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Northern White Ash Ash is the most popular lumber used by players. It is strong and flexible which causes the ball to 'trampoline' off of the bat. In time, the grains tend to separate. Although other hardwoods are gaining popularity, some players still swear by ash. |
Sugar (Rock) Maple Maple is a very hard and dense wood. The surface hardness is about 20% harder than ash. Maple is a close-grained wood, so the grain is not as important as it is with ash. The grain will not separate like ash; but, it does not have the flex of ash. |
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Yellow Birch Birch is the relatively new kid on the block. It is quickly gaining popularity as a substitute for maple. It is hard (like maple) and somewhat flexible (like ash). Because it is lighter than maple, it can be used for large-barrel bats. |
Domestic Hickory Simply stated, hickory is very hard, dense and heavy. It has often been used to make handles for tools (like hammers). It has been used since the beginning of baseball; yet, it is rare as most players prefer larger barreled bats. |
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