Viral coverage stirs debate on New York Yankees’ ‘torpedo bats’

A few days ago, no one on the planet had heard of torpedo bats.

Well, except for some well-connected baseball insiders who obsessively follow such things. But don’t worry, this isn’t an inside-baseball story.

It’s a grand-slam example of the collision between a sports league and the media business – which already have a symbiotic relationship due to zillion-dollar contracts – in which constant coverage leads to cheers and jeers.

So the New York Yankees – who most of the country hates anyway, but not me, as someone who grew up in the boroughs – have developed this new bat. 

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And it has sparked a fierce debate, which is good for a slow-moving game that can no longer claim the mantle of America’s pastime.

The Yanks hired an MIT physicist, who has also done work for NASA, Aaron Leanhardt, to work his magic. And thanks to the ex-announcer, balls have been flying out of the Bronx stadium and on the road.

On Saturday, against the Milwaukee Brewers, the New Yorkers hit three straight homers on the first three pitches of the game. Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Adam Judge went boom, boom, boom. First time it’s happened since MLB began keeping such records in 1988. (Judge doesn’t use the new bat.)

Even more insane, the Yanks finished that game with nine round-trippers. And added four more home runs on Sunday. 

What Leanhardt accomplished was to move the fattest part of the bat toward the middle, closer to the batter’s hands, where he makes contact. That yielded a torpedo shape.

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A couple of quick thoughts before we move on to the coverage.

Teams have been trying to improve their bats since Abner Doubleday invented the game. MLB has strict rules about the overall dimensions. 

The torpedo bats are not illegal. This is not some kind of steroid trickery, or even “sticky stuff,” which was banned for pitchers a few seasons back.

Anthony Volpe, who homered for the second straight game Saturday, told the AP: “The concept makes so much sense. I know I’m bought in. The bigger you can have the barrel where you hit the ball, it makes sense to me.” 

NBC: “The talk of baseball has been new, torpedo-shaped bats used by several members of the New York Yankees.”

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Turns out the Yanks don’t have a monopoly. CNN: “Twins’ catcher Ryan Jeffers and the Rays’ Junior Caminaro and Yandy Diaz were also spotted using ‘torpedo’ bats in Spring Training and over opening weekend. Players from around the league also started testing them out last season.” 

MLB has its own website. Leanhardt, now with the Miami Marlins, is quoted in a “Meet the Man” profile as saying: “It’s definitely been surreal for the last couple days. At the end of the day, it’s about the batter, not the bat. It’s about the hitters and their hitting coaches, not the hitting implements.”

But here comes Deadspin, charging onto the field:

“Let’s be honest—these bats aren’t great for the game. They’re giving one team an extreme advantage. Sure, the bats are technically legal, but other teams would have to develop their own designs, send orders to a manufacturer, and wait for them to be created and shipped before they could even use them in batting practice or games.”

The website is playing hardball: “In an absolute nightmare scenario, these torpedo bats could spiral out of control, making it difficult for the league to regulate equipment standards. This could lead to inconsistencies in enforcement and further disputes over what’s legal and what’s banned… The league needs to lay down the law with the Yankees on these loaded bats.”

ESPN: “Could be the most consequential development in bat technology since a generation ago when players forsook ash bats for maple.”

Fox News: “Everybody’s freaking out, and I think they’re really freaking out because it’s the Yankees…It’s been a massive home run,” said Colin Cowherd. 

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Sports Illustrated: “Chances are the Yankees are hitting home runs not because of a bat, but because they are the superior team to who they are facing in the first series of the season.”

When was the last time anyone argued passionately about baseball? The Dodgers clobbered the Yankees in the last World Series. ESPN recently dropped its contract with Major League Baseball as it was drawing diminishing coverage on the sports network (and offering less money). But a few days into the season, the Bronx Bombers are once again living up to their name.