best baseball bats
Although using a stick to hit a ball is a somewhat simple concept, the bat is a complex object. It is carved or constructed very carefully to allow for a quick balanced swing, while providing power. The bat is divided into several regions. The barrel is the thick part of the bat, where the bat is meant to hit the ball. The part of the barrel best for hitting the ball with, according to construction and swinging style, is often called the sweet spot. The end of the barrel is not part of the sweet spot, and is simply called the tip or end of the bat. The barrel narrows, and becomes the handle. The handle is very thin, so that batters can comfortably set the bat in their fingers. Sometimes, especially on metal bats, the handle is wrapped with a rubber or cloth grip. Finally, next to the handle is the knob of the bat, a wider piece that keeps the bat from sliding out of a batter's hands. Over the centuries, the baseball bat's form has become more refined. During the 19th century, many shapes were experimented with, as well as handle designs. Today, the baseball bat is much more uniform in design.
"Lumber" is a sometimes-used slang term for a bat, especially when wielded by a particularly good batter.
The drop of a baseball bat is its length in inches minus its weight in ounces. For example, if a bat is 33" long and it weighs 30 ounces, then the drop is -3In professional baseball, only wooden bats are permitted, and they are not allowed to be corked—that is, filled with an alien substance such as cork which reduces the weight, and was thought to thus increasing bat speed without greatly reducing hitting power. In amateur baseball, both wood and metal alloy bats are generally permitted. Recently there have been increasing numbers of "wooden bat leagues" and the trend back to wood seems to be accelerating on the grounds of safety concerns. Aesthetically, wooden bats are generally agreed to be superior to metal bats, both because of their more traditional appearance and because a ball hit with a wooden bat makes a loud "crack" sound, while metal alloy bats have a "ping" sound.
Most wooden bats are made from ash. Other natural materials used include maple tree wood, hickory wood, and bamboo. Hickory has fallen into disfavor because it is much heavier than other woods, while maple bats have become more popular recently. This ascent in popularity followed the introduction of the first major league sanctioned maple baseball bat in 1997, by craftsman Sam Holman, founder of Sam Bat. The first player to use it was Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays. Recently, Major League Baseball has debated whether maple bats are safe to use, due to the tendency for them to break.
Within the standards set by the various leagues, there is ample latitude for individual variation, and many batters settle on an individual bat profile, or occasionally adopt a profile used by another batter. Formerly, bats were hand-carved to a template obtained from a fixed number of calibration points; today, they are machine-turned to a precise metal template: these templates are kept in the bat manufacturers' vaults; for example, Babe Ruth's template, which became understandably popular among major-league players, is R43 in the Louisville Slugger archives. Once the basic bat has been turned, it is then branded by burning, with the manufacturer's name, the serial number, and often the signature of the player for whom it was made: the brand is applied to the hard side of the bat, allowing the batter visual control of the hardness of the surface hitting the ball; the burn residue is then sanded off. (The first player to endorse and sign a bat was Honus Wagner.) The next step is the finishing of the head: bats are more often given a rounded head, but some 30% of players prefer a "cup-balanced" head, in which a cup-shaped recess is made in the head; this lightens the bat and moves its center of gravity toward the handle. Finally, the bat is stained in one of seven standard colors, which include natural white, red stain, black, and a two-tone blue and white stain.
In high school baseball in the United States:
The bat is not allowed to be more than 2 5/8 inches (67 mm) in diameter. Its "drop" (inches of length minus ounces of weight) must be no more than 3: for example, a 34‑inch (863.6‑mm) bat must weigh at least 31 ounces (880 g). The bat may consist of any safe solid uniform material; the National Federation of State High School Associations rules state only "wood or non-wood" material. In some 12-year-old-and-under youth leagues (such as Little League Baseball), the bat may not be more than 2 1/4 inches (57 mm) in diameter. However in many other leagues (like PONY League Baseball, and Cal Ripken League Baseball), the bat may not be more than 2 3/4 inches (70 mm) in diameter.
During use, a baseball player may rub pine tar on the gripping end of the bat in order to improve grip. Too much pine tar, however, is illegal: according to Rule 1.10(b) of the Major League Baseball Rulebook, it is not allowed more than 18 inches up from the bottom handle. An infamous example of the rule in execution is the Pine Tar Incident on 1983-07-24, when Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett was called out after hitting a home run because the umpire determined he had too much pine tar on his bat. However, Rule 1.10(b) only requires that the bat be removed from the game promptly; it does not necessitate any sort of change to the play. The out call was challenged and overruled, and the game was resumed from the home run on August 6.
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. In the National League and the Japanese Central League, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League and spreading throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of some controversy.
In most cases, the object of a pitch is to deliver the ball to the catcher without allowing the batter to hit the ball. The ball is delivered in such a way that the batter either can't hit a pitch through the strike zone, hits the ball poorly (resulting in a pop fly or ground out), or is fooled into swinging at a pitch outside of the strike zone. If the batter elects not to swing at the pitch, it is called a strike if the ball passes through the strike zone and a ball is when a pitch doesn't pass through the strike zone and the batter doesn't swing. The batter can also check swing. A check swing is when the batter swings half way when the batter thinks the pitch will be a ball. If the batter successfully check swings and the pitch is out of the strike zone, it is called a ball.
