Bat Man

A Chatham resident tries to revolutionize the way bats are created and manufactured to ensure optimal safety.

Posted March 15, 2010 by Bob Seligman

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Photo by Edward Tsang.

Ward Dill thinks he has the answer to those broken bats that are so scary to baseball fans. The Chatham resident has created the Radial Bat, a shatterproof bat made from twelve wedges of wood held together by 36 tons of pressure.

Dill, 56, began making the bat three years ago. So far, Major League Baseball isn’t buying.

The M.I.T.-educated Dill has had meetings with MLB officials, but they are sticking with their policy of only approving one-piece bats. “The only reason I can think of that they’ll change that rule is if there’s some horrific problem in terms of somebody being injured,” Dill says, “and I don’t want that to happen.” MLB officials would not comment for this story.

Still, Dill thinks the Radial Bat deserves a shot at the big leagues. “Wood will break along the grain lines,” he explains. “When the grain of a piece of wood travels all the way through a bat, a fracture will find that pathway and separate the bat into two pieces or more. In our twelve-wedge radial design, the grain never goes more than one wedge before the next wedge stops it.”

The Radial Bat has made inroads among Little League, high school, college, and minor-league teams. Several big-league teams, including the Yankees and Mets, use a smaller training version of the bat.
Dill expects to sell 25,000 bats this year. For information, go to radialbat.com.

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Comments

Breaking baseball bats

Something has to done about bats breaking and turning into spears.
It took Tony Conigliaro getting beaned for MLB to make batters wear helmets.Come on can’t something be done before someone gets killed.Tust me its only a matter of time before someone does.

Posted by: Vincent M Frank, sacramento | Oct 20, 2010 17:13:08 PM |

Radial Bats

I have contacted Ward Dill on 6/12/11 about doing some business by distributing Radial Bats in Hawaii. We went back and forth for 2 days and finally I decided to pursue the deal and purchase 12 ash bats for a little over $70 per bat. I was charged $850.40 on June 14. After time, I had sent emails to Ward concerning my shipment of bats because I have not received anything until the first box arrived on July 21st. Between 6/12 and 7/21, I have sent Ward on 6/28, 7/8, and 7/13 concerning the bats and he did not respond to any. I called him on 7/20 and he explained that the first box of bats were sent back to Radial Bats because the box was damaged. I have never heard of a box returning back to the sender because it is damaged. Fortunately I received a box the next day. But since that day I have sent emails on 7/25, 8/8, and 8/18, and I and my associate with my company has called and left messages on 8/19 and 8/22 respectively. Ward has not returned any of my emails or phone messages.
Int he first box I received, there was a very noticeable wedge seperation in one of the bats, in where I have sent a picture of the bat and serial number to Ward at ward@radialbat.com, and he responded 2 or 3 days later saying that he would replace the bat and I wouldn’t have to send the bat back. That email was sent on 7/22.
I have already paid $850.40 over two months ago, and I am short $495 of products from Radial Bats. I would like an immediate refund for the 7 bats that have not been received yet. It has been way too long for the bats to come in and most of my customers have already gone elsewhere to purchase bats. They have waited patiently for the second box of Radial Bats to arrive, and they have all gave up hope.

Posted by: Mike Kim, Honolulu, HI | Sep 09, 2011 08:37:24 AM |