Baseball Reviews

Do you want to know what my favorite type of baseball bat is? It’s a wooden one. Nothing beats the original flavor of an old American wooden baseball bat. If you don’t have one, you should probably look into them, so you came to the right page.

Why are wooden bats so awesome? One big thing that sets wooden bats apart from metal bats is the history behind them. Wooden bats go all the way back to the origin of baseball.

History

Did you know that when baseball first started bats were curved like a banana? That’s why they were called banana bats. It’s a funny thing to imagine if you ask me since all baseball bats nowadays are straight as a razor. The purpose of this was to catch the ball and it’s motion and to create a weird spin on it so that it is hard to catch.

Another cool thing about wooden bats is that in the beginning there were two knobs on the bottom instead of one. The second knob would come about 2 inches above the first knob at the end of the bat. This was just for some extra grip, but it helped out the batters that choked up on the bat.

Materials

Most wooden bats are made with Maple, Hickory, Ash, or Bamboo. These are all solid woods as you can imagine the amount of stress that is put on them when you hit the baseball.

A lot of wooden bats, especially in the major leagues, are all one piece of solid wood. If you ever get the chance to watch the manufacturing process of these bats, you won’t regret it. It’s incredible to start with a block of wood and turn it into such a powerful hitting device. Now, some wooden bats have metal in them like a lot of the composite wood mixtures, but that’s okay.

Caring for The Bat

There are two main things that even major league players do to maintain their wooden bats.

One thing they do is called bone rubbing. The action is the name, and the reason for this is quite genius. What most baseball players do is they sit in the dugout and rub bones on it to close the pores. Just kidding, only old major league baseball players used to do this to their wooden bats. I wonder who was the first one to think of this since this is such a weird process.

Bone Rubbing

Nowadays the manufacturers like Marucci rub their bats with bones in the manufacturing process. I find this pretty surprising because of the amount of detail that each bat can get. So what happens? Well since the bat has a bunch of pores in it which are like little holes the density is lowered which means that the bat can break a little easier. When you fill in these gaps with bone, the bat becomes stronger and more solid then it was before, which is why even Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig did this. Don’t worry; you do not have to do this now since the bat manufacturer usually does this for you. But if you wanted to try it takes a couple hours so make sure you have the time.

Keep It Dry

Have you ever picked up a baseball to throw it and it’s really heavy because it’s waterlogged? The same thing happens at a wooden baseball bat when it accumulates too much water. Some things you could do is, first of all, treat them right. Don’t throw them all over the place and make sure you put them on the bat rack when you’re not using it. When you’re out of game, you can keep it in a warm, dry place. If anything just keep it dry, because that is the most important thing. Some baseball players would even put their bats in a box of sawdust, to make sure that in the air that the bad is in, there is 0% moisture. This is only if you’re stingy with your bat and do not want it to get a little heavier than it is.

Durability

When you talk about the durability of a baseball bat, it’s usually not as good as a metal bat. But that is why there is a lot of variations between wood baseball bats.

When you talk about the durability of a baseball bat, you can include the type of wood that is used. Usually, the strongest type of wood is bamboo. If you ever use a bamboo baseball bat, you can just tell how hard the wood is which makes it last much longer.

Another thing about wood baseball bats is that they can have composite and metal inside them too. I know this is cheating but a lot of baseball cards have this. I kind of like this because you get the best of both worlds, while still having that wood feel to it.

The last thing to talk about on the durability of a wooden baseball bat is the grain of the wood. If the ball keeps hitting a particular place on the wood and keeps knocking the grain, the bat can split as you have seen it many times in the major leagues. This is very dangerous, so I recommend if you see a tiny little split inside your bat to stop using it at least around people.

One time I was catching in a fall league and the batter was using a split wood bat. Next pitch was a fastball that hit the inside of the bat and the next thing I know was that pieces of bat were flying towards my face. I was lucky enough that the two pieces went around me, but there’s not a case for a lot of players who get injured by these so keep a lookout four broken or damaged wooden bats.

Price

The last thing before I get into the bats is the pricing of wooden baseball bats.

If you’ve ever seen the prices of metal bats and how they go so high, this is not the case for wooden bats. Wooden baseball bats are a fraction of the cost of metal bats.

If you’re looking for a cheap baseball for batting practice, you can pick up a great wooden baseball bat for $30. This is not the case if you’re looking for a metal or aluminum baseball bat which a decent one is definitely over $100 if you’re lucky. The average metal baseball bat is around $200, but the average wooden baseball bat I would say is around $40.

