Media Mention: ‘How do 'torpedo bats' work? We asked baseball physicists to explain’
Apr 2, 2025
Where: NPR, “How do 'torpedo bats' work? We asked baseball physicists to explain”
Who: Daniel Russel, teaching professor of acoustics and distance education coordinator
What: Daniel Russel, teaching professor of acoustics and distance education coordinator, was quoted in an article covering a novel baseball bat design recently published by NPR. In the article, Russel shares perspective on the trend of “torpedo bats” overtaking baseball right now, which are shaped like a bowling pin to mirror how hitters tend to contact the ball. Alongside Alan Nathan, professor emeritus of physics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Lloyd Smith, professor of mechanical engineering at Washington State University, Russel breaks down the physics of these bats, the impact they will have on baseball bat manufacturing and how a lot of their success can be attributed to heightened batter confidence instead of an advantageous design.
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