Taping your wood bat barrel is not really necessary, depending on the wood.

Have you ever seen someone put athletic tape on the barrel of their wood bat? I bet you’ve either wondered why they do that, or you’ve followed suit and wrapped your wood bat barrel in white athletic tape. Yes?

So, why is that a thing? Here’s the answer. MLB players would wrap their ASH wood bat barrels for batting practice to help prevent the grains from flaking/separating. Because of the grain structure of ASH, it was seen as a preventative measure to help the longevity of the wood bat. This was done for many years before Maple bats and Birch bats hit the scene.

Here’s the important point however. Maple bats and Birch bats are much different than Ash bats. Maple bats and Birch bats are a closed grain wood, and will NOT flake like Ash (an open pore wood). Therefore, the more you hit with a Maple bat or a Birch bat, the grains compress more and more, whereas the more contact with an Ash bat will result in “wearing out the wood”.

So do you need to wrap your wood bat barrel in athletic tape? What about a coaches fungo? The answer is no. It’s not necessary. But if you’re contemplating this, it’s really only going to benefit an Ash wood bat, and help prevent premature grain flaking and separation. Again, Maple bats and Birch bats aren’t going to flake like an Ash bat. It’s not going to hurt anything if you tape up the barrels of your Maple bat or Birch bat, but it’s not going to accomplish anything either. Some guys just like the look, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You gotta look the part, right?

Check out the pro MaxBat coaches fungos here. Guaranteed to enable you to hit moon shots to your outfielders, over and over again.

Categories: Maple Bats, Wood Bat, Wood Bats

Tags: Ash Bats, Birch Bats, Maple Bats, wood bat, Wood Bats, wooden bat

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Why Do People Think These Are Wood Bats?

I came across one of these “wood bats” the other day.

This is a popular “composite” bat that you’ll often see in somebody’s bat bag as a “just as good as a wood bat”. The DeMarini S-series “wood” baseball bat. A kid was using the bat in the hitting facility I work at and quite frankly, the bat irritated me. I looked at it and thought – How can anybody look at this thing and think it is a wood bat? After having it gnaw at me for about an hour and spending some time bitching to a few people who would listen, I decided to actually do some research and see if I was getting worked up over nothing. So I used the google button and made a few calls to some people in the industry that I know and came up with some things I will share with you momentarily. But before I do that and possibly ruffle a few feathers, I want to relate some town ball history that I happened to be present for that will illuminate why this bat vexes me so.

Wood Bats & Minnesota Town Ball

Here is a factoid that I have discovered is not known by all town ball players. Minnesota town ball, regardless of class, used to be an aluminum bat league. That’s correct, it was not always a wood bat league. For those of us who were there this is a “well duh” type statement. But I have found that many younger players are unaware of this. It is, however, quite true. Prior to 2002 town ball players used aluminum bats. So how did it change? Well, that is an interesting story in itself.

In the late 90’s aluminum bats went through a transformation. Bat makers started using new technologies that led to lighter bats that produced a “trampoline effect” that caused the ball to pretty much explode off the barrel like a .50 caliber bullet. Consequently, balls started flying out of ballparks. Even guys who were little or previously popless started regularly hitting jacks. Five of the top ten highest single season collegiate home run records and highest team totals occurred between 1997-1999. And seven of the top ten highest team home run totals per game happened between 1997-2002.

I played my collegiate years right before this bat explosion. During this “Negative Five Era” as it came to be called, I was playing Independent pro ball using a wood bat. When I was released (for being too handsome, not because I sucked) I came back to town ball and was amazed. There were guys with 20 jacks all over the place. Dude, Minnetonka hit 93 bombs in 1998. I’m pretty sure like 10 of them were hit with one hand and floated over my head in left field at Parade Stadium in the state championship game. The truth is, it wasn’t really that fun. When someone hit a home run people barely noticed, and if a batter laced a double nobody even looked up.

Worse than that, it seemed to be getting dangerous. Pitchers were seriously in harms way. I witnessed several hurlers get absolutely torched. I was catching a game when Tonka legend Tony Richards took a ball about an inch off the ground and a foot outside past our second baseman before he could even move. It was actually scary to throw to some guys.

So our team decided we didn’t want anyone’s blood on our hands and switched to wood bats in 1999. I know that sounds cocky, but we had one of our own pitchers smoked in the dome and it came a fraction of an inch from ending his career (he really had a career too as he ended up being drafted by the White Sox). Plus we had some big boppers of our own. At 6’3″ and 260 lbs of shred town ball hall of famer Chris Johnson had a legitimate chance of murderizing someone, or at least putting them on a liquid diet for a long time. Anyway, we played the entire 1999 season with wood bats and finished 2nd to Minnetonka in the class A state tourney that year. We weren’t on a crusade to get everyone to use wood. We just found out it was more fun. It was real baseball and we had to work hard to compete.

