turned cherry wood bowl

Baseball Bat

I feel that every child should know the great sound that is produced when a wooden bat connects with a fast ball. The resounding “thock” it makes is one of the great memories of base ball as it used to be.

While wood bats are still used in the major leagues, every one else has switched to aluminum bats. The metallic pinging sound they make are so much less satisfying to my old fashioned ear.

I made this bat for my wife’s nephew. It is complete with his own logo burned into the business end.

The logo was important because it showed you how to hold the bat. With the logo pointing to the sky the bat would connect with the ball with most of the straight grain parallel to it. Straight grain is wood’s strongest orientation. If the logo was not up then the ball would be hit with many fewer wood fibers parallel to the ball and it would be easier to break the bat.

My wife’s nephew was thrilled with the bat even though it was not regulation “Little League” material. He said that he hit a ball with it and it went beyond the field into the weeds and when he recovered the ball it had a big dent in it. Such are the magical powers of handcrafted wooden baseball bats made with care and love.

Ash is the wood of Louisville Slugger bats but many major league players are switching to hard maple. The only thing that never changes is that things are always changing.