This to me is why I like wooden bats over metal bats. I grew up not being able to afford these awesome, fancy metal baseball bats, so I always stuck with wood. Not saying that the newest aluminum alloy baseball bat isn’t great because it is, I’m just saying it is much better for your wallet to just stick with wood. That’s just why I like it so much better.

Now to The Bats!

1. Easton K2000 North American Ash Baseball Bat

The Easton K2000 is definitely my number one because of the basicness.  I think nowadays bat companies are going too over the top in some of the designs, but this is just a basic baseball bat you know? I’m an old-fashioned guy because old-fashioned is sometimes better than over-complicating things.  The Easton K2000 is made up of North American Ash, as you can see in the title.  Guys, if you are looking for a good baseball bat for a season or for batting practice I highly recommend this one. I am a very economical person so for this price you get a great baseball bat that can perform to what you need.

Pros:

• A basic baseball bat
• Great price
• Made by Easton (one of the best bat manufacturers)

Cons:

• Maybe too basic for some players
• Doesn’t have bells and whistles like cool grip tape or special design

2. 2017 Baum Bat

Differing from the first choice, the 2017 Baum Bat is actually a wood/composite combination.  This is the second most popular type of wooden bat nowadays.  The composite makes the wooden bat go to the next level with pop and bat speed.  Something cool about the 2017 Baum bat is that it has material that is used in the aerospace community. How cool is it when science meets sports right? Don’t be afraid when I say this because this is still a wood baseball bat mind you.  The composite is located inside of the barrel, so all of the outside of the baseball bat is wood.  This technology is pretty awesome if you ask me since they take a regular wooden bat and just take it to the next level.  If you are a player that is looking for a premium wooden baseball bat, I believe you have met your maker.

Pros:

• Premium Wood Baseball Bat
• Used by major leaguers
• BBCOR certified

Cons:

• Price is higher than other wood bats
• Not 100% wood

3. Marucci MEFMPC

The Marucci MEFMPC is an example of a job well done without breaking your wallet. With the 100% hand-crafted design, and the production additives, this bat should be $500, but it’s not.  Have you ever went to a mom and pop place where the price was low but the food was super good? Yea… that’s it.  When I talked about bone rubbing at the top of the page, I was referring to this bat.  Not only do I like the high attention to detail to these bats, but the features.  The Marucci MEFMPC has a heavy resin layer to make it even harder than it was.  I mean look at all of the things that they do to make this bat as solid as it can be.  They bone rub, hand-craft the whole thing, create a thick layer of epoxy… should I go on?  Great overall bat guys, shout out to Marucci.

Pros:

• Super strong
• Great price
• 100% Hand-crafted

Cons:

• Can be too hard for some players

4. Rawlings Velo Pro

If you have seen my review of the Rawlings Velo, make sure it was the right one.  That is because there are a metal and a wood version of this bat!  The wood version has two kinds of wood incorporated into the design.  I was a little taken back by this but I learned more about it.  On the Rawlings Velo Pro, the handle is maple and the barrel is bamboo.  I like this because you get the best of both worlds in one bat.  Also, there is less shock from bad hits on the end or something.  One more thing that is cool about this bat is the name because Velo means medium.  Medium is referring to the barrel, as it is not a big one, but not too small.  That design helps with bat speed and focused power.

Pros:

• Medium barrel
• Two kinds of woods incorporated
• Has a metal counterpart

Cons:

• Barrel might be smaller than most batters are comfortable to

5. DeMarini 2014 Corndog

I had to find an odd one for you guys… I just had to.  Dude this thing is called the corndog!  I think that is the smartest bat name I’ve heard, I’ll tell you why.  So this is an aluminum/wood bat which is obviously much different than any of the other bats on this list.  Don’t worry because the DeMarini 2014 Corndog is BBCOR certified which means you can use it in most leagues.  I love that you get two types of bat feels into one bat.  There aren’t a lot of other wood baseball bats that can pass for a metal one and vice versa.

Pros:

• Both wood and aluminum technology

Cons:

• Maybe a little awkward at first to use since bats are usually one or the other

Overall these bats are all awesome and fit a certain player, so if you like the DeMarini 2014 Corndog then go for it but someone like me wouldn’t like that.  On this list, there are all types of wooden bats, and I did that on purpose.  All players are different and like different things, so if you only like one bat on here don’t be discouraged.

Lets Be Friends!