The next year Wintz trucking, who had used wood for part of the previous year, went to wood all year long (at least I think they did). Then, finally everyone changed over in 2002. After playing with wood I will never go back to aluminum (or whatever passes for aluminum these days) again. Wood totally leveled the playing field.

Which brings me to this thing again…

Here is why I don’t like it. It is just like those stupid juiced aluminum bats. It is cheating. Allow me to illustrate why.

When I was playing Indy ball we had a dude who corked a bat. He had a hole bored in the center and filled it with cork. Then he plugged the hole and sanded it down. We all took BP with it, crushed some homers and agreed it was the coolest thing ever. My team mate did not use it in a game however. I guess he read this rule:

Major League Baseball Rule 6.06(d)

A batter is out for illegal action when he uses or attempts to use a bat that, in the umpire’s judgment, has been altered or tampered with in such a way to improve the distance factor or cause an unusual reaction on the baseball.

and he thought “yeah, that’s cheating.”

Here is a cross section of a corked bat…

Here is a cross section of a DeMarini…

Yes, you are seeing that right. A DeMarini “wood” bat is not really a wood bat. It is mostly plastic. It looks a lot like a corked bat. An awful lot. But you probably already knew that. the question is, so what?

The answer is, the bat gives the hitter an advantage. The bat is designed to be lighter and worse than that, the handle is made out of carbon fiber material. The same crap they make hockey sticks out of these days. It flexes and then snaps back faster than a solid wood bat does. Here is some actual copy from a DeMarini ad…

“This maple/composite design provides players with an ever so slight amount of flex that is not typically found in a maple–‐only wood bat. This design also produces a slightly end–‐loaded feel and a larger sweet spot for more trampoline and more power than your conventional wood bats.”

There is that darn word again “trampoline”. By this companies own admission, their “wood” bat DOES NOT even perform like a solid wood bat!

So here comes the argument – Yeah but they don’t break. It is true that they break far less often, but they are not indestructible. They now cost about $200. There are several reputable companies that I am aware of that offer discounts to town ball players and make great wood bats. You can get 3-4 bats from these companies for around the same price. Will it be a little more expensive to swing real wood – perhaps for some guys it will (depending how bad your swing is). Well, it was an adjustment to swing wood when we went to it in the first place. Nobody complained then. Because it was more fun and made the game even.

All of this leads me to my point, these bats should be banned from town ball, or any league or game that is dubbed wood bat baseball. The bat race that we broke free from in 2002 is just starting all over again. Lets nip it in the bud and swing real wood bats. The Roy Hobbs organization has already banned these bats stating that they are no different (and even worse) than a corked bat. It is embarrassing to me that the state that went to wood bats first has to take its cues from another organization. I really don’t know where to start, somebody take it from here…and then maybe the Lorax and all of his friends will come back again.

– Matt Paulsen

MaxBat Blog Contributor

Categories: Baseball Bats, Baseball Training, Maple Bats, Wood Baseball Bats, Wood Bat, Wood Bats

Tags: maple bat, Maple Bats, wood bat, Wood Bats

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Wood Bat business chosen as Top 100 Small Business in USA

Behind every successful small business is an owner with a vision for something that could be done better – and a community that benefits from that vision. Whether it’s a vintage shop that revitalizes a troubled neighborhood, a construction company that builds new homes or a small restaurant that anchors a community, small businesses play an increasingly important role in bringing people together.

That’s why a wood bat manufacturer like MaxBat is being profiled as part of the Small Business Revolution project – a year long campaign that celebrates the vibrancy, variety and community impact of small businesses all across the country.

Baseball is America’s pastime, and wood bats and wood bat manufacturing is at the heart of it. MaxBat produces wood bats in their facility in the small west-central Minnesota town of Brooten. Producing wood bats for professionals, and amateur players around the globe since 2001.

“It’s very humbling to be chosen as one of only 100 small businesses across the country to be featured by Deluxe Corporation as a part of their Small Business Revolution campaign” said Jim Anderson, VP and Director of Sales for MaxBat. “When this idea to create custom wood bats was hatched, it consumed my life and I followed my passion. It’s the most rewarding venture that I’ve ever been a part of”.

The Small Business Revolution focuses on the importance of a personal touch and local involvement in an era when business is becoming increasingly impersonal. The campaign is capturing the stories of small businesses and their customers, families and friends – all of whom are a crucial part of what makes our communities whole.

And when you think about custom made wood bats, that is the essence of personal touch. Each wood bat being created for an individual ball player, one wood bat at a time.

