if so what are some of the indications that it has happened or is in the process of happening.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
The indication is that you don't think that you will get a good hit with the bat.
No. Seriously. I have never seen imperical data related to the life of the bat. I expect that there would be a certain amount of metal fatigue that occurs when metal is repeatadly bent in the same place. Since todays bats are designed to "trampoline" or have a controlled crush to rebound from it is reasonable to assume that the ability to rebound effectively will diminish with use, thereby, leaving a 'softer' feel when hitting a ball.
Interestly, my son swears that he has to break a new bat in before he says that he gets good pop with it. By the end of a season he says that his bat is losing pop. (I don't know, maybe he is losing his pop.)
It would be cool to have a physics prof investigate this question and publish results.
No. Seriously. I have never seen imperical data related to the life of the bat. I expect that there would be a certain amount of metal fatigue that occurs when metal is repeatadly bent in the same place. Since todays bats are designed to "trampoline" or have a controlled crush to rebound from it is reasonable to assume that the ability to rebound effectively will diminish with use, thereby, leaving a 'softer' feel when hitting a ball.
Interestly, my son swears that he has to break a new bat in before he says that he gets good pop with it. By the end of a season he says that his bat is losing pop. (I don't know, maybe he is losing his pop.)
It would be cool to have a physics prof investigate this question and publish results.
Yes, they do. I always have my son check his by listening for the ping and ring when tapping it on concrete. He also checks it for dents and warping. It cost him a game winning home run last summer in a World Series when his aluminum bat barrel sheered apart, just like wood. I expect he will go thru 2 bats a summer, even without using them for batting practice.
A few years back we bought a bat that came with a product information guide that said that the bat was recommended for individual players only and should not be used as a team bat. It further said among other things, that the bat needed to be broken in and would only last about 500 hits before it lost its bat exit speed velocity. This bat had great pop, but as it got close to 500 hits its pop got noticably less.
Since this time we have bought additional bats from the same company that don't have the same product guide information. But they don't seem to have the same pop either.
Since this time we have bought additional bats from the same company that don't have the same product guide information. But they don't seem to have the same pop either.
quote:
the bat was recommended for individual players only and should not be used as a team bat
A marketing ploy, why sell one or two bats to a team when you can sell 8 or 9 to individuals on that same team?
It's simple, bat companies and glove companies often use inferior materials so that the customer would come back after a season and have an excuse to buy a new bat or glove. Some of the older posters here will tell you that their baseball glove lasted them from the time they were 10 to past high school. Now a days, a so called "top of the line" glove will only last a season or two before litterally falling apart.
500 hits huh, if a kid playes 100 games a year for two years it means he'd have an average of 2.5 hits per game. How many kids do you know that average 2.5 solid hits per game? That's a .625 clip if he had 400 AB's in each of those years. This is not on you DG but on the companies estimate. By that rational a bat would realistically last 2 or even 3 years...... is that really the case? I do not think so.
And, while we're at it "Kip" leather is supposed to be the "best" leather, right? Well as it turns out "kip" leather is taken from young cattle when it's between a calf and a steer. Meaning it's not a strong and durable as Steeerhide, which is in all pro line traditional leather (Rawlings HOH, Wilson A2000, Kelley, and Akadema). Also, this leather is less expensive for the manufacturer to use. Given the fact that these gloves are some of the most expensive on the market and it cost them less, than other products, to make, I'd say they have a pretty heafty profit margin.
Think about that when you have to drop another $250 buy a new one after one year.
CoachW, Wes, I got your message, I'll try to call you this week, I've been super busy.
quote:
500 hits huh, if a kid playes 100 games a year for two years it means he'd have an average of 2.5 hits per game. How many kids do you know that average 2.5 solid hits per game? That's a .625 clip if he had 400 AB's in each of those years. This is not on you DG but on the companies estimate. By that rational a bat would realistically last 2 or even 3 years...... is that really the case? I do not think so.
I wouldn't think 500 hits would refer to games only. Unless a kid has two bats (some do, some don't), he will be using the same bat in hitting practice and in games. Then 500 hits doesn't go very far at all.
Addressing the original question of "do aluminum bats lose their pop?"
Yes. These thin wall bats will dent and the aluminum will work harden.
How do you tell? Well, you can feel large dents. And if you are used to watching a certain hitter, you may see that the hits aren't carrying as far. The latter is very subjective.
From my experience, the bats last about 5-6 months. Then we send them back for warranty replacement.
