Copyright © Daniel B. Botkin 2007

Fans who love to hear the solid thwack of ball meeting wooden bat in a World Series game, especially when it signals a home run, better prepare for the Great Baseball Bat Crisis. Aluminum has replaced wood in high school and college baseball, and many fans resent the “ping” produced when aluminum collides with ball. But unless a sustained source of the wood that goes into big-league bats is established, aluminum bats may be the fate of major league baseball. (more…)