HARDWOOD RECORD 



83 



Utilization of HardWoods 



ARTICLE XLVII 

 BASEBALL BATS 



Those who are interested in conservation 

 projects have referred to many industries in 

 ■nrhich lumber is used at what seems to them 

 an extravagant rate. One particular industry, 

 however, has escaped notice, in spite of the 

 fact that its annual consumption of hard- 

 woods runs into millions of feet. The reason 

 is that it provides one of the articles with 

 which people are very familiar, and which, 

 therefore, is deemed of little consequence. 

 Reference is made to the baseball bat. 



When one considers that all over the United 

 States every boy able to hold a broomstick 

 is playing at the national game, which is 

 really national in scope and interest, and 

 that scarcely a youth grows to manhood with- 

 out purchasing dozens of bats, it is easy to 

 realize that the amount of stock used in their 

 manufacture is enormous. 



no definite point for the production of ash 

 stock, as the producing points are scattered 

 throughout the United States, each district 

 shipping its product to the nearest bat fac- 

 tory. 



The stock is manufactured in the form of 

 rough sticks, about three inches square and 

 .four feet long, and is stacked in the seasoning 

 yards of the factory for thorough outdoor 

 seasoning before use. Although some of the 

 smaller bat factories use a dry kiln, the fore- 

 most factories season their stock in the open 

 for about twelve months. After remaining 

 exposed to the weather for about eight months 

 the stock is removed to a covered shed and is 

 there stored for the remaining four months. 



The simple operations in a bat factory do 

 not permit of departmentizing the establish- 

 ment to a great extent, as the bats are merely 



B.\T STOCK SEASONINr; IN YARD OF J. F. HILLERICH, LOUISVILLE. KT. 



This appears merely from the amateur side 

 of the game, but when the scores of profes- 

 sional leagues, containing thousands of 

 trained players, each of whom has his own 

 particular club, are taken into consideration, 

 one would think that Mr. Pinchot and his 

 friends would have to reserve a special sec- 

 tion of the Appalachians or some other fa- 

 vored region for the growing of trees needed 

 in bat making. 



Bat factories, apparently, are less firmly 

 established institutions than most woodwork- 

 ing establishments, and spring up sporadically 

 from season to season. There are a few ex- 

 ceptions, however, and these well known 

 plants each consume on an average about half 

 a million feet of lumber a year. 



The wood used in the better grades of bats, 

 which are generally used and bring the most 

 profit to the manufacturer, is a first rate 

 quality of second growth ash. For bats which 

 retail at five and ten cents each, any kind 

 of timber may be used, even soft white pine, 

 which is hardly fit for the rough usage to 

 which a baseball bat is subjected. There is 



shaped, varnished and delivered to the con- 

 sumer. Prom the protected stock shed, the 

 wood is brought to the turning lathes. The 

 lathes are specially constructed for bat turn- 

 ing and may be adjusted to suit any length of 

 timber, with additional adjustments for the 

 tapering handle and enlarged end of the bat. 

 Each lathe is tended by one operative, who 

 makes one bat at a time by placing the 

 rough stick in position and removing it when 

 the bat is roughly shaped, with a compara- 

 tively smooth surface. Each turner is sup- 

 plied with a small dray, upon which he piles 

 the bats as they are finished by the lathe, 

 and the drays are removed to another part of 

 the factory. 



After being turned, the cheaper grades of 

 bats are stamped with the name of the maker 

 and are stored prior to delivery to the cus- 

 tomer, but the high-class slugger receives 

 additional polishing and inspection. Bats 

 which retail for seventy-five cents or one dol- 

 lar, go through the hands of polishers, who 

 place each bat in a revolving clamp, enabling 

 them to surface the article by hand with 

 sandpaper. 



The sandpapering of each bat is done with 

 the greatest care, as professional players are 

 extremely "finicky" in this regard. An ad- 

 ditional process has been devised, whereby a 

 flint-like surface, without the slightest im- 

 perfection, may be given to the bat. Slugger 

 bats are placed in another revolving set of 

 clamps and a steam machine forces a piece 

 of hardwood along the surface of each bat.- 

 The friction between the bat and the hard- 

 wood burnisher produces a smoked surface, as 

 hard as iron, which may bang the horsehide 

 with any amount of force without making the 

 slightest impression on the surface of the bat. 

 In some cases, the bats are burnished only 

 along the enlarged end and a space of about 

 eight inches is left at the handle for the 

 application of a gritty, adhesive tape, used 

 by many players. 



After the burnishing the bats are removed 

 to the varnish room, where there are large 

 vats of multi-colored varnishes and shellacs. 

 The cheaper grades of bats are merely dipped 

 into the tanks for their priming and finishing 

 coats, after which they are suspended from 

 the ceiling of the room to dry. In many 

 cases, a burnished slugger does not require a 

 coat of shellac, as the hard, burned surface 

 is ample protection. However, all first-class 

 goods which has been sandpapered, without 

 passing through the burnisher, are shellaced 

 by hand. 



On the burnished bats, the trade-mark of 

 the manufacturer is burnt into the wood but 

 on the shellaced stock a sort of transfer pic- 

 ture is used in placing the name, autograph 

 and picture of some premier ball player on 

 the bat. The operation is much the same as 

 that used by children in making the old- 

 fashioned ' ' transfer pictures. ' ' These labels 

 are placed on the bats thoroughly moistened, 

 to be removed after a short space of time, 

 leaving the bat marked as a "Wagner Favor- 

 ite," "Cobb Special," or some other name 

 calculated to attract the attention of the en- 

 terprising youth who aspires to fill the shoes 

 of one of these national favorites. 



The baseball bat is now complete in all its 

 sliining glory and the stock is removed to 

 the storage room, where the high-class bats 

 are packed in separate paper holders and the 

 cheaper grades are placed in wooden crates, 

 each containing two dozen. The stock room 

 of a bat factory presents a sight calculated 

 to inspire any American boy in whose veins 

 flows the blood of a generation of ball-play- 

 ing ancestors. Stacks of crated bats line the 

 walls of the room, and the ceiling is a vast 

 • panorama of glistening sluggers, each in- 

 scribed with the name of some famous player. 



A bat manufacturing plant runs at top 

 speed throughout the summer and winter, 

 storing up an immense supply of the big 

 accessory to the national game for sale dur- 

 ing the spring months, when the various pro- 

 fessional leagues start their seasons. Every 

 bat turned out by an up-to-date factory is a 

 model of its kind, as it has undergone four 

 or five inspections, one for each process of 



