Clipping:A composite bat 2
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| Date | Wednesday, July 9, 1884 |
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| Text | Captain Anson in the game of the 23d made a trial of a new style bat just made as an experiment. The bat is made of several separate pieces of ash, jointed and glued together lengthwise, while in the center is inserted a rattan rod about one inch square, and composed of twelve strips of rattan firmly glued together, running from end to end of the bat. The handle is wound with linen cord. This wrapping of the handle, however, is technically a violation of the rule, which requires the bat to be made “wholly or wood,” but it is a rule which nobody will object to changing if the wound handle proves to be an improvement. The object of the glue joints and the rattan rod in the center is to make the bat less liable to break and at the same time to give it more spring. That both of these objects are accomplished there can be no doubt. The first ball hit by Anson with the new bat was a terrific liner to left field for two bases, and he used it throughout the game with great success. Captain Morrill having agreed to waive any objection to the wrapping of the handle. Heretofore bats have been made of a single stick, and the improvement adds materially to the expense of manufacture. Players who have tried it say that the ball can be driven 25 per cen. Further by the exercise of equal force than with the common bat. Anson certainly made a remarkable record in the two games in which he used it. June 23d, Buffington pitcher, in three times at bat he made a single and a double; June 24 th, Whitney pitcher, four times at bat, two singles, one double and a home run. The cost of the new style bat will be about $5 each. The idea is not altogether new, as in 1875 quite a scare was created among the League clubs by the report that the Athletic Club of Philadelphia, had secured a bat containing springs for increased propulsion. Of course the report was unfounded, but it shows that there was an indistinct idea of such an improvement. The Sporting Life July 9, 1884 A new bat is the latest wrinkle in the professional base-ball arena. It is after the style of the string-handle bats used in cricket, being of separate pieces of wood glued together, with cane as the central material. Like that of the cricket bat, the handle is covered with fine thread wound around it to give the hands a good hold. ... One effect of the introduction of these wound bats in base-ball will be to decrease the number of broken bats. What will manufacturers say to that? About five dollars is to be the price of one of these new-fangled base-ball clubs: but this will not compensate for the decrease in bats by breakage. There is a point to be considered that may be worthy the attention of the fielders in particular. It is terribly trying now to the higde and cartilage of fielders to stop hard-hit grounders in the infield. With a bat that will send a ball to the in-field more swiflty than ever before, skirmishing for the sphere in that quarter will become as dangerous work as catching balls from a pacer like Whitney., give the fielders a chance, and never mind filling hospitals! Keep the bats as they are, and “let ‘em break!” St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 12, 1884, quoting the New York Clipper |
| Source | Sporting Life |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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