cabbagedad posted:Good discussion, Mid... I was in the biz for over 30 yrs... sporting goods mostly with a focus on athletic categories including buying all baseball equipment for a decent size chain that carried the full gamut of quality bats. I had the tour and discussions with product managers at every major manufacturer. I have had many "next level" bat companies pitch their goods and give me the full story on their wood/s and processes. Also, I was issued many bats to test and shared with friends and local teams. There is certainly accuracy to what you are saying. However, there are many other factors as well. Some basic keys here... many of the bats made with cheap wood are made only in models with medium to thick handles. These generally break less, regardless of wood quality. Another... a guy who gets sawed off or hits a high velo pitch just off the end in a certain way will break his bat regardless of the quality. This is the main point I wanted to make... just to prepare someone who was looking to spend extra money on a wood bat not to expect that means it won't break. Also, as you know, wood types factor in. Some of the more desirable woods from a performance standpoint aren't necessarily the best from a "less likely to break" standpoint. My statement was probably too general. Just trying to KISS. God, I miss those days.
BTW, more from a distance now, it appears that a few manufacturers are using the "ink dot test" as a marketing ploy to give the bat the appearance of better quality. I'm guessing to an extent on this but I think they are putting out bats with the ink dot regardless of what the results may be.
Good points regarding real-world breakage scenarios. I'll add that many pro bats are cupped (most cheap bats are not), which makes then more susceptible to those end-shots causing a break.
I've wondered about the ink-dot rejects myself. Do they go into the retail bin? Another reason I like the smaller producers like Chandler and Old Hickory where you can get a person on the phone to verify that the bat you're ordering will pass.