How Youth Bats Got So Expensive

This is a good read and summary on how youth bats now can cost $300.

When Little League authorities made a change to bat specifications in 2018, they essentially made all of the existing bats out there obsolete (sure, they can still be used in sandlot games or practice but not in official Little League sanctioned games or tournaments).

I thought is was remarkable--millions of bats nationwide made redundant--so I teamed up with the great sportswriter Joe Drape and co-wrote a story for The New York Times about the science, history and economics of youth baseball bats.

I interviewed bat experts, coaches, a physicist of baseball, and a guy that fires baseballs out of a cannon in a laboratory to test new bats.

"New Rules for Bats Leave Youth Baseball Parents With the Bill"

June 4, 2018

The New York Times