Wood Bat Discussions

The thick-handled bat needs to make a return to baseball.

My son loves to hit with wood. As we enter the summer circuit we are trying out different models, cuts, etc but it gets expensive. Wood bat company's should get more involved in sponsorship of teams. I would also like to see some bat company's set up in the cages at these tourny's and "demo" some of their models. Good/better hitters like a particular feel in thier bats. If you want kids to hit with wood, you need to get the bats in their hands.

tough to find end-weighted bats that don't break easily.

I thought this would be a good place to chime in about an experience we have had.

When my son took his little used Marucci maple to East Cobb last year and broke it in the second game (90 mph sliders in on the hands tend to do that) I made it my job to do some research on wood.

What I found out is that maple is a great wood to hit with if you have money to spend on bats. It is very hard but also very brittle. It is much like granite in that sense. This is why its shatters and is responsible for so much talk about bat safety. I decided I was going to find a wood that would provide the same hardness or better than maple but not be as prone to shattering.

I found a company that was willing to make a bat out of black locust as well as one out of red mullberry. This outfit had the locust and I shipped them a log I had saved from a red mullberry tree I had felled several years ago. I chose these two woods b/c as a kid who grew up on a farm these two woods were traditionally used for making fense posts. They are well known for their durability.

So far I have been very impressed with the way all 3 bats have held up but we are entering the full wood bat season now so I will keep everyone posted. My son says the pop in all 3 bats is nice.

One of the things to remember in this is that both these woods are harder to work with than maple or ash due to knots/splitting/how the grain lays etc.

quote:

Originally posted by annexbaseball:
Hi everyone, I would like to open a thread about wood baseball bats wood baseball bats. I own Annex Baseball and we make professional quality wood bats and I would like to hear what players think of wood bat: models, lengths, colors, or anything related to them...ect. I am going to be extending our customization and would like to what you guys think anything to wood bats and accessories.

Look at the Brett Bros line of bats if you want to mimic quality at a low cost.

I bought the Brett Bros Model MB110 for my son a few months ago. It has great pop, has not broken yet, received great reviews at justbat.com, and is $59.00.

quote:

Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
The thick-handled bat needs to make a return to baseball.

I've always thought so.

Then, after my mom passed away 2 yrs. ago, I found one of my thick-handled bats from 40 yrs. ago, in the back of her garage.
I've done some hitting with it, and I've got to say, it doesn't seem to turn as easily in my hands as the modern thin-handled bats.

I bought my 11 y/o son an old hickory youth big barrel 31-26 for a wood bat tournament a few weeks ago. He and most of his team used it and have 200-300 swings/hits. He says it is his favorite bat not bad for 60$

Wood bat leagues fire up all over the country this weekend, (as well as the CWS!) Woo hoo, lots of college baseball.

The favorite bat for my son is his Baum 34.5 x 32 bat. They cost more but are pretty much indestructible and can be used in all bat leagues. His first one lasted 4 years, and I just got him a new one.

quote:

Originally posted by annexbaseball:
Hi everyone, I would like to open a thread about wood baseball bats wood baseball bats. I own Annex Baseball and we make professional quality wood bats and I would like to hear what players think of wood bat: models, lengths, colors, or anything related to them...ect. I am going to be extending our customization and would like to what you guys think anything to wood bats and accessories.

wood bat are like a woman, you have to have a good one or none at all. I cant anccer for anyone but my son and what he tell me. He has try to hit with some of the top saleing brands. My son like a p72 in 32" type bats.he said the 243 is to end loaded for him, and 271 is to lite for him and he dose not like the 110. We did pick up a D bat in 73 and he likes it as well. Now my son is 175lb and 5'9" at the age of 15 come the 6th. He has been hit wood in the off season for three years. This year he is hitting with all wood. He hit with just about every bbcor bat maker out there and when the game come up he has his wood bat in his hand. Good luck playing in the wood

Wood Bats

Trojan-Skipper/fredd77- If the trend went back to thick handles we definitely wouldn't break as many bats Back in the golden era of the game bats were pretty big. We're talking 36oz or heavier 36" in length or more and a handle thicker than a inch. I don't even know how they swung those bats back in the day. Check out my post 10 Top Baseball History Facts Some of this stuff is pretty cool.

Lefthookdad- We would love to sponsor more teams, we currently have a handful, we offer discounts for teams starting at one bat purchase if they put up a link to our site. So far that has worked pretty well for both parties. As for the demoing, we need to get there and do that you are exactly right. If it's ok with the tournament director putting up a cage if they do not have one on site would be a great idea. If you ever would like to try us out shoot me an email at ingle@annexbaseball.com, right now we are doing a promotion for new clients.

HVbaseballDad - You are correct, end loaded bats center mass is towards the barrel, and with the thin handles these day, they are more prone to break. They are thinner because that's what the players want. Plus the bigger barrel bats are made from less dense wood, also making them weaker. I am actually about to launch a new bat (Annex Model 13) that I designed that will bring more power to the player that hits for average. Email me for more info on it, if you would like to know more.

bothsportdad - Pretty cool research, let me know how the wood turns out and if you have any article I can read on the species.

bostonbulldogbaseball - thanks for the input I will check them out. We have no doubt in our quality, we buy the best wood we can get and have great suppliers. I get emails from players every now and then how they still have the first bat they ever purchased from us in our first year. 5 years for a bat is pretty good!



westcoastbuckeye - We also have a big youth barrel, that I designed myself, if you ever want to compare, take a look at us. What are the other specs to his bat?

BOF - Baum bats are pretty tough, the pop on them are weaker over time. I swung one for a few years until I shattered the handle and knob flew off. 34.5" bat that is pretty long. Sounds like a lot of long balls over the fence.

gindog- email me at ingle@annexbaseball.com, I think your son will like out Annex Model 11 bat, or the new one I will be launching soon.

Thanks everyone for their input! Keep it coming.