1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from half 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer here 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 1: at how Stuff Works in a love all things tech 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: and today is an interesting topic. It's one that I 6 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: would not have considered, but tech Stuff listener Carter asked 7 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: that I record an episode about baseball bats, and on 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: first blush, you might think such a topic is unfit 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:37,480 Speaker 1: for a technology podcast. The O E. D. That being 10 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: The Oxford English Dictionary defines technology as quote the application 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry end quote. 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: A baseball bat hardly seems to qualify on casual glance, 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: but baseball is a big industry in of itself. In fact, 14 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: according to Forbes, in two thousand seventeen, Major League base 15 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: ball revenues were more than ten billion dollars. That was 16 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: the first time in history that the league get hit 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: a number that high. And when you have that much 18 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: money dedicated to an endeavor, more attention, care, and detail 19 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: comes to bear on every aspect of that industry, including, 20 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: as it turns out, the construction and design of baseball bats. 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: And there's a lot of tech that goes into the 22 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: making of a modern baseball bat these days, especially from 23 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: the major manufacturers, and that's because baseball bats have become 24 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: something of a revered piece of equipment. In fact, I'd 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 1: go so far as to say there's a lot of 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: superstition that feeds into the way baseball bats are constructed. 27 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: Once a player finds a little success with a particular 28 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: type of bat, they're likely to stick with that model 29 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: out of a belief that at least some of their 30 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: success is due to the performance of their equipment. But 31 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: bats don't last forever, so there has to be some 32 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: way to replicate a particular bat as closely as possible. 33 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: When you're using a material like wood, that becomes challenging. So, 34 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: as it turns out, this involves both advanced woodworking tools 35 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: and a certain set of skills, as Leam Neeson would say, 36 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,679 Speaker 1: and it's certainly true that there are specific physics involved 37 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: that make one bat different from another bat. So today 38 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: we'll take a look at the history of the baseball bat, 39 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: how bat size was eventually codified in the rules of baseball, 40 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: and how these bats are made today. So batter up first, 41 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: a bit about the history of baseball because it is 42 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: based on lies and deceit and lots of money, which 43 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: I think is really cool. Back in the early nineteen hundreds, 44 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: there was an apocryphal story that made the rounds regarding 45 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,399 Speaker 1: baseball's origins, and this was a response to a request 46 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: from a fellow by the name of Albert Goodwill Baulding. Spalding, 47 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: whose name you might recognize if you've ever gone inside 48 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: a sporting goods store, had played professional baseball in the 49 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies, and he was a pitcher. He was a 50 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: high performing pitcher in the eighteen seventies, and he was 51 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: reportedly one of the first players to use a baseball 52 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: glove to help field the ball. He opened up a 53 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: sporting goods store and became a part owner of the 54 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: Chicago White Stockings baseball team. He was also one of 55 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: the founders of the National League of Baseball. But one 56 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: thing kept gnawing in the back of his mind. Where 57 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: did baseball actually come from? This question about the origins 58 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,119 Speaker 1: of baseball didn't just pop up unprompted. Spalding's business published 59 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: a journal called The Baseball Guide, and the editor of 60 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: the Baseball Guide was a guy named Henry Chadwick, who 61 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: wrote about what appeared to be the English roots of baseball, 62 00:03:54,320 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: as in the country of England, baseball shared some similarities 63 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: with some older games, like cricket, which had been around 64 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: for quite some time, and a British game called rounders. Cricket, 65 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: like I said, I've been around for for centuries in 66 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: some form or another throughout English colonies and territories. Rounders, however, 67 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: which shared several similar rules without a baseball, was seen 68 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: as something of a children's game. Little girls played rounders. 69 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: This appeared to gall Mr Spalding, who couldn't stand the 70 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: thought of the sport he had played and now supported, 71 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: grew out of a child's game from England. He wrote 72 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: a rebuttal for the Baseball Guide and disputed that something 73 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: as American as baseball could have evolved from a schoolyard 74 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: game from England. He wanted some sort of definitive proof 75 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: that baseball was through and through an American game played 76 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:55,799 Speaker 1: by Americans for Americans America, and so in the early 77 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: twentieth century, Spaulding and his buddy Abraham G. Mills form 78 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: an investigative body called the Mills Commission to look into 79 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: the matter to call the body unbiased would be a 80 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,480 Speaker 1: flat out lie. Spalding stacked the commission with members who 81 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: shared his anti rounders, anti English sentiments. Sportswriter Henry Chadwick, 82 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: who had written about those similarities between baseball and rounders, 83 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, was pointedly not invited to participate, 84 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: despite the fact that Spalding had but looked for chadwick 85 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: support for the idea of a an investigative commission in 86 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: the first place. So he goes to Chadwick says, Hey, 87 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,799 Speaker 1: maybe