FME: Save The MLB Explosions For The Scoreboard

Call me a nerd. I love to watch shows about how things work. Those who have followed my ranting on this site and FOX Sports Radio and past stops in the media world know that I love to cook. I’m able to claim some proficiency in chemistry by doing so (pad your stats). I don’t spend a ton of time on the cat-fighting style of reality television. There has to be some learning beyond Twitter shorthand.

Anyway, I had a great article pass the desk that dealt with a shift in the production and selection of baseball bats in Major League Baseball. Once a land of ash bats, there was a seismic shift in the landscape following Barry Bonds’ ridiculous exploits of the late-90s. Felicity Barringer of The New York Times examined the change in the culture, citing that 64% of the bats ordered by Major League Baseball players were made of maple last season.

But, you remember the highlight reels of bats exploding upon contact mixed between the longballs. The article highlights several anxious moments in MLB past. Those incidences forced a push by MLB to tinker with the composition and construction of baseball bats, making them lighter while retaining the power push. Barringer discusses the study taken on in a joint partnership between Major League Baseball and, get this, the Forest Service.

Check out the full piece here.