Torpedo bats, axe bats, and knobs: A history of baseball bats

You’ve been hearing all about torpedo bats of late, and with good reason. New equipment isn’t introduced to Major League Baseball often, but the torpedo bat represents a change in the design of a piece of equipment that’s been part of the game from the start: the baseball bat itself. The New York Yankees having themselves an offensive explosion against the Milwaukee Brewers on opening weekend certainly helped bring them into the spotlight, but big games from the likes of Elly De La Cruz helped keep it there.

The thing is, the torpedo design is not the first change to baseball bats. They didn’t just arrive on the scene in the 19th century looking like they do today — it took years and years, well over a century even, to get from the kind of bat the game started with to the one that Giancarlo Stanton holds in his hands today. 

Let’s look back at the bats that have existed in MLB, however briefly, and think on what could even be coming next.

[Related:  The secret behind the Yankees’ newfound power? Torpedo bats ]

If you thought "torpedo bat" was fun to say, or that a bat shaped like a bowling pin was a little silly to look at, then you need to be introduced to the banana bat. Patented in 1890 by Emile Kinst, the banana bat is curved a bit like a banana, though not as pronounced, even if the patent image makes it look like Kinst was influenced by ancient Egyptian swords. 

Kinst's 1890 patent for a "base ball bat" that's shaped a bit like a banana. (Image via public domain and Wikimedia)

Here’s what the banana bat actually looks like in real life:

Kinst’s idea was that the curve of the bat would create spin on a struck ball in a way that would make it difficult for fielders to handle it. It didn’t become the new