Bats

A baseball bat is a piece of equipment used in a baseball game to hit the ball that’s being pitched. Most of us would know this by now, so let’s talk about the stuff that you might be wondering about, the fundamentals of what makes a baseball bat, well, a baseball bat!

Baseball bats are typically made of certain types of wood (i.e. bamboo, maple, and ash) or alloy metals (i.e. aluminum).

What is a Fungo Bat? This is a bat created for just practice, and best for the batter to be tossing up the ball into the air to hit the ball rather than have a pitcher.

Parts & Pieces

You can often find that bats come in different numbers of pieces, mainly one piece, two piece, and on the rare occasion, you’ll come across a three piece bat. A one piece bat, is one solid bat, but a two piece bat can be disconnected and re-attached at the point where a handle and a neck of the barrel meets. A three piece bats connects at the handle to the base of the neck, and the base of the barrel to the top of the neck.

The neck is usually considered to be a part of the barrel itself, you can find it where the barrel narrows down into the handle.

Other parts of a baseball bat:

• Barrel: Hitting end of the bat, where the bat is at its widest.
• Sweet Spot: A point in the barrel that will provide the best hit upon contact with the baseball ball.
• End/Cap: The top of a barrel. This part can come in different forms and can affect the weight of a bat.
• Handle: Much thinner than the barrel, meant to be where you hold the bat, some bats require a grip tape on the handle for extra grip strength.
• Knob: The bottom end of the bat, the end of the handle. Can have anti-vibrational features or just be a block to keep the bat from slipping out of your hands.

Size, Weight and “Drop”

The weight of a bat is usually measured in ounces, with the size being measured in inches. What people refer to as the drop of the bat, is basically the numeral difference of the weight of the bat to the length size of the bat.

This simple calculation to find the drop of a bat can be written as: Bat Length INCH – Bat Weight OZ = Drop. For example, a bat with the length of 33 inches and the weight of 30 ounces would be a drop -3 as seen here: 33-30= -3. People use drops according to their preferences. The most common drop choice for a bat is drop -3, and many brands won’t add an extra label to a bat that is drop -3, as if it were to be considered the original weight model.

Here’s a video on how to choose a bat:

Rules and Regulations for Baseball Bats

Youth Leagues

• Some (such as Little League): May not be more than 2.25 inches (57mm) in diameter
• Some (such as Pony League): Mat not be more than 2.75 inches (70mm) in diameter

High School

• Not more than 2.64 inches (863.6mm) in diameter
• The drop must be no more than -3
• Metal bats only
• Aluminum bats must be BBCOR certified

College, Amateur

• Allows the use of both Wooden and Metal bats to allow transition into professional baseball

Professional

• Rule 1.0(a) of American Major League Rules:“The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.”
• arrow-rightCorked & Hollow bats are not allowed

Updated on 02-09-22