Our own favorite past time is also huge in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, East Asia, the Caribbean and parts of South & Central America. A lot of fans and players ask themselves "where did baseball originate from!?"
Though there are some speculations to where the game specifically come from, the general consensus believes that the modern game manifested from the mid-18th century in England. There are a number of reports that speculate that baseball originated from La Soule, which is a team game that included tossing a ball around with hands and sticks, but trying to get the ball into the opponent’s goal. On the other hand, the North American consensus believes that the game evolved from Rounders, a bat-and-ball game of striking a ball with wooden objects.
The First Wood Bats Ever Used During The Inception of Baseball.
Unlike the game of today, baseball's early days didn't have much innovation as well as regulations. Players simply formed their own teams and used whatever forms of wooden objects they could get their hands on. This includes wagon wheel spokes and old ax handles. Through trial and error of self-made bat ingenuity, the players found that "wagon tongue wood" was the ideal choice for batting. This wood is exactly what you may think it is as it was taken from freight wagon wheel spokes. That's right! On top of that, wagon wheel wood was made mostly from very hard hickory wood, no pun intended.
The players would reshape the bats on one end for better grip. As time went on, the players begin to reshape the other flat-end into a barrel, which increased batting power. For more evolution history check out Steve The Ump’s site!
As of today, the game has transitioned dramatically, but wood bats will forever be the game's most important tool. Here are the most widely used types of wood for bats.
- Ash Wood comes from the wood of medium to large ash trees, which are mostly from the family of evergreens and deciduous. Variations of these trees are found throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world. Ash wood has a trampoline effect as it flexes and compresses, but it provides a large sweet spot.
2. Maple Wood comes from the Northern Hemisphere, especially in North & Central America. This wood has "close-grains" and it's 20% harder than ash. Its extreme hard surface is less likely to splinter.
3. Bamboo originates throughout Asia and they're fast growing. Bamboo is extremely hard, but its chutes are hollow. The strips are pressed into billets then formed into a bat. This wood's tension strength is equal or greater than steel. Keep in mind Bamboo bats are not 1-piece single wood bats.
4. Birch is a North Temperate wood that's found in Canada, Asia and the U.S. This wood is more flexible than Maple, and it's tougher than Ash. Being a lighter wood, it allows players to swing through the hitting zone with larger barrels.
5. Guayaibi Wood comes from the subtropical forests of South America. This wood has more grain flexibility than ash and maple. It's also more dense, tighter and more pop and power. Guayaibi is the newest type of wood to the baseball market and players are absolutely raving about it given its scientific characteristics.