Glove man:
Considering that we have our own batting cage and JUGS machine in our yard, my son can hit 500 balls solidly in a week. So I appreciate the manufacture telling me not to wear it out needlessly. Yes, I took the manufactures recommendation and didn't let the whole team use it because I did't want the team to wear it out and only get half a season out of the bat.
Do you really think bat manufactures intentionally use inferior metals so that we consumers "have an excuse to by another bat" in a year. I knew the bat was dead after two years because it sounded diferent, had stress fatigue cracks, small dents and the ball simply didnt come off the bat as fast. We bought another bat from the same company, not because I fell for a marketing ploy, but because the first bat had better pop than any other bat we had ever tried. Got two seasons out of the first one because my son used a practice bat when not in games or important try outs. I think the manufactures have figured out that baseball parents are willing to spend $150-300 for a performance advantage and that durability is an important but secondary concern. Not much different than a race car engine builder wanting only the fastest parts money can buy, that only need to get him through one race.
(I have no experience with High school/College bats that have BESR limitations on them, so my comments pertain only to youth bats)
Glove man, I have a bat from my youth days thats over twenty-five years old. I still use it in practice from time to time for sentimental reasons. Maybe you think the bats were made of better materials back then, because it doesn't have any dents or cracks. But I can tell you without a doubt, its got far less pop than a modern high dollar bat.
Don't bother replying to this message cause I am done with the subject.
Considering that we have our own batting cage and JUGS machine in our yard, my son can hit 500 balls solidly in a week. So I appreciate the manufacture telling me not to wear it out needlessly. Yes, I took the manufactures recommendation and didn't let the whole team use it because I did't want the team to wear it out and only get half a season out of the bat.
Do you really think bat manufactures intentionally use inferior metals so that we consumers "have an excuse to by another bat" in a year. I knew the bat was dead after two years because it sounded diferent, had stress fatigue cracks, small dents and the ball simply didnt come off the bat as fast. We bought another bat from the same company, not because I fell for a marketing ploy, but because the first bat had better pop than any other bat we had ever tried. Got two seasons out of the first one because my son used a practice bat when not in games or important try outs. I think the manufactures have figured out that baseball parents are willing to spend $150-300 for a performance advantage and that durability is an important but secondary concern. Not much different than a race car engine builder wanting only the fastest parts money can buy, that only need to get him through one race.
(I have no experience with High school/College bats that have BESR limitations on them, so my comments pertain only to youth bats)
Glove man, I have a bat from my youth days thats over twenty-five years old. I still use it in practice from time to time for sentimental reasons. Maybe you think the bats were made of better materials back then, because it doesn't have any dents or cracks. But I can tell you without a doubt, its got far less pop than a modern high dollar bat.
Don't bother replying to this message cause I am done with the subject.
You talk about having to get 2.5 hits per game...
What about having say a 15 pitch at bat and you foul off 8-10 pitches.. Isn't that bat hitting the ball more than 2.5?? You can go 0-5 in the game but hit 15-20 balls solidly.
What about having say a 15 pitch at bat and you foul off 8-10 pitches.. Isn't that bat hitting the ball more than 2.5?? You can go 0-5 in the game but hit 15-20 balls solidly.
Well it sounds like it's time to buy another bat. Just needed some comments to confirm my thoughts. I guess I'll keep his old one for cage BP only.
We have worn out some bats even in coach pitch and I have bought a wood bat for BP, especially cages with machines and have bought one of those bat protectors called "tuff sleeve" or something like that.
We knew a favorite team bat has lost it's pop once it finally became square. (lol...not kidding) 
Personally I don't really believe that the bat companies are using "inferior" materials in their bats so you have to buy a new one each year. I think the technology of bat building today is so refined that they have their alloy mixes exactly where they want them to make sure the bats don't last "too" long, after all their main objective is... Sell more bats. Best way to do that, science. Determine the average bat life based on your alloy and shorten that life as much as the market will allow.
Technology today can build military armor lighter than aluminum but stronger than steel but can't make baseball bats that last for 3-4 years? I don't think so. It's all about profits, so yes the bats do wear out, by design, the amount of bats returned for warrantee are far outweighed by the gross sales/profits.
Is it that obvious that I am not an aluminum bat fan in the least? LOL!
Technology today can build military armor lighter than aluminum but stronger than steel but can't make baseball bats that last for 3-4 years? I don't think so. It's all about profits, so yes the bats do wear out, by design, the amount of bats returned for warrantee are far outweighed by the gross sales/profits.
Is it that obvious that I am not an aluminum bat fan in the least? LOL!