we have an investigative body look into this matter 88 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: and and and see if there is any link between 89 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: rounders and baseball. And Chadwick says, yeah, that sounds it 90 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: sounds reasonable. And then they specifically did not invite him 91 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: to be part of this commission. Now, a fellow by 92 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: the name of Abner Graves of Denver, Colorado, claimed to 93 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: have the answers see the commission, published accounts in various 94 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: newspapers across the country saying, do you have any evidence 95 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: for the origins of baseball? Do you have stories, you 96 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: have anything that can connect baseball to how it all 97 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: got started here in the United States? And this guy 98 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: named Abner Graves sent in a response. Graves, who was 99 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: a miner out in Denver, Colorado, wrote that when he 100 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: was growing up in Cooperstown, New York, he witnessed the 101 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: creation of baseball. He was there when it started. He 102 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 1: says that it all came from the mind of a 103 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: guy named Abner double Day. It was a good American 104 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: lad who went on to fire the very first shot 105 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: for the Union in the Civil War at Fort Sumter, 106 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: and he rose to the rank of Major General of 107 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: volunteers during the war. According to Graves, double Day taught 108 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: the game to local kids in Cooper Sound, New York, 109 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: and he scratched out the diagram of a baseball diamond 110 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: in the dirt, and later he drew it out on 111 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: a piece of paper along with a bay six set 112 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: of rules for the game, and thus claimed Graves was 113 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: baseball born. It was the invention of a man who 114 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: would go on to become a war hero for the 115 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: Union during the Civil War. Without bothering to really investigate 116 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,559 Speaker 1: these claims too much, the Mills Commission published a report 117 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: stating that baseball was really definitely certainly American through and through, 118 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: and that double Day had invented the game around the 119 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: year eighteen thirty nine. Further, a Cooper's Town millionaire named 120 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: Stephen C. Clark felt that tourism was the only industry 121 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: that could save his hometown, which was suffering during the 122 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: Great Depression. A local farmer in Cooperstown, or near Cooperstown, 123 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: actually just outside of it, discovered some of what were 124 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: believed to be Abner Graves belongings in nineteen thirty five. 125 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: This farmer was a relative of Abner Graves, and while 126 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: going through one of the old houses, said, Hey, there's 127 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: this trunk here, and it's got some stuff in it, 128 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: um some photographs, some letters. There's also a ball very 129 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: similar to the type they've been used in the early 130 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: days of baseball, which Clark jumped on as definitive proof 131 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: that this story was absolutely gospel, and he decided to 132 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: create a new destination in Cooperstown. He declared that the 133 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: baseball that was discovered was an Abner double day baseball, 134 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: and he began plans to build a baseball museum, with 135 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: the whole venture anchored to the idea that Cooperstown was 136 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: the birthplace of the game. It would be ready to 137 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: celebrate the centennial anniversary of baseball. According to the double 138 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: Day story, which means that it would be ready in 139 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine. More on that in a second. Now, 140 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: there are more than a few problems with Abner Graves's story. 141 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: Problem No. One. In eighteen thirty nine, Abner Graves would 142 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: have been five years old. Abner double Day, the supposed 143 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: inventor of baseball, would have been nearly twenty years old, 144 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: and it seems unlikely that the two would have played 145 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:06,239 Speaker 1: together in a game of baseball. A twenty year old 146 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: teaching a five year old how to play baseball in 147 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: order to have an organized game of some sort does 148 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: not seem very realistic. Problem Number two. In eighteen thirty nine, 149 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: Adner double Day wasn't in Cooperstown, New York. He was 150 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: enrolled in West Point and didn't have leave to travel 151 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: from campus until the summer of eighteen forty, and even 152 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: then it was not for more than just a little 153 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: bit more than a month. So Problem three. In all 154 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: the surviving journals and papers that were written by double Day, 155 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: none of them mentioned baseball. In fact, the only connection 156 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: to baseball with double Day at all seems to be 157 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: that he once requested some sporting equipment during his service 158 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: in the Union Army for the purposes of recreation for soldiers. 159 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: Problem number four. Alexander Cartwright Jr. Who was a founding 160 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: member of the Knickerbocker Club in New York, was believed 161 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: to be the person who drew out the structure of 162 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: the Bay Baseball Diamond and wrote down the rules for 163 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: the first time in and unlike the claim made by Graves, 164 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: this claim actually had documentation to back it up. But 165 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, New York anyway. Now, 166 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: thanks for indulging me and my love of history and 167 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: of flim flam. Next we're gonna talk about the evolution 168 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: of the baseball bat and the physics behind whacking a 169 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: baseball real hard. But first let's take a quick break 170 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. So the earliest bats were really 171 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: just sticks, sturdy, handy stick you could use to bat 172 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: at a ball. Early baseball players would frequently whittle their 173 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: own bats to suit their individual playing styles. Pictures, by 174 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: the way, would end up constructing their own baseballs before 175 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: everything got organized and regulated. Before the game was structured 176 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: enough to have the regulations about such things, bats could 177 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: be of many different shapes and sizes. There were no 178 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: guidelines saying they must be a certain length or smaller. 