There are two legal pitching positions, the windup and the set (also called the stretch). Either position may be used at any time; typically, the windup is used when the bases are empty and the set is used when runner(s) are on base. Each position has certain procedures that must be followed. A power pitcher is a pitcher who relies on the velocity of his pitches to succeed.[1] Generally, power pitchers record a high percentage of strikeouts. A control pitcher succeeds by throwing accurate pitches and thus records few walks.
Nearly all action during a game is centered around the pitcher for the defensive team. A pitcher's particular style and skill heavily influences the dynamics of the game and will often determine the victor.
The type and sequence of pitches chosen depends upon the particular situation in a game. Because pitchers and catchers must coordinate each pitch, a system of hand signals are used by the catcher to communicate choices to the pitcher, to which the pitcher either vetoes or accepts. The relationship between pitcher and catcher is so important, that some teams use more than one starting catcher; selecting the catcher for a particular game based on who the starting pitcher is. Together, the pitcher and catcher are known as the battery.
Starting with the pivot foot on the pitcher's rubber at the center of the pitcher's mound, which is 60 feet 6 inches (18.4 m) from home plate, the pitcher throws the baseball to the catcher, who is positioned behind home plate and catches the ball. Meanwhile, a batter stands in the batter's box at one side of the plate, and attempts to bat the ball safely into fair play.
Although the object and mechanics of pitching remain the same for all pitchers, pitchers may be classified according to their roles and effectiveness. The starting pitcher begins the game and he may be followed various relief pitchers, such as the long reliever, the left-handed specialist, the middle reliever, the setup man, and/or the closer.
Effective pitching is vitally important in baseball. In baseball statistics, for each game, one pitcher will be credited with winning the game, and one pitcher will be charged with losing it (this is not necessarily the starting pitchers for each team, however. A reliever can get a win and the starter would then get a no-decision). Pitching is physically demanding, especially if the pitcher is throwing with maximum effort. A full game usually involves 120-170 pitches thrown by each team, and most pitchers begin to tire before they reach this point. As a result, the pitcher who starts a game often will not be the one who finishes it, and he may not be recovered enough to pitch again for a few days. The act of throwing a baseball at high speed is very unnatural to the body and somewhat damaging to human muscles; thus pitchers are very susceptible to injuries, soreness, and general pain.
Teams have devised two strategies to address this problem: rotation and specialization. To accommodate playing nearly every day, a team will include a group of pitchers who start games and rotate between them, allowing each pitcher to rest for a few days between starts. Also, teams have additional pitchers reserved to replace that game's starting pitcher if he tires or proves ineffective. These players are called relief pitchers, relievers, or collectively the bullpen. The relief pitchers often have even more specialized roles, and the particular reliever used depends on the situation. Many teams designate one pitcher as the closer, a relief pitcher specifically reserved to pitch the final inning or innings of a game when his team has a narrow lead, in order to preserve the victory. Generally, relief pitchers pitch fewer innings and throw fewer pitches than starting pitchers, but may be able to pitch more frequently without needing multiple days to recover.
A pitcher releases the baseball from the pitcher's mound Delivery of the baseball from the pitcher to catcher A skilled pitcher often throws a variety of different pitches in order to prevent the batter from hitting the ball well. The most basic pitch is a fastball, where the pitcher throws the ball as hard as he can. Some pitchers are able to throw a fastball at a speed of over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Other common types of pitches are the curveball, slider, changeup, forkball, split-fingered fastball, and knuckleball. These generally are intended to have unusual movement or to deceive the batter as to the rotation or velocity of the ball, making it more difficult to hit. Very few pitchers throw all of these pitches, but most use a subset or blend of the basic types. Some pitchers also release pitches from different arm angles, making it harder for the batter to pick up the flight of the ball. (See List of baseball pitches.) A pitcher who is throwing well on a particular day is said to have brought his "good stuff".
There are a number of distinct throwing styles used by pitchers. The most common style is an overhand delivery in which the pitcher's arm snaps downward with the release of the ball. Some pitchers use a sidearm delivery in which the arm arcs laterally to the torso. Some pitchers use a submarine style in which the pitcher's body tilts sharply downward on delivery, creating an exaggerated sidearm motion in which the pitcher's knuckles come very close to the mound.
http://www.enterbet.com
Find the best baseball bats at the Old Bat including youth baseball bats, softball bats, Canadian birch baseball bats and more
Find baseball bat and more sports equipment items at Shop online and compare prices. Shopping made simple
Find the best price for BATS Men's Baseball at Yahoo! Shopping. Compare prices, read reviews and ratings for BATS Men's Baseball
Labels: baseball, best baseball bats, bet cash, bet payouts, bet players, bet presidential, bet spread, fantasy baseball, horse racing bet, vegas mlb, win bet
