Additional chatter on the maple bats and a possible solution

March 2, 2010 by Jason@IIATMS

Last night, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about and discussing the shattering maple bat situation and MLB’s proactive decision to eliminate certain kinds of bats, starting in the minor leagues.

One of the things that really caught my eye (again) was the BatGlove, a virtually invisible “sheath” that adheres to the handle of the bat and eliminates the parts of the bat from separating. It doesn’t stop the bat from breaking or cracking; it only stops it from flying off in potentially dangerous directions. As I mentioned last night, I was hoping to reach the makers of the BatGlove for additional color on their product. Luckily, Steve Rauso was good enough to respond:

Jason,

The product was developed to adhere to MLB rule 1.10. From the bottom of the handle, 18″ up a player is allowed to use any material or substance as long as it is to improve the players grip on the bat. The players already use adhesive products to promote player grip on the bat. Because of the location as well as the ultra thin transparent film that is being used, the players cannot even tell the product is on the bat. It is in the area where a player applies pine tar to a bat, so it makes it even less obvious to the player once the tar is applied.

Every player who has ever held a bat with our invention has endorsed it. Most of the time the product has to be pointed out to them because they do not even see it or feel it when they hold the bat. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be “that player” who has to deal with a death or injury in the stands or out on the field. If it does not change the performance of the bat and meets all of the criteria for MLB. Why not?

The MLB Research Center @ Lowell/UMass reports that the invention definitely promotes safer conditions for players, fans and umpires.

The pictures above are from Steve and show the BatGlove, as it looks applied to a bat. Rather innocuous, no?

(click “view full post” for more)

So what is this report that Mr. Rauso is referencing?  You can read it here: Lowell Report 12_15_09

I’ll give you the pieces of bread below, but the sandwich is best made with the details and bat-breaking pictures contained in the report:

Introduction

A baseball bat durability study was performed at the UMass Lowell Baseball Research Center for The Bat Glove, Inc. The Bat Glove, Inc. developed a baseball bat reinforcement system that consists of a thin polymeric film applied around the taper region of the bat and promotes its system as a potential remedy to the reduce the number of bat pieces that separate and fly from the batter’s box. The purpose of this study was to examine a selection of nearly identical bats, half as produced (no bat reinforcement) and half with the polymeric-film reinforcement applied. The bats were tested in matched pairs, one with and one without the film using the same procedure. High-speed video was utilized to make visual comparisons regarding the break severity between maple bats with and without the application of the polymeric film.

[...]

Results

Overall, each of the eleven bats that was wrapped with the polymeric film remained intact during failure, while seven of the 10 natural bats tested at the 14-in. location resulted in multi-piece failures. The Bat Glove System’s 100% containment of the failures during this study for impacts at a location that shows a high potential for multipiece failure demonstrates that its use could significantly reduce the number of multipiece bat failures when applied to maple bats.

[...]

Conclusion

The Bat Glove System was studied at the Baseball Research Center. The study investigated the durability of marched pairs of bats with and without the polymeric film applied. Ten bats of each configuration were tested at the location 14 in. from the barrel end to determine the containment of failures at this impact location. All 10 of the bats with the Bat Glove System had all of the pieces contained as the bat broke, while seven of the 10 natural bats without the film applied resulted in multi-piece failures.

If you haven’t read the entire document, please take the time to do so. It’s technical without being confusing. There are plenty of handy with/without slow-mo images of bat/ball contact. At the very least, it’s interesting… well, it was to me.

The point is, baseball has a problem and there seems to be a cheap ($15/wrap) solution that won’t impact the feel of the bats or their performance.  It will only keep the bat’s integrity intact.

I’m aware that we get visitors from several pro clubs in addition to MLB, MLBPA, agents, etc. I’m asking you to email me to discuss this, either on or off the record. Has your team, your players, your clients considered this? What was your reaction, their reaction?

 
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