“The hands-on customer service, the entrepreneurial spirit and the deep community involvement people find in the small businesses they frequent make all the difference,” said Amanda Brinkman, chief brand and communications officer for Deluxe Corp. “Telling these stories and putting a spotlight on these owners is our way of celebrating the best parts of American business.”

The Small Business Revolution story will be told throughout 2015, coinciding with Deluxe’s 100th anniversary celebration. Since 1915, Deluxe has helped small businesses grow and thrive by providing a range of business services, from websites and logos to social media and email marketing to checks and other financial services. In all, 100 small businesses will have their stories told on SmallBusinessRevolution.org

Categories: Maple Bats, Wood Bat, Wood bat company, Wood bat manufacturer, Wood Bats

Tags: Maple Bats, wood bat, wood bat company, wood bat manufacturer, Wood Bats

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What is the proper way to hold a wood bat?

We are frequently asked by customers “how should I hold a wood bat”? It’s actually a good question, because with the variety of wood species to make wood bats, there’s a difference of opinion depending on what kind of wood bat you’re swinging.

Let’s start with how to hold the wood bat, and then we’ll get into the specifics.

First, hold your wood bat upright so the manufacturer’s logo (in this case, a MaxBat logo) is centered. Which means you’re looking right at it. Now, if you are a right-handed batter, slightly turn the wood bat in your hand so the MaxBat logo is facing your left shoulder. If you are a left-handed batter, you would do just the opposite (slightly turn the wood bat in your hand so the MaxBat logo is facing your right shoulder.

But, why do we need to do this with wood bats, and not with aluminum? Because wood bats have different flexes, and one side is harder than the other, etc., etc. So, we want you to hold your wood bat in your hand, so that when you swing it, the hardest side of the wood bat barrel is making contact with the baseball. By positioning the MaxBat logo to face your left shoulder (Right-Handed batter), or your right shoulder (Left-Handed batter), the MaxBat logo should be facing straight up to the sky when the wood bat barrel makes contact with the baseball.

So, what’s the big advantage to that? We place the logo on either the Face-Grain (Ash Wood Bats), or Edge-Grain (Maple Wood Bats and Birch Wood Bats) so that when you position the wood bat in your hand correctly, you will be hitting the ball on the hardest side of the wood bat barrel. Hitting the ball on this side of the wood bat barrel has been proven to extend the longevity of your wood bat.

Prior to 2009, it was believed that the manufacturer’s logo should always be placed on the face-grain of wood bats. However, after extensive testing that was mandated by MLB, it was established that the manufacturer’s logo should be placed on the edge-grain of Maple wood bats and Birch wood bats.

So there you have it. Just another tidbit on wood bats, from your friends at MaxBat. Makers of the finest wood bats on the planet.

Categories: Baseball Bats, Birch Bats, Maple Bats, Metal bats, Wood Baseball Bats, Wood Bat, Wood Bats

Tags: birch wood bats, maple wood bats, wood bat, Wood Bats

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What is the benefit of boning a wood bat barrel?

Whether you’re new to wood bats or not, you have probably heard players talk about boning their wood bat barrel.

Boning wood baseball bats has been around for a long time, and the simple definition is to compress the wood on the barrel in order to make a wood bat more dense.

Players back in the day used a large dried out bone to compress their bats, hence the phrase “boning” their bats. The bone was bolted to a table or bench in the clubhouse, and the players would rub the wood bat barrel across the bone, while applying as much pressure as they could. The outcome of this process was a wood bat barrel that had compressed grains/fibers, making the wood harder.

The obvious benefit to using a wood bat in which the barrel has gone through the bone hardening process, is that it will make that wood bat barrel even more dense than before. A denser piece of wood is a harder piece of wood. And using a wood bat with denser wood will make the ball come off the bat at a higher speed, and giving it more distance.

Any species of wood bat can be boned. In the early days it was limited to hickory and ash, because those were the only two wood species used in wood bat production at the time. Boning the barrels of hickory wood bats and ash wood bats would help prevent flaking and chipping of the grains.

At MaxBat, we designed and custom-built an automated boning machine to compress and harden each and every wood bat that we produce. Just another way that we take your wood bat and make it extra special.

Categories: Maple Bats, Wood Baseball Bats, Wood Bat, Wood Bats

Tags: Maple Bats, wood bat, wood bat barrel, Wood Bats

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Taping your wood bat barrel is not really necessary, depending on the wood.

Why Do People Think These Are Wood Bats?

Wood Bat business chosen as Top 100 Small Business in USA

What is the proper way to hold a wood bat?

What is the benefit of boning a wood bat barrel?

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