Batmaker Manuel Bouffard is busy sanding and sawing in the B45 baseball factory of the Quebec city, trying to keep up with the demand for the latest fashion of sport.
Standing on a machine that size the baseball bats of the wooden cylinders in just two and a half minutes, Bouffard is doing many more bats of Torpedos lately.
Unlike a regular bat, the torpedo was designed by a former physicist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to take the largest amount of wood or mass to the part of the bat, where the most frequent contact occurs.
“It’s a big thing right now,” said Bouffard. “It’s something new, so obviously people want to try it.”
While several manufacturers make the bat, B45 baseball has been doing torpedoes for almost a year. Last week, demand has increased.
It is partly due to the opening weekend of Major League Baseball, when the New York Yankees clubed a record number of home runs, and many players used the Bat de Toryo.
The bat itself does not mean that players will increase their number of home runs, but it is definitely a tool that some are using to treat their performance, says Marie-Pier Gosselin, general manager of Baseball B45.
“He really caught the public’s attention,” he said.
“Until last Saturday, Torpedo’s demand was zero. And now that is basically all the requests we have received.”
It is 25 times more than the company would generally expect, she says. Only this week, they received interest from about 30 MLB players who want to try them.
Davis Schneider, with the Toronto Blue Jays, already uses the bat, and Gosselin says he has another order on the way.
“That is why it caught us a little more attention,” he said.
“It’s a small plant, it’s a small team, so we’re a bit tired. We didn’t expect sure, but it’s exciting.”
The assistant of the General Manager Olivier Lepine does not know how long the trend will last.
“If people like it, they like feeling and feel they can hit the ball more with force and, more frequently, the bat torpedo will remain for a long time,” he said.
The bat is legal in the MLB, says Lepine, although some claim that innovation should not be used.
Stipulate the rules The bat must be made of a piece of wood and cannot have more than 2.61 inches in diameter and 42 inches long.
Although there has been some change in bats when it comes to its knob, Lepine says that the torpedo is one of the first times that he has seen such a change in the barrel.
“I don’t think this bat can fit for everyone,” he said.
“The balance is not the same. Instead of having most of the weight towards the end, you have the weight closer to your hand.”
While some say that the torpedo is a faster swing, he doubts to govern the bat as a Gamechanger.
“I need to see more results before saying that it is much better than a normal bat,” Lepine said.
“I guess time will say it.”