179 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: Early baseball bats could be flat, they could be round, 180 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: they could be long, they could be short, they could 181 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: be fat. Bats also tend to be really heavy, because 182 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,200 Speaker 1: the common wisdom was if it's heavy, it'll make the 183 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: ball go farther when you hit it. I'll talk more 184 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: about that in the next section when we get to 185 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: the physics of baseball. Bat's, by the way, have a 186 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: basic anatomy. The business end of a baseball bat is 187 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: the barrel. That's the wider end. That's the part that 188 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: you hit the baseball with, or at least you try 189 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: to hit the baseball with if you're like me, it's 190 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: the part that totally with when the baseball flies past me. 191 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: At the other end is the handle That obviously is 192 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: the end that you hold onto and tada. That's your 193 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 1: basic baseball bat anatomy. Players would either craft their own bats, 194 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: or they would get a carpenter to make one for them, 195 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: and sometimes they had to make do with makeshift bats. 196 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,960 Speaker 1: According to Roy Kerr, who wrote the book Sliding Billy 197 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: Hamilton's The Life and times of baseball's first great leadoff hitter, 198 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Athletics once ran into a bit of trouble 199 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: during a game way back in eighteen sixty five, when 200 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: the team broke every single bat they had brought to 201 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 1: the game. They continued the game by using a shovel 202 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: handle as their bat for the rest of play. In 203 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four, a woodworker named j. A. Bud Hillaric 204 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: attended a baseball game to watch his home team that 205 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: would be the Louisville Eclipse and hit her Pete Browning 206 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: stepped up to the plate. Now when he swung, he 207 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: connected with the baseball, but he broke his bat during play. 208 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: That inspired Hilaric to invite Browning back to Hillary's woodworking shop, 209 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: and he created a personalized bat for Browning. Browning went 210 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: on to use that bat in a game the following day, 211 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: and he got three hits. Apparently, Browning bragged to his 212 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: fellow teammates about his new custom made bats and orders 213 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: started pouring in. Hill Eric thus created a new brand 214 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: of bats that's famous to this day, the Louisville Slugger. 215 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: By the end of the nineteenth century, baseball was starting 216 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: to really coalesce as a truly organized sport, which meant 217 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,679 Speaker 1: rules were being laid down as to what could and 218 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: could not be used with bats. The basic rules stated 219 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 1: bats had to be round, so you couldn't have any 220 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 1: more flat or angled bats. You know, bats that that 221 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: had flat surfaces around them, like maybe a hexagonal bat. 222 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: You couldn't do that. They had to be rounded. They 223 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: could be no greater than two and three quarter inches 224 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: or six point nine centimeters in diameter. They could be 225 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: no longer than forty two inches or about a meter 226 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: in length, and they should be made entirely out of hardwood, 227 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: though the handle could be wrapped in twine or some 228 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: other material to aid in gripping. But they didn't have 229 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: a limit on bat wait. Early bats were made out 230 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,680 Speaker 1: of hickory, but the trend moved towards using white ash 231 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,560 Speaker 1: as the wood of choice. It was a little bit 232 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: more durable and lighter than hickory was. That is until 233 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,679 Speaker 1: about two thousand one, because that's when Barry Bonds used 234 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: a maple bat to set a single season record of 235 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: seventy three home runs, which made maple a popular choice 236 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: because clearly it was the bat that did all the work. 237 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: Although to be fair, different woods do perform in different ways, 238 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: and I'll talk more about that later. Uh, there are 239 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: actual differences that can affect bat performance, so we'll we'll 240 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: cover it now. In fact, white ash, for example, is 241 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: lighter than hickory, so it's easier to swing the bat 242 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: faster or to adjust more easily two different pitches. Maple 243 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: is more flexible than ash, so it creates kind of 244 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: a whip like motion that can impart some extra force 245 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: on a ball when you make contact. But maple can 246 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: also shatter more readily. That has actually prompted Major League 247 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: Baseball to put a ban on softer types of maple wood, 248 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: and also requires bats to have a barrel of no 249 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: more than two point six one or six point six 250 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: centimeters in diameter, so, in other words, they have to 251 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 1: be less thick now than they used to be in 252 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: order to limit the bat designs because you were having 253 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: more and more bats that had a disproportionately thin handle 254 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: compared to the barrel. It really helps cut down on 255 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: some of the weight, but that meant that the amount 256 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: of force that would happen when a bat collided with 257 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: a ball could sometimes be enough to shatter the bat, 258 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: to snap the handle and send shards everywhere. Maple is 259 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: