Monday, May 22, 2006

MIT undergrads have a corker

By Catherine Williams

While David "Big Papi" Ortiz's consistent slugging continues to drive the Red Sox offense this year, budding scientists at MIT are investigating whether a flexible bat handle could help a baseball travel farther and faster.

Bat manufacturer Rawlings Sporting Goods Inc. of St. Louis, Mo. sponsored the project and will use the data to improve its products.

Art Chou, Rawlings vice president of research and development, said the shelf life of a bat is two to three years because the technology moves so fast. Bats make up $60 million of the company's annual revenue, and Chou said the company is constantly looking for innovations to increase performance. For players like Red Sox designated hitter Ortiz -- who prefers Rawlings bats -- performance tuning could mean the difference between a triple and a homer.

The Center for Sports Innovation at MIT found that individual batters could increase the velocity and distance of their hits using the new bat handle.

Researchers used sensors and robots to monitor the speed of baseballs as they were being hit. The study found some batters could increase the speed of their hits by an average of 2.5 miles per hour, and extend a long fly ball hit by 12 feet. But the bat didn't help every batter.

"We found there was not a certain degree of success for everyone," said Williams.

The center's founder and director, Kim Blair, oversaw the research conducted by Nabori Santiago, 21, and Greg Williams, 22, who are undergraduate aeronautic and astronautic engineering students.

Santiago, a Springfield native and Red Sox fan, said Oritz couldn't use the bats even if they could

help him hit longer and farther. Ortiz is restricted to using wooden bats, as are all batters in Major League Baseball.