Materials in Action Feature An analysis of the physics of base- ball bats is presented in this study. In particular, the analysis focuses on the safety of various types of baseball bats and the numerous approaches that have been taken in the industry to improve their safety. In order to evalu- ate their safety, several factors have been analyzed including the baseball EDW FRHIｿFLHQW RI UHVWLWXWLRQ WKH WUDP- poline effect, the durability of the bat and its constituent materials. In this study, a novel, patented, reinforced wooden baseball bat has been exam- ined to determine its durability and safety relative to traditional wooden EDWV 5HVXOWV EDVHG RQ D ｿQLWH HOHPHQW analysis using ANSYS software have demonstrated that this reinforced bat reduces the stress of impact with a baseball, increasing the useable lifespan of the bat. Furthermore, af- ter thorough and consistent use, re- sults suggest that the reinforced bat is both more durable and safer because it takes longer to break than a tradi- tional bat and, when it does break, it cracks instead of splintering and be- coming a projectile. INTRODUCTION Baseball is one of the oldest sports in America, dating back to the mid- 1800s. As would be expected with any sport that has been around for more than 150 years, there have been many advances made in baseball through the years. Probably the biggest ad- vancements have been in the area of equipment. In the early years of base- ball, there were not very many rules regarding equipment, as most equip- ment was generally very rudimentary. However, as the equipment began to Design Implementation of Baseball Bats: Reinforced Bats—A Case Study N.M. Ravindra, Ivan Padron, Priyanka Singh, Bhumi Bhatt, Vishal Singh, and Kevin Fritz advance, rules were implemented by organized baseball leagues to main- tain a competitive balance between the teams and the players. These rules were more focused on achieving com- petitive balance than increasing safe- ty, largely because the equipment was not advanced enough to cause major safety concerns. Starting in the 1970s, metal base- ball bats, especially aluminum bats, became increasingly popular due to their extreme durability and improved performance over traditional wooden bats. More recently, bats made of composite materials, which offer even better performance, have also become common. As the metal and composite bat performance continued to improve over the years, the competitive bal- ance between hitters and pitchers was increasingly disrupted, and more im- portantly, safety began to be a major concern. For example, given an av- erage pitch speed and bat speed, the pitcher could have as little as 0.33 sec- onds to react to a ball hit back at them in little league baseball, and as little as 0.26 seconds in major league base- ball. Another safety concern is that when wooden bats break during play, they often splinter, and a large chunk of the bat becomes a projectile which can potentially come very close to one RI WKH ｿHOGHUV ,Q IDFW  SHRSOH ZHUH killed playing youth baseball between 1987 and 1996 and there were over 29,000 injuries, including over 15,000 ball-related mishaps. 1 As these incidents grew in frequen- cy, more rules about baseball equip- ment, especially regarding baseball bats, were introduced at various levels of play to help make the game safer. The rules that have been implemented are not completely consistent and of- ten vary from one league to another. In Little League and collegiate base- ball where metal bats are prevalent, more and stricter rules have been implemented. The Little League As- sociation of America, for example, recently outlawed all bats made of composite materials and also has rules regarding the maximum length of the bat as well as its maximum diameter. 2 The NCAA has gone even further re- garding rules for the safety of baseball bats. In addition to length and diam- eter restrictions, there are also rules regarding the difference between the length and weight of the bat as well as the bat’s moment of inertia. 3 Until recently, the National Collegiate Ath- letic Association (NCAA) also had a rule which required that all approved bats be tested to determine the ball exit speed ratio (BESR), which com- pared the speed of the ball before and after collision with the bat. Bats with a BESR of more than 0.728 were not allowed in play. 4 Recently, however, a new, more stringent statistic called the EDVHEDOO EDW FRHIｿFLHQW RI UHVWLWXWLRQ (BBCOR) has been implemented by the NCAA which also takes into ac- count the “trampoline effect” caused by metallic and composite baseball bats. Bats with BBCOR ratings of more than 0.50 are not allowed in competition. 3 In Major League Baseball as well as professional Minor League Base- ball, where wooden bats are used exclusively, fewer rules are present regarding baseball bats. While this is understandable in the sense that these leagues do not have to be concerned JOM, Vol. 64, No. 3, 2012 DOI: 10.1007/s11837-012-0288-2 Ó 2012 TMS 359