particularly bad about this and that can be actually dangerous 260 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:45,479 Speaker 1: for people on the field, so there's been some limitations 261 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: on the bat width in order to decrease the likelihood 262 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: of that happening. These days, professional players have six different 263 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: woods they can choose from for their bats. For Major 264 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: League Baseball, they include white ash, sugar maple, true hickory, 265 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: yellow birch, red oak, and Japanese ash. Most bats, however, 266 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: are either sugar maple or white ash. So let's walk 267 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: through the journey of making a Louisville Slugger white ash 268 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: baseball bat, because the whole thing is pretty fascinating and 269 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: there are differences. You can buy bats from local bat 270 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: manufacturers and they tend to follow a very similar approach, 271 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: but usually they have less automation. They have a lot 272 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: more hand crafting going into their bats. But generally speaking, 273 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: this is the process. You start with a white ash 274 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: tree that's at least fifty years old, so it is 275 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: the right stature for you to start off with. The 276 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: white ash and Louisville Sluggers comes from special forests in 277 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: New York and Pennsylvania. So you cut down the tree, 278 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: you remove the branches, you saw, the trunks into logs 279 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: and those logs need to be ten to sixteen ft 280 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: long or about three to five meters, and then you 281 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: load those logs onto a truck and take them to 282 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: a mill. The wood passes an inspection, so you look 283 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: at the wood. You're looking for any imperfections that would 284 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: affect back quality, things like knots in the wood or 285 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: any rotting or anything like that. The logs that pass 286 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: inspection go through a hydraulic wedge. The hydraulic wedge cuts 287 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:23,840 Speaker 1: the logs into splits that are about forty uh wide. 288 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: So the splits then go into a lathe, and a 289 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,680 Speaker 1: lathe is a device that rotates whatever you're working on 290 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,679 Speaker 1: about an access of rotation so that you can do 291 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 1: some sort of operation on it. Um Usually lathes will 292 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: turn things fairly rapidly, and it's a frequent tool in woodworking. 293 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: Lathes have been around for ages. So old lathes were 294 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: ones that used ropes and gears and a treadle like 295 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: a foot pedal to operate, and you would press down 296 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: on the foot pedal it would pull down on a 297 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: rope that would turn some uh gears and that would 298 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: rotate the lathe and you would just do that over 299 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,680 Speaker 1: and over again. You would just keep pedaling in order 300 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: to continue the rotational motion of whatever it was you're 301 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: working on, and you would be able to smooth out 302 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,160 Speaker 1: surfaces this way. These days, of course, we have lathes 303 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,080 Speaker 1: that are connected to motors. The motors will turn at 304 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: a pretty high rpm so that you can work on 305 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: uh the wood and very rapidly start to shape it. 306 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: Now that's only part of a lay. The other part 307 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 1: is whatever tools you're using to shave down the wood, 308 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: and that might be handheld, it might be part of 309 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: a lathe where you just place it in the right position. 310 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: It might even be fully automatic. But this is the 311 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: hard surface that presses against the wood and shaves off, 312 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,919 Speaker 1: uh the outer layers. So as the wood rotates, it 313 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: gets shaved down further and further right. So with the 314 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: splits you put them in the lathe. You turn the 315 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,159 Speaker 1: splits around and around and around. The lathe will start 316 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,120 Speaker 1: to smooth off the corners rough edges of these splits. 317 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: And once you do that, you end up with a 318 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: length of wood that's called a billet b I l 319 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: l e T. And the billets go through another inspection process, 320 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: including weighing to make sure that they are still appropriate 321 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: for bats, and based upon how much they weigh, they're 322 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 1: gonna go toward different models of bats. Some wood is 323 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: going to be more dense than others, and that means 324 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: it's going to be heavier than others, and that may 325 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:31,959 Speaker 1: mean that it's better for one type of bat than another. 326 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,240 Speaker 1: More on that in a second. Now, when you've got 327 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: these billets, you're not even ready to start with the 328 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: batmaking process yet. Nope, you've got to spend some time first. 329 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: Typically you would coat both ends of the billets, the 330 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: cut ends with a preservative to keep it from rotting 331 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 1: or or otherwise deteriorating, and then you season the billets. 332 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: Now by seasoning, i'm talking about drying them out so 333 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: they're considered to be green wood at this stage because 334 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: the billets still contain sap and gum inside the wood. 335 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: So seasoning is the process of letting these billets dry 336 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: out over a very long period of time so that 337 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,919 Speaker 1: sap and gum leech out of the wood over time. 338 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: Usually this takes between six months and two years before 339 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 1: you're ready to actually take the next step. One. Seasoned, 340 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 1: the billets are weighed again. That helps determine which model 341 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,479 Speaker 1: a bat The billets might be used for bat models 342 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: are based off of older bats that players have favored. 