mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) (08/27/85)
I spent some early morning hours a few months ago watching the College
World Series on ESPN. Great stuff! I remember one pretty good fastball
pitcher who would have made Oil Can Boyd look somewhat reserved by
comparison. He blew the smoke off his "six-shooter" after each
strike-out. But that's not what I'm posting about...
They used metal bats in the series, and I didn't really like the "ring"
of ball hitting metal as much as the "crack" of ball against bat. Which
is also quite immaterial.
Are there any differences between metal bats and wooden bats other than:
(a) they don't break (more hits on jammed swings?)
(b) they sound funny?
--
Mojo
... Morris Jones, MicroPro Product Development
{dual,ptsfa,hplabs}!well!micropro!kepler!mojothornick@brl-tgr.ARPA (Tom Hornick ) (08/28/85)
Some other differrences between metal and wood bats include: (c) increase distance by 12-15% on fly balls. (d) consistent feel (less vibration). My experience with metal bats has led me to believe (d) isn't true. The metal bats seem to weaken after a long period of use and make a funnier sound. The new development in bats has been with graphite. Supposedly, they are much stronger and have absolutely no vibration.
evan@petfe.UUCP (Evan Marcus) (08/29/85)
Mojo asked about the differences between metal and wood bats.
I believe that metal bats have more spring to them, i.e. the ball
travels farther. That's why they're OK in Little League and softball,
but certainly frowned upon in the MLs.
Of course, i could be wrong.
--Evan Marcus
--
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It's probably Post's trademark, but do you care?mupmalis@watarts.UUCP (M. A. Upmalis) (08/30/85)
In article <191@kepler.UUCP> mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) writes: >Are there any differences between metal bats and wooden bats other than: > (a) they don't break (more hits on jammed swings?) > (b) they sound funny? They also tend to make the ball go further. The new product in metal bat technology is one called the Tidal Wave. The bat which is hollow has water in it, not enough to fill it, but the batting motion starts the water from the handle and moves it to the other end of the bat just in time for a round tripper. The weight displacment allows for quicker accerleration and shorter movement time and more reaction time to decide to not swing the bat. As the Brontes predicted Heathcliff (Johnson) has returned. -- Mike Upmalis (mupmalis@watarts)<University of Waterloo> ihnp4!watmath!watarts!mupmalis
sparker@aero.ARPA (Steve Parker) (08/30/85)
In article <191@kepler.UUCP> mojo@kepler.UUCP (Morris Jones) writes: > >Are there any differences between metal bats and wooden bats other than: > (a) they don't break (more hits on jammed swings?) > (b) they sound funny? > >-- >Mojo The main difference between wood bats and -metal- bats is power. Metal has a tendency to give more then wood, thus providing a "trampoline" effect when a ball is hit. The ball leaves the bat with a bit more velocity, traveling farther. The professionals don't use -metal- because (1) Pitchers (and others infielders) could be seriously killed by line drives, and (2) Fences would have to be moved back, or everyone would have 30 home runs a year. I read somewhere that -metal- will make a ball go about 20-30 feet farther than a ball hit the same with a wood bat. That could be wrong, however. Besides, -metal- bats sound funny. .signature Steve Parker