How We Broke The Indestructible Baum Bat

A virtually indestructible bat.

Truth be told, Baum has crafted some of the most durable wood bats due to unique composite wood bats that are engineered under conditions similar to those used to make advanced aerospace products. Years ago, the JustBats Bat Experts decided to put Baum's claim to the test. We tried everything to break the Baum.

We failed.

But then, Baum challenged us again. Coinciding with the release of the exclusive Baum Bat White Lightning Composite Wood BBCOR baseball bat (AAA Pro White Adult), JustBatsrolled out a contest asking people for suggestions on how to destroy a virtually indestructible bat. The responses ranged from the bizarre (hydraulic press) to the interesting (freeze it, then hit it) to the dangerous (chainsaw).

Needless to say, we had fun. And, in the end....we actually broke the Baum bat. Here's how we did it.

The Idea

Jamie Batrony suggested we pitch a bowling ball and take some hacks with the Baum bat. In order to avoid injuries to our hitter, we opted--instead--to drop a 16-pound bowling ball onto the bat.

Do you know about the best bat ever? Find out more.

The Result

Sure, we elevated the bat to keep it in place. Sure, the bowling ball hit the bat in a great spot. And, sure, we dropped the ball from a distance that was going to pack some force. But, still, we broke the virtually indestructible bat.

The Science

Simply dropping a bowling ball wouldn't have broken the White Lightning Baum bat. We made it interesting by dropping from a height of 10 feet.

First of all, how fast was the bowling ball moving after falling from 10 feet? And what was the ball's speed of impact?

Given the 3.048 meters (height) and 7.167 kg (mass) of the 15.8-pound bowling ball, here are some facts about the bowling ball's journey to bat:

• The speed at impact was 7.73 m/s.
• The energy at impact was 214.07 joules. By comparison, atrial fibrillation takes 200 joules for monophasic devices to normalize abnormally fast heart rates in patients.
• The pound-force was 71.2644 lbm. 

The Conclusion

We broke the Baum bat. But we don't recommend trying to break the Baum or your wood baseball bat or your White Lightning (if you have one). Broken bats aren't fun.

What do you think? Do you have a better suggestion on how we could've broken the Baum bat? Anything you'd like to see?

If you have any baseball bat questions, please feel free to give our friendly Bat Experts a call at (866-321-2287). You can also shoot them an email at experts@justbats.com or click here to live chat. Don't forget, we'll be here for you from click to hit!