343 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: So you design a bat players like it, you say, well, 344 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: this is going to serve as a model for future bats. 345 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: I'm gonna design more bats to try and replicate the 346 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:46,439 Speaker 1: same design that we've created here, which could be tricky 347 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: because again, wood density might be different, So you might 348 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: end up creating a bat that's the exact same physical 349 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:57,959 Speaker 1: dimensions but ways slightly different from and the model. Uh, 350 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: there are different ways you can take two avoid that. 351 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: I'll talk a little bit more about that in a second. 352 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: But it's tough to do because wood is an organic material. 353 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: It's not like you can produce it chemically to be 354 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: exactly the same and just pour that into a mold 355 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,919 Speaker 1: and get the exact same bat time after time after time. 356 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: With wood, you're dealing with nature, and nature does not 357 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: always replicate things exactly. Now, when it comes time to 358 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: make the bat, you put the billet in another lathe, 359 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: not a big surprise. An operation like Louisville Slugger has 360 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: automatic lathes that can cut a billet into the rough 361 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: shape of a bat. So you put it in this lathe. 362 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: It holds the billet by either end. To think of 363 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: it like a spike that sticks into the ends of 364 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: this billet, rotates it around and around super fast, and 365 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 1: this automatic machine ends up shaving away all the parts 366 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 1: of the billet that don't look like a rough bat shape. Now, 367 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: even then, this is just the basic shape of a bat. 368 00:21:56,359 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: It's not close to your final format. Next would UH 369 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: use a a human operator called a bat turner to 370 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: do all the final shaping, the fine tuning that will 371 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: turn this basic bat shape into an actual model of 372 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: a bat that you are are using as your reference points. 373 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: So typically you would have a reference model of the 374 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,360 Speaker 1: type of bat you want to make nearby, typically mounted 375 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: behind the lathe, and you would use tools like calipers 376 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: to measure how wide the model is at specific reference points, 377 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 1: and then you would continue to shave away at this 378 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: bat shaped piece of wood until it matched those measurements. 379 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: So you'd use the calipers and take a very precise 380 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,359 Speaker 1: measurement of say the base of the handle. Well, you 381 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: want to make sure that you shave the wood away 382 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: in your billet of wood until it's that same same diameter, 383 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: and the same is true for the entire length of 384 00:22:57,359 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 1: the bat. You want to make sure you get all 385 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: the curves properly designed. You want to make sure that 386 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: the barrel of the bat is the same diameter as 387 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 1: the original model. So this is a pretty delicate approach. 388 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: If someone who has a practiced hand at it can 389 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:18,159 Speaker 1: do it fairly quickly, but anyone else it looks like magic. 390 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: I've watched a lot of videos of bat turners doing this, 391 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 1: and to me, it is really stress inducing because I 392 00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:28,679 Speaker 1: think of how easy it would be to make a 393 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: mistake that would ruin the bat that you're working on, 394 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: and you would have completely wasted a billet if that happened. 395 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: But the folks who do this, they're very highly skilled, 396 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: and they're they've done it hundreds of times, and so 397 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: they do this very quickly and confidently in a way 398 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: that kind of what I'm both impressed by and terrified by, honestly. 399 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,359 Speaker 1: And eventually you get to a point that the bat 400 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: you're working on as resembles the model as closely as possible. Now, 401 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: if the weight is not quite right, if let's say 402 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,360 Speaker 1: that your billet bat, the one that you've just created, 403 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: the brand new replica, let's say it's a little too heavy, 404 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 1: you can actually shave a little bit off by making 405 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 1: a divot in the top. In fact, use essentially a 406 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: drill press is what it ends up being to carve 407 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: out a hollow section at the end of the barrel. 408 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: This is typical for most baseball bats in Major League Baseball, 409 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: they have a hollow section at the very end, and 410 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: you can use that to fine tune the weight a 411 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: little bit. Uh. Same thing is true at the the 412 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: bottom of it. They call this caping. When you cape 413 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: a bat, you're you're creating this little hollow section at 414 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: the ends, and the bat itself is still solid all 415 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: the way through. It's just the very ends that have 416 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: the little hollowed out sections. So then the bat has 417 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,360 Speaker 1: to be branded with the logo of the bat manufacturer, 418 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 1: and the brand goes on a very specific place on 419 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: the bat. You don't just put it anywhere. You actually 420 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: place it on the flat of the woods grain on 421 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,679 Speaker 1: the bat. That's the weakest spot on the bat, and 422 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: that serves as a guide for the player. You put 423 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: the brand there to tell the player, Hey, this is 424 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: the weakest spot on the bat. You don't want to 425 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: hit a baseball with this spot because it could make 426 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: the bat break Instead, what you would do is you 427 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: do essentially a quarter turn either up or down on 428 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 1: the bat, so that the logo is facing either down 429 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: or up, and then you would have the sweet spot 430 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: of the bat. The bat, the part of the bat 431 