A question about baseball bats

[Chronos]

Of course, it’s also possible that corking a bat doesn’t actually accomplish anything productive, and that players persist in doing it just because they think it does.

[lobotomyboy63]

That’s exactly what I think…corking a bat doesn’t help.

OP, if you ever get to Louisville KY:

World's Largest Bat, Louisville, Kentucky

[Pardel-Lux]

Would be funny if they did something illegal, paid the price (exclusions, bans…) and all for something completely futile, a mere superstition.
If I ever go to Louisville, KY, I will have to look it up personally, because:

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Never mind, I’ll google it. Thanks you all for the replies! An alien world to me, and then words like corcking, burned bails, scrub baseball, stickball, rubbing mud. Nice!

@Chronos

As I understand it, the requirements on a Major League bat are that it be turned from a single piece of wood, […]

I suppose that means that the bat should have a circular section, though there are curves of constant width that are not circular. I wonder if a Reuleaux triangle section would be an (unfair) advantage or not.

[kenobi_65]

@Pardel-Lux

I suppose that means that the bat should have a circular section, though there are curves of constant width that are not circular. I wonder if a Reuleaux triangle section would be an (unfair) advantage or not.

Yup, it has to have a round cross-section. Here’s the actual text of the MLB rule on bats (source):

1.10
(a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood. NOTE: No laminated or experimental bats shall be used in a professional game (either championship season or exhibition games) until the manufacturer has secured approval from the Rules Committee of his design and methods of manufacture. (b) Cupped Bats. An indentation in the end of the bat up to one inch in depth is permitted and may be no wider than two inches and no less than one inch in diameter. The indentation must be curved with no foreign substance added. (c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip. Any such material or substance, which extends past the 18 inch limitation, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game. NOTE: If the umpire discovers that the bat does not conform to (c) above until a time during or after which the bat has been used in play, it shall not be grounds for declaring the batter out, or ejected from the game. (d) No colored bat may be used in a professional game unless approved by the Rules Committee.

The rule mentions that a “cup” is legal; a cup is a fairly small indentation which is allowed in the top end of the bat (i.e., the end opposite the handle). As I understand it, the idea behind a cup is that it takes a small amount of weight out of the bat, without changing its length (and, thus, possibly adding a tiny bit to bat speed). I don’t know that there’s any empirical evidence to prove this, however, and I don’t know if cupping is widely done.

Anyway, here’s a picture of a cupped end to a baseball bat:

[running_coach]

@kenobi_65

As I understand it, the idea behind a cup is that it takes a small amount of weight out of the bat, without changing its length -

It also lets you stand the bat on a ball if there’s no rack handy. /deadpan

[Atamasama]

@Chronos

Of course, it’s also possible that corking a bat doesn’t actually accomplish anything productive, and that players persist in doing it just because they think it does.

Hey that stuff works, just like the +5 Amulets of Baseball Enhancement.

Placebo-ball: the science of baseball's magical necklaces

As in naturopathy and other holistic “medicinal” practices, placebos work. Dumbo’s Magic Feather helps.

[asterion]

Baseball players are known to be highly superstitious. Some superstitions are less ugly or harmful than others. Other than the idea of corking a bat, I don’t really know of any bat related superstitions.

[kenobi_65]

@asterion

Other than the idea of corking a bat, I don’t really know of any bat related superstitions.

This page lists a bunch of strange baseball superstitions, though I don’t know how many of them are widely followed anymore. The bat-related ones are:

3152. If you cross bats in playing ball, your luck will change.

3153. In laying baseball bats down, do not cross them.

3154. If you break your bat, you may expect a batting slump.

3155. It causes bad luck to change bats after you have taken one in your hand.

3156. To change bats after the second strike is unwise.

3157. It causes bad luck for a baseball player to stand on the plate with the large end of the bat down.

3158. If one drops a baseball bat between the home base and the catcher, bad luck will follow.

3159. When one is running toward first base, it brings bad luck to step over a bat.

3160. For good luck, spit on the end of the bat before batting.

Sport Superstitions

[Mark_Finn]

Does cricket have any similar “bat” superstitions?