Torpedo Bats and the Physics of the Sweet Spot

In any sport, having the best gear can make all the difference. Swimmers want a suit with the minimum possible drag. Specialized running shoes trim off seconds in track and field events. Super grippy gloves in football created a whole genre of circus catches. Well, in baseball we have the bat. This season, the New York Yankees have begun to use a new design called the torpedo bat because it supposedly resembles a torpedo (though I doubt it works underwater). I’d say it looks more like an elongated bowling pin, but that doesn’t sound as cool. Anyway, in the first three games of the season, the Yanks hit 15 home runs, nine of which came off torpedo bats. That pace slowed a bit in the last two games, but they’re still breaking records. Is that a coincidence, or is this legit? Well, did I mention that the bat was designed by a former physics professor? ’Nuff said. So what’s the difference? It’s all about the distribution of mass. Traditional bats get thicker as you move away from the h ... Read full article.