At one time it was easy as picking up a stick and hitting a ball. The game of Baseball evolved from a game called Rounders, and Cricket. early baseball bats were modeled after the bats used in theses sports.
The baseball bat changed over the years as the rules in the game changed. The bat evolved as the game of baseball did.
19th century bats were generally heavier and considerably thicker in the handle and had more of a gradual taper from the handle to the barrel about" 3 feet long, round, tapered and was to be between an inch and a half at the handle to three inches at the barrel. In 1857, the dimensions agreed upon were described as round, not to be more than two and one-half inches around in its thickest part and was to be no longer than 42 inches.
The National League made two major changes for 1885. It was now legal to have 18 inches of the handle wrapped in twine and one side of the bat was allowed to be flat. The American Association adopted this rule when they followed the same rules as the National League in 1887. In 1893, the bat was no longer allowed to be flat on one side but was required to be round. The length was still limited to 42 inches and the thickness of the thickest part was still two and on-half inches. The thickness of the bat was increased to two and three-quarters inches in 1895 and remains the same today
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Softball bats have changed a lot over the past ten years. They have gone from just aluminum to a new composite material. This new composite material lasts longer and provide for a better transfer of energy from the bat to the ball.
The first reason the bats are different is because of the ball size. The baseball is smaller then the softball is. Making the bat having to have a different type of shape to it to get a firm hit on the ball to make good hits. Second,the softball and the baseball are made up differenty. The baseball is made up of less of rubbery string and it's smaller so it won't have as much as a softball.The softball is larger therefore the ball has more rubbery string to it.So the ball will bounce off of the bat more.
Many bats are broken for many reasons :
1. Ash breaks easily
2. Bat makers trying to make bats skinnier for player specifications
3. A cutter(pitch) will break bats easily because the way it makes contact with it
4. MARIANO RIVERA
The first actual baseball bat was created in 1881. It was created by inventor J. Frederick Hillerich and it was called the Louisville Slugger.