# Hitting the Plate with a Bat

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-plate-with-a-bat/670406>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 5, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-plate-with-a-bat/670406 "2013-10-05T01:07:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dave10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@dave10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave10)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-plate-with-a-bat/670406/1 "2013-10-05T01:07:23Z")

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The reason a batter hits the plate with the bat is to make sure it has no hairline fractures, especially in the handle. From the time I was a tiny Little Leaguer in the 60s (still using wooden bats) until watching my nephew play semi-pro ball (with wooden bats), this was the general routine. Hitting the handle on the plate will yield a hollow sound and/or cause a visible crack to open. If the bat is loaded with cork or otherwise juiced, the batter tosses it back toward the dugout asap.

Measuring the distance of a swing is a different ritual. For that, you touch or tap the head of the bat on the inside of the plate. When you raise the bat to a vertical position, the head of the bat will reach just an inch or two past the outside part of the plate. Geometry in action!

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**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-the-plate-with-a-bat/670406/2 "2013-10-05T12:08:15Z")

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> [@dave10](#):
>
> The reason a batter hits the plate with the bat is to make sure it has no hairline fractures, especially in the handle. From the time I was a tiny Little Leaguer in the 60s (still using wooden bats) until watching my nephew play semi-pro ball (with wooden bats), this was the general routine. Hitting the handle on the plate will yield a hollow sound and/or cause a visible crack to open. If the bat is loaded with cork or otherwise juiced, the batter tosses it back toward the dugout asap.
> 
> Measuring the distance of a swing is a different ritual. For that, you touch or tap the head of the bat on the inside of the plate. When you raise the bat to a vertical position, the head of the bat will reach just an inch or two past the outside part of the plate. Geometry in action!

First, a [link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1000/in-baseball-why-do-batters-pound-the-plate-with-the-bat)to the column in question.

And while I have seen batters check the bat by hitting the handle on the plate, I wouldn’t call that a ritual so much since they tend to only do it when they suspect the bat might be cracked.  
Tapping the corner of the plate is more of a ritual and I suspect what the original question was about. Some players do like to tap both inside and outside - superstition beats geometry every day.