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: where it's the strongest, where it's going to impart the 432 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: most energy to the baseball, et cetera. So that sweet 433 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: spot I'll talk more about in just a second. Even 434 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: a well made bat, one that's made by experts, will 435 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 1: not last forever. The average baseball bat and professional baseball 436 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: has a life expectancy of about a month. So you 437 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 1: think of all the different baseball players out there, all 438 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,680 Speaker 1: of whom have their own preference for bats, and you 439 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,360 Speaker 1: think about how many duplicates you're gonna need because of 440 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 1: the length of a baseball season, not to mention the 441 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: fact that there's the possibility of breakage, and you start 442 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: coming up with a lot of bats just for Major 443 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 1: League baseball, let alone all the other types of baseball 444 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: out there. So it's fascinating to me that the process 445 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:25,239 Speaker 1: still uses a lot of human work that's not so 446 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: automated that there's just a machine that's carving these things out. 447 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: Because that's a lot of baseball bats. Y'all. We'll have 448 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,880 Speaker 1: more to talk about, especially with the physics of baseball, 449 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: in just a minute, but first let's take another quick 450 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: break to thank our sponsor. When you strike a ball 451 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,439 Speaker 1: with a bat, first of all, you're a better player 452 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: than I am, but you are transferring momentum from the 453 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,440 Speaker 1: bat to the ball. Momentum is the quantity of motion 454 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: of a moving body, and we quantify this by multiplying 455 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: the objects mass times its velocity. So the more massive 456 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,719 Speaker 1: something is and the faster it is moving in a 457 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: certain direction, the more momentum it has. These days, a 458 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: baseball is supposed to have a mass of between a 459 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: hundred forty two and one grams, so I'm gonna take 460 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,880 Speaker 1: one as a happy medium. The average fastball pitch has 461 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 1: a speed of around ninety miles per hour, or about 462 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 1: a hundred forty five kilometers per hour. Now that means 463 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,680 Speaker 1: the ball is traveling at about forty point three meters 464 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: per second. That gives our average baseball momentum at five 465 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: point eight four kilos per second, presumably toward the batter. 466 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: Because velocity is a vector, it has to have a definition, 467 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 1: so we're assuming you're actually pitching toward a batter when 468 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: you're throwing a ball like that. Now, let's consider a 469 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: baseball bat. The average professional baseball players swing, according to 470 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:01,440 Speaker 1: Patrick Serveny, who actually studies such things, is around seventy 471 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: miles per hour or about one kilometers per hour, meaning 472 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,199 Speaker 1: it's at about thirty one point four meters per second. 473 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: So that's moving slower than the baseball. If the bat 474 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: had the same mass as the ball, and we didn't 475 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 1: have to factor in the player at all, the ball 476 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 1: would transfer momentum to the bat and the bat would 477 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: go backward. The ball would keep going forward a little bit, 478 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: but at a slower velocity. But the bat is heavier 479 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: than the ball, and it's more massive than the ball. 480 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: Not to mention, it's connected to a baseball player who 481 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,440 Speaker 1: has mass as well, but we're ignoring the baseball player 482 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: for this quick rundown. The average baseball bat mass is 483 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: about point nine six kilograms, So the momentum a baseball 484 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: bat has, again ignoring the presence of the actual player, 485 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: would be about thirty point one four four kilograms meters 486 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: per second. That's much larger than the baseball's five point 487 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: eight four kilograms per meters per second. By the way, 488 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,360 Speaker 1: the moment of contact is incredibly short. It lasts about 489 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: point seven milliseconds. At that moment, the baseball deforms, it 490 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: flattens a bit from the collision. If you've ever watched 491 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,640 Speaker 1: really super slow motion video of a bat hitting a baseball, 492 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: you'll see the baseball it flattens out and the bat 493 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: also deforms a bit. It flexes backwards and the bat 494 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: compresses due to this contact. Now, if you can swing 495 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: a heavier bat with the same velocity, you're going to 496 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: get a bigger transfer of momentum to the ball and 497 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: make it travel with a greater exit velocity. Because again, 498 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: momentum is mass times velocity. So if you increase the 499 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: mass and you keep the velocity the same, you get 500 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: greater mounts of momentum. Eventually, however, you'll find that the 501 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,959 Speaker 1: weight of the bat is slowing down your swing, so 502 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,959 Speaker 1: your velocity is decreasing, and that means that your amount 503 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: of momentum will be affected. If the velocity decreases enough, 504 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: then the added mass doesn't actually help you when you're 505 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: transferring momentum to the ball. And Babe Ruth was known 506 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: to swing around a bat with a hefty mass of 507 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: one and a half kilograms or fifty four ounces. Now 508 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: that wouldn't play so well today, not because the rules, 509 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: but because of the style of play. With all the 510 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,840 Speaker 1: different types of pitches out there, you need a lighter 511 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: bat so that you can adjust your swing style to 512 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: hit the ball. The University of Arizona engineering professor Terry 513 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: Baale found in his studies that a bat weighing thirty 514 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 1: one to thirty two ounces or eight to nine seven 515 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: grams is ideal for most professional players. So finding the 516 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: right bat is something of both in art and a science. 