Message board »Message Board home »Sign-in or register to get started
Online now: 2 members: Keys7337, twonine; 14 anonymousDiscussion: Question about single-wall metal bats
Posted | Discussion |
March 6 DCPete 409 posts | Do these bats need to be broken-in at all before being game-ready? Seem to remember when these were all that we used that some players claimed the bats would actually get worse over time due to metal fatigue? Comments/opinions appreciated . . . |
March 7 nails Men's 70 71 posts | i would also like to know the answer to this question,,does anyone know? |
March 7 crusher Men's 75 524 posts | Started playing in early 70's. Wood Bats. When single wall bats came along they appeared to be ready to go on first swing. Sometimes by the end of 1st inning a $135 dollar bat would be mashed flat when the top 7 guys on our team used the same bat. The Double Wall bat got better after some use. Over time it also flattened. The best all time double wall bat I ever hit was the 97 Model 26oz DeMarini. This bat retailed for $300.oo. James |
March 7 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | I remember the transition time. The manager kicked in to buy the first aluminum bat and we ALL used it. Wow! A bat that won't break! After awhile another guy got tired of swinging a heavier bat than he liked and he bought the team a lighter bat. Similarly, our big guy bought a heavy bat for himself and anyone else on the team to use. I remember that they all eventually got dented. But we all kept using them. No one saw any advantage to using a dented bat. The performance began at one level and stayed consistent. No thinking of a "hotter" bat in those days. That began with the titanium bat and the double walls. The aluminum bat in our minds was just practical. |
March 8 ju25 Men's 60 236 posts | First aluminum bats were like fence poles, virtually indestructable. When they came out with singlewalls they thinned down the metal wall for better performance. These bats were at their best right out of wrapper and degraded or dented after use. When I first started playing('71) the ball degraded, not the bat. When singlewalls first came out the balls were rocks(red & blue dots) .52/575+ or 50/575+ and performance was improved but durability suffered. I used an XBH(heavy wall) from the 70's to early 90's. '96/'97 Demarinis were insane and Worth EST's of the late 90's were great also. Best singlewall I ever hit was a Ritch's Superior but it didn't last the whole season. Singlewall bats nowadays are good to go right out of wrapper. |
March 8 DCPete 409 posts | Thanx for the replies; agree with all of them. That was the era when the umps all used the metal ring to see if it would slide up & down the barrel; if it hung up they knew the bat was dented and threw it out. Back then in the single-wall era about the only thing that mattered for a hitter was the weight of the bat. |