Back in the early 1960s, when my home town had a Class D (really) minor league team, we kids would fight to get any bats that were cracked (i.e., not too badly broken) so we could tape them up. My brother and I got one that, instead of a knob at the end, simply had a widening taper. The bottom width was the same as a normal bat, but there was no knob - the bat just tapered down from the barrel, had a normal grip area, then tapered up to what should have been a knob. I never saw another bat like it. (Maybe the bat maker took it off the lathe too early??)
Don't know about your bat, but I've seen bats like that in the Big Leagues. They're not real common, but they exist. Hitters have tinkered with all kinds of designs to find the one they like, but the best hitters seem like they find something that works and won't come off it.
Consistency for those guys is a huge deal.
Good hitters know what they hit well and when they get that pitch, don't want to miss it. That ball needs to be in play. Which is why you see guys get upset when they foul a good pitch off; they may not get another one.
It would be relatively simple, though not easy, to set up several competent batters at a batting range, have them use a variety of different designs and run statistics on how each performed to come up with the optimum overall design, but where’s the fun in that?
I think the biggest variable is always going to be the players and what works for one won't work for someone else. The bat expert I referenced is in the business of analyzing players and figuring out what bat works best for them so maybe the torpedo bat will work for some players, but I doubt it will work for everyone.
At this point we're working off an extremely small sample size and things might look a lot different in October.
It's a long season and too soon to tell about anyone, including the Yankees, but I'm with you: I'd prefer to see someone else in the playoffs. And sorry about the "fluffers" reference, but at least now you know there are worse jobs to have than whatever you did or do to make a living.
Back in the early 1960s, when my home town had a Class D (really) minor league team, we kids would fight to get any bats that were cracked (i.e., not too badly broken) so we could tape them up. My brother and I got one that, instead of a knob at the end, simply had a widening taper. The bottom width was the same as a normal bat, but there was no knob - the bat just tapered down from the barrel, had a normal grip area, then tapered up to what should have been a knob. I never saw another bat like it. (Maybe the bat maker took it off the lathe too early??)
Don't know about your bat, but I've seen bats like that in the Big Leagues. They're not real common, but they exist. Hitters have tinkered with all kinds of designs to find the one they like, but the best hitters seem like they find something that works and won't come off it.
Consistency for those guys is a huge deal.
Good hitters know what they hit well and when they get that pitch, don't want to miss it. That ball needs to be in play. Which is why you see guys get upset when they foul a good pitch off; they may not get another one.
It would be relatively simple, though not easy, to set up several competent batters at a batting range, have them use a variety of different designs and run statistics on how each performed to come up with the optimum overall design, but where’s the fun in that?
I think the biggest variable is always going to be the players and what works for one won't work for someone else. The bat expert I referenced is in the business of analyzing players and figuring out what bat works best for them so maybe the torpedo bat will work for some players, but I doubt it will work for everyone.
At this point we're working off an extremely small sample size and things might look a lot different in October.
Thx tons for all the straight skinny about bats but the only torpedoing I want to know about is the New York Yankees playoff hopes being sunk.
Yes I had to google fluffers. Sure wish I hadn't.
It's a long season and too soon to tell about anyone, including the Yankees, but I'm with you: I'd prefer to see someone else in the playoffs. And sorry about the "fluffers" reference, but at least now you know there are worse jobs to have than whatever you did or do to make a living.