HeraldNet: Baseball bats: metal vs. wood



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Double Team

July 21, 2008

Baseball bats: metal vs. wood

Posted at 3:20 pm by Mike Cane, Herald Writer

Ridiculous. Stupid. Crazy.

Those are words I heard guys use last week to describe the difference between hitting a baseball with a metal bat and a wood bat. I got a close-up demonstration Thursday at Everett Memorial Stadium when Everett Merchants player/coach Beau Blacken took swings with wood and aluminum.

The hitting demo was part of a project I worked on that was published Sunday. To see video of Blacken smashing balls and talking about hitting click here.

The video of Blacken was shot and edited by Herald new media editor Elaine Helm. Scroll below it to find links to other stories and elements of the bat project.

The aluminum-bat boost was clear during Blacken’s demo. After warming up, he hit 20 pitches with a wood bat and 20 pitches with aluminum.

Here is a breakdown of Blacken’s performance.

*Using wood bat (20 balls hit)
Bat type: Wild Woody brand; 34 inches, 31 ounces
Number of hits off the wall: 2
Number of fair balls hit over the fence: 0

*Using aluminum bat (20 balls hit)
Bat type: Louisville Slugger TPX EXOGrid; 33 inches, 30 ounces
Number of hits off the wall: 2
Number of fair balls hit over the fence: 4

The most eye-popping moments of the demo came right when Blacken switched from wood to aluminum. The first two balls he hit with the metal bat soared over the fence.

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