Crack Of The Bat

Crack of the Bat is a look at the most famous icon in the history of baseball, the Louisville Slugger bat. It includes the evolution of bats from pioneer wagon tongues to the sleek aluminum models of today. It examines the physics involved in hitting a baseball, where .003 seconds means the difference between a home run and a foul ball. It tells the history of the still family-owned Hillerich & Bradsby Company, which in 80 years went from making butter churns to making seven million bats a year. Includes dozens of stories about the bats themselves, and the personal idiosyncracies of the most famous hitters in baseball history, including Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr. and Derek Jeter.