A Look At Baseball History - The Torpedo Bat Is The New Bottle Bat!

Okay, seriously am I the only one who isn’t all fired up about this darn Torpedo bat? I’m of the mindset that the bat isn’t magical and the hitter still has to do their job. This Torpedo bat is the new issue that just makes everyone hot blooded and crazy. It just shouldn’t be, this isn’t a new concept.

We are so accustomed to the traditional baseball bat, so I get that some baseball purists strongly oppose this bat. I can understand the traditional spirit at heart considering I can relate to a lot of that. However, since Rob Manfred took the reigns as MLB Commissioner, he has made it clear that he is looking to change the game and make it more appealing to younger audiences. He’s made some stupid rule changes that the purist side in me hates. I hate the pitch clock; I hate the elimination of the shift, and I especially hate the rule of a runner starting at second in extra innings. I hate that more than ANY of his stupid rule changes.

But no matter how much I have hated it, or any of you reading this have hated it Manfred does what Manfred wants. That goes double for these Torpedo bats. This “new” Torpedo Bat isn’t really a revolutionary concept….and it isn’t illegal either, even though some call it cheating.

Check it out for yourself HERE MLB rule 3.02 The Bat:
“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.”

As long as the dimensions of the bat meet the rule above…. it’s legal. Every single MLB team can use these bats. It just so happens the Yankees have several guys using them, so it becomes a hot topic especially after the series with the Brewers. Jazz Chisholm Jr didn’t magically hit his home runs thanks only to his bat. By the way, those bats haven’t helped against the Diamondbacks. There is no unfair advantage here, we saw the typical Yankees so far in five games…. they are all or nothing.

So yeah, everyone wants to talk about the Torpedo bats now, but these aren’t revolutionary bats. When I was little growing up, I used to hear my uncle tell me stories about Heinie Manush and his infamous “bottle bat” back in the 1930′s. I remember he talked about how Manush had a magical bat. It wasn’t magical because he hit tons of home runs like Aaron Judge (who isn’t using a Torpedo bat). His career best was 14 home runs in a season, but he could hit. He does what the Yankees don’t do now, which is hit for average, and he did it consistently until the last couple years of his career.

This bat is just customized to each hitter and I don’t think that is a bad thing or a cheating thing. The standard swell of a bat doesn’t work for everyone so having more wood in the barrel shifted closer to the hands can also reduce weight which will help players time their swing better. It’s purely a customization and one that EVERY MLB TEAM CAN CHOOSE TO USE.

I can appreciate some fans passion. I get it, I have had plenty of issues with some of Manfred’s changes but I am okay with this bat. This isn’t a corked bat or an aluminum one for crying out loud. At the end of the day you still gotta see the ball and make contact. We’ve seen the Yankees are still the flawed Yankees with or without it. It’s not all about the bat, folks……

The Torpedo bat is the new Bottle bat…and it may be here to stay.