517 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: So there's no wonder that players can be particular about 518 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: their bats. Now, as I said before, the calculations I 519 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: gave only took the bat and ball into consideration. Clearly, 520 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:53,880 Speaker 1: you've got a player to think about two and that's 521 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: going to change things up. Since the bat is effectively 522 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: an extension of the player, and the players form and 523 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: follow through as they swing is going to affect how 524 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: a struck ball will behave. In addition, there is a 525 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: spot on the bat called the sweet spot that plays 526 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: a factor. Now, I have to admit when I first 527 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: heard the term sweet spot, my skepticism kind of popped up. 528 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: It sounded to me like almost like a superstition, like, 529 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: oh no, there's this one spot on the bat that's perfect. 530 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: But actually, as it turns out, the sweet spot is 531 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: a thing sort of. Now. The reason I say sort 532 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,560 Speaker 1: of is because sweet spot is a poorly defined term, 533 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: and depending on how you define it, it could be 534 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 1: on a totally different part of the bat. Dr Daniel A. 535 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: Russell of Pennsylvania State University wrote a full paper for 536 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 1: the Acoustical Society about the sweet spot of a hollow 537 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,840 Speaker 1: baseball or softball bat. Now that that's different from major 538 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,120 Speaker 1: League baseball bats, but let's go with this for a second. 539 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: He pointed out that identifying a sweet spot is tricky 540 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: because there are different ways to define what a sweet 541 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: spot is. For example, bowl you could say the sweet 542 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 1: spot is the location on the bat where a player 543 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: is able to transfer the maximum amount of energy to 544 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 1: a ball. That makes sense, right, like, this is the 545 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:11,880 Speaker 1: one spot in the bat where if you can hit 546 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 1: the ball right there, you, because of physics, you're going 547 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: to be able to transfer the most amount of energy. 548 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: It's the most efficient spot on the bat where you 549 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: can hit a baseball. However, there's also a spot that 550 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 1: would create the least vibrational sting in a player's hands. Now, 551 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: obviously that would be more important if you're using, say 552 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: an aluminum bat, which can create these pretty powerful vibrations 553 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: that can really hurt if you're hitting the ball at 554 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: a certain point on the bat. And the problem is 555 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: the location for those two different types of sweet spots 556 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: are in two different places on your average bat, and 557 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: it depends a lot on the bat in question. There's 558 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: not like an easy formula you can use that will 559 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: tell you exactly where on all bats the sweet spot is. Now, 560 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: Dr Russell made a compromise and said the sweet spot 561 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: needs be a point on the barrel of the bat 562 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: that exerts the most energy while creating the least amount 563 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,160 Speaker 1: of vibrational sting possible, And according to his studies, that 564 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: would be a point approximately five to seven inches from 565 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: the end of the barrel. So if you take the 566 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: barrel side of a baseball bat and measure back about 567 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 1: five inches, that would be the start of the sweet spot, 568 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: and go back another two inches that would be the 569 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: end of the sweet spot. So you'd want to hit 570 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,880 Speaker 1: a baseball somewhere in that zone in order to impart 571 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: the most energy to the ball and to avoid the 572 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: vibrational sting that will make your hands hurt. The paper 573 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: goes into great detail of his methodologies that's putting it 574 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: lightly for determining this, and it explains that even this 575 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:50,360 Speaker 1: definition is somewhat limited. I urge anyone interested in acoustics 576 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: and baseball to give it a read, as it gets 577 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 1: super technical and going into it further here would eventually 578 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: reveal my own limitations when it comes to FIZ six. 579 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,160 Speaker 1: But I assume some of you out there are super 580 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: interested in physics and would like to read more. So 581 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: the paper's title is The Sweet Spot of a Hollow 582 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: Baseball or softball Bat, and it's available online. You can 583 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:16,200 Speaker 1: read the whole thing, and it's pretty interesting. In professional baseball, 584 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: bats again are supposed to be of solid hardwood. Now, 585 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: there have been a few controversies in the past involving 586 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: players using bats that have a cork center, which, at 587 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,800 Speaker 1: least in baseball lore, is supposed to make the bats 588 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,360 Speaker 1: lighter and easier to swing, and supposedly provides more bounce 589 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: in contact with a ball, making it livelier. This is 590 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: the so called trampoline effect. Uh Sammy Sosa was found 591 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: using such a bat in the two thousand three season, 592 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: and that caused a huge scandal. But while a corked 593 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,880 Speaker 1: bat will be lighter than one made of solid hardwood, 594 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: because cork is a lightweight material, does it really create 595 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 1: the trampoline effect? Is it really making it more spongy? Well? 596 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 1: Alan Nathan, a physics professor at the University of Illinois, 597 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 1: decided to look into this scientifically, and he took a 598 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 1: essentially a cannon that would fire baseballs at different bats, 599 