BASEBALL BAT REVIEWS

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The Louisville Slugger TPX Omaha Comp baseball bat is Louisville’s second tier composite baseball bat (the Triton being their top composite bat). It is a one piece 100% composite bat with a stiff handle.

Louisville is wise to offer a two tier composite baseball bat strategy, as the Omaha Comp should compete well against 100% alloy and hybrid bats. It is priced correctly at $299 for the Adult -3 and $149 for the Youth -11. It is my recommendation for second tier composite bats. (more…)

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The Louisville Exogrid has been a popular baseball bat for the last three years. When introduced, it had a unique design that separated it from the pack. In the 2009 model year, with the reemergence of composite bats and introduction of hybrid technology, the Exogrid is no longer a novelty. Louisville is a strong proponent of the stiff handle. Their material says “the last thing you want at the moment of contact is for your bat handle to flex thus the barrel can not.  A stiff handle produces more barrel flex, resulting in maximum trampoline effect and greater performance.” The Exogrid is marketed as the premier stiff handle bat in their arsenal because of its design.

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Easton has been the leader in composite bats for the last several years and will undoubtedly continue this trend with the IMX, their new 100% composite bats for 2009. Easton is extremely smart to their approach in manufacturing baseball bats by not putting all their eggs in one basket. They leave no stone uncovered by making top notch models in every category and design. Their top priority is pushing the 2 piece design and flex handle which they pioneered some 6 years ago with the Connection introduction. But they also make and market quality one piece bats with stiff handles that directly compete with manufactures that rely on this design, most notably Louisville and Rawlings.

They say the IMX or Integrated Matrix Technology optimizes composite design, materials and process for maximum performance. With the IMX Easton offers two bats made from the same IMX composite material in two distinct designs. They are the: (more…)

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Louisville has finally responded to Easton and Demarini’s multi-piece bat designs with the Louisville Slugger TPX Triton, a unique 3 piece bat. What I find amazing about this bat is the size of the barrel. This is the largest barrel I’ve ever seen on a baseball bat. My initial thought is this thing looks like an oak tree!

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Reebok has entered the baseball bat arena with a unique bat design they hope will break through the clutter. These bats are just hitting the market (as of 10/15/08) so I have not held or used one. I therefore can only provide the published information at my thoughts at the present time. I hope to have my full review for the Christmas buying season.

Reebok’s new Vector O series of baseball bats unique feature is that the handle has three holes in it (called ports) that claim to do two things. First they say it can reduce drag and therefore increase bat speed. We all know bat speed is a critical aspect of hitting the ball farther. Second the holes offer the opportunity to redistribute the weight to the barrel making it longer. The longer barrel would therefore increase the sweet spot. (more…)

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What is a Composite Baseball Bat?

Composite baseball bats are here to stay so know them, live them and love them.

Stronger and lighter than high-grade aluminum, composite baseball bats are either made of a graphite-fiber composite material or have an aluminum core with graphite lining.

The main advantage of composite is it’s lighter than aluminum and hence provides for a larger barrel and sweet spot within the designated drop ratio. Composite bats give a whole lot more forgiveness for the imperfect swing, and have the potential to make the average hitter a clean-up hitter. (more…)

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So what is a hybrid baseball bat and why would I want to buy one? A hybrid baseball bat is a combination of composite and alloy material. The handle is composite and the barrel is alloy.

Examples of 2009 Hybrid Baseball Bats include:

• Louisville TPX H2
• Easton SV12
• Demarini Voodoo
• Demarini Vendetta
• Demarini Vexxum
• Rawlings Rush Gold Lite
• Nike Aero Fuse (not to be confused with the Aero Fuse CF2)

The lighter composite handle allows the alloy barrel to be made longer than a traditional 100% alloy bat. This increases the “sweet spot” compared to an alloy bat and provides more leeway to the batter. In contrast, a 100% composite bat has both a composite handle and barrel making the barrel, and “sweet spot”, even larger. (more…)

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Sorting through the vast number of baseball bats on the market, their retail price and composition can be an overwhelming task.

I’ve taken the time to provide an Adult -3 Bat pricing list for the 2009 baseball bats I’ve reviewed on this blog Baseball Bat Reviews and put them in a table below. This will help you put it all in perspective to make your decision. For instance why pay $379 for the Easton SV12 Hybrid when you can have the Easton IMX Composite for the same price? (more…)

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Before I start with the baseball bat review, let’s begin with the name. Miken is a combination of the names of its two founders, Mike and Ken. I had always thought it was the name of a well known softball player.

Miken was founded in 1997 as a manufacturer of composite golf club shafts and soon began manufacturing softball bats with its composite material. They expanded into baseball bats and continue to manufacture composite only bats.

In 2004 Miken was purchased by K2 (the ski company) which also owns the Rawlings and Worth brands. There’s no doubt Miken composite material is now well integrated into Rawlings and Worth bats. I’m sure most of the bats of each brand are identical except for the name on the paint. This now explains why Worth has the most over hyped spin on their bats, remember RAV? Worth is on the bottom of K2’s totem pole and the writers must be out of material by then.  (more…)

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I’ve said that Rawlings is the Rodney Dangerfield of baseball bats and baseball bat reviews. If that’s true then Worth is the Joe Piscopo of baseball bats. You know he’s still out doing comedy shows somewhere on earth, but you just don’t care. You should already know where I’m going on this, and it won’t be pretty.

Worth has come out with the most senseless hype I’ve ever read in a baseball bat review. Then to top it, they promote the acronyms of this hype. This is some of their actual spin, with my sarcastic comments added:

­ “Performance Inner Core – 2 layers of composite fibers are assembled with polylayers in between and then cured under high heat.” Polylayers in-between? Cured under high heat? As opposed to low heat?

­ “Rapid Air Vacuum process (RAV) – pressurized mold holds layers in place as air is rapidly vacuumed out of the composite structure.” Oh yeah, I’m buying a bat because air was vacuumed out of it rapidly. Hey everybody my bat’s better than yours because it’s got RAV!

­ “Epoxy Induction Process (EIP) – a proprietary 2 part epoxy is pulled through the woven layers under constant heat and pressure, after the Rapid Air Vacuum process is complete.” Hmm looks like RAV wasn’t enough to make this bat the best in the world, it also needed EIP. So Worth bats have “layers in-between” and “epoxy pulled through the layers”. You’ve got to be kidding me!  (more…)

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Okay, I’ll start by saying I hate the Yankees and therefore hate Don Mattingly. With that out of the way my review of these bats will be objective.

Mattingly bats main selling point is the V-Grip handle. The handle, somewhat shaped like a V, is designed to help you grip the handle correctly. Meaning your “door knocking knuckles” are aligned when grasping the handle. In my opinion, it’s the equivalent of the youth baseball gloves that have a notch to help kids close the glove better. (more…)

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