it's harder and more dense than ash. Players are of the belief that this makes the baseball come off the bat with more force, although there's no scientific evidence that backs up this thinking. Maple will not flake away like ash does on the surface of the bat. However, there have been many issues with maple bats breaking as they shatter into many pieces, unlike an ash bat that will simply crack. Maple bats produce many shards of wood when they break that go at high speeds into the infield and even the dugouts and stands, making them viewed as more dangerous than ash bats.

Birch wood is being used to make baseball bats since it is more flexible than maple and tougher than ash. Wood is lighter than maple, which allows bat manufacturers to produce a product with a larger barrel. A larger barrel means there's more chance to connect with the baseball. Birch bats were tested in the Cape Cod Baseball Summer League in Massachusetts, as well as the Alaskan League, with many players expressing satisfaction with their performance.

Aluminum began to be used to produce many products in the years immediately following World War II. As new aluminum alloys were invented the number of things that could be made increased. In 1960, an individual named Anthony Merola from Pennsylvania focused on manufacturing an aluminum bat that could work as well as a wooden one. By 1969 his bat had been tested and proved so successful that many softball associations were using it. This success provided the impetus for large aluminum companies like Reynolds and Alcoa to get into the baseball bat business, manufacturing them and then selling the bats to sporting goods companies. In 1970 an outfit called the Worth Bat Company put its first bat made of aluminum on the market. Other companies like Easton and Hillerich & Bradsby Co. followed suit. By 1971, Little League Baseball had approved aluminum bats to be used and the NCAA gave aluminum bats the nod in 1974 in college games. All phases of baseball and softball were using aluminum bats by the end of the 1970s, but professional baseball refuses to use aluminum bats and has never changed its stance.

Initially, the aluminum bat was widely accepted and became so popular because it was much more durable than wooden bats, making it more cost effective. Leagues that used to have to buy many wooden bats each season now only had to purchase a small number of aluminum bats, which would last from year-to-year. The issue of wooden bats breaking, and the pieces injuring players, also made aluminum bats more attractive since they don't break upon making contact with the ball. However, as new advances in aluminum crept into the making of aluminum bats various safety issues arose, as the ball came off aluminum bats faster than wood, putting infielders in danger from batted balls. Strict safety standards were put on aluminum bats to reduce this danger and further scientific testing has allowed aluminum bats to perform almost identical to wooden models.