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: some of which had corked centers. According to his team's tests, 600 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: balls bouncing off a corked bat in a controlled environment 601 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:25,200 Speaker 1: actually left the bat at a lower velocity than balls 602 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:27,399 Speaker 1: that hit a solid bat, So in fact, they were 603 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: traveling at a slower speed when they bounced off, and 604 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,080 Speaker 1: that would mean that they would travel not as far. Right, 605 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,319 Speaker 1: Like if you swung a corked bat and you made 606 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,520 Speaker 1: contact with a ball, and then you swung a solid 607 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: bat and you made contact with the ball and everything 608 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,919 Speaker 1: else was equal, the corked ball or the cork bat 609 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,880 Speaker 1: version would not go as far according to the findings 610 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 1: that Alan Nathan's team discovered, So the trampoline effect, according 611 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: to us, his experiment was non existent. Further, the lighter 612 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: weight of a corked bat would mean the bat wouldn't 613 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 1: have as much mass in that transfer of momentum we 614 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 1: talked about earlier, So unless your swing was sped up significantly, 615 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: you would end up transferring less energy to the baseball 616 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:18,160 Speaker 1: because you're using a less massive baseball bat. Well, a 617 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 1: court bat would therefore not provide any sort of advantage 618 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:24,839 Speaker 1: when it comes to batting power. However, there could be 619 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:29,040 Speaker 1: another advantage. That advantage is that a player can actually 620 00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: wait to start a swing a little bit later. With 621 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 1: a lighter bat, they don't have to engage the swing earlier. Now, 622 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,759 Speaker 1: one of the things about about mass is that you 623 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 1: know it's has inertia, so to go from rest to 624 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,319 Speaker 1: motion requires energy. And then the more massive an object is, 625 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,239 Speaker 1: the more energy it requires. So if you're using a 626 00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,680 Speaker 1: heavy bat and so on throws a pitch, you have 627 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: less time to decide how you want to swing that 628 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 1: bat before it gets too late, because it takes more 629 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:01,160 Speaker 1: time for you to swing the bat and get it 630 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: up to the speed you need in order to whack 631 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,319 Speaker 1: that ball and get a home run. If you have 632 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 1: a lighter bat, then you can wait a little bit 633 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: longer and suss out where that ball is going. No, 634 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,479 Speaker 1: that's pretty important in a world where we have all 635 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: sorts of different pitches. Back in the Babe Ruth days, 636 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: pitching was not the art form that it is today, 637 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:24,240 Speaker 1: So you could swing a heavier bat and feel fairly 638 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:26,720 Speaker 1: confident that you can make contact with a good pitch. 639 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,360 Speaker 1: These days, it's a lot more tricky, So a lighter 640 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:33,319 Speaker 1: bat might give you the advantage. So you may not 641 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,799 Speaker 1: hit home run as easily, but you might hit more frequently. 642 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,920 Speaker 1: Your batting average could go up as a result, and 643 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:43,600 Speaker 1: if you're swinging hard enough, you might be able to 644 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:48,719 Speaker 1: overcome the limitations of the less massive nature of your 645 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,480 Speaker 1: corked bat, if in fact it were allowed. But it's 646 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 1: against the rules. So if you're a major league baseball player, 647 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 1: don't use a cork bat. It will come back to 648 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:04,920 Speaker 1: haunt you. So that's the science and technology behind baseball bats. Now, 649 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,520 Speaker 1: I didn't go into aluminum bats. Really, that's a different 650 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:13,240 Speaker 1: manufacturing process. It is fascinating and maybe in some future 651 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: episode I'll cover the production of various types of sporting 652 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,200 Speaker 1: equipment in tech Stuff, and I'll cover aluminum bats in 653 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: that one, I just didn't feel like it was uh 654 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,560 Speaker 1: gonna fit in today's episode. It would have made this 655 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,879 Speaker 1: episode a little too long, so I left it out 656 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 1: on purpose. But I really wanted to concentrate on the 657 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:33,400 Speaker 1: bats that are allowed in Major League Baseball, So that 658 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:35,239 Speaker 1: made it easier because I just looked at the ones 659 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 1: that are made off of that would um So someday 660 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,360 Speaker 1: I might go back and talk about aluminum bats, but 661 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 1: not today. If any of you have suggestions for topics 662 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:46,800 Speaker 1: you would love for me to cover on Tech Stuff, 663 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:50,399 Speaker 1: whether it's a technology, a company, a person in tech. 664 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,000 Speaker 1: Maybe there's someone you would like me to interview or 665 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,080 Speaker 1: have on as a guest host, write me and tell me. 666 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,319 Speaker 1: The email address for the show is tech Stuff at 667 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,239 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, or you can drop me 668 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:04,560 Speaker 1: a line on Facebook or Twitter. The handle at both 669 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: of those is text Stuff h s W. Follow us 670 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:12,440 Speaker 1: on Instagram, and remember I broadcast live on Wednesdays and 671 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 1: Fridays on twitch dot tv slash tech Stuff. You can 672 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: log in there watch me record the show live, you 673 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,920 Speaker 1: can watch me make mistakes, you can watch me drive 674 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,520 Speaker 1: my producer TORII absolutely insane, and you can join in 675 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,160 Speaker 1: on the chat room and encourage me or yell at 676 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,960 Speaker 1: me for making my producer Torii absolutely insane. I hope 677 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:33,000 Speaker 1: to see you there, and I'll talk to you again 678 00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:41,840 Speaker 1: really soon. For more on this and thousands of other topics, 679 00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:53,200 Speaker 1: is it hastaff works dot com