ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
On Saturday, the New York Yankees hit a stunning nine home runs in taking down the Milwaukee Brewers, which got a lot of people looking at those new bats the Yankees were using. NPR's Mansee Khurana reports.
MANSEE KHURANA, BYLINE: The New York Yankees started out the game on a high...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL KAY: Mitchell back, track, wall. See ya.
Bellinger lost one deep to right center. There it goes into the bleachers. See ya.
That one's driven deep to left field. There it goes. See ya.
KHURANA: ...With three home runs on the first three pitches thrown in the game. And the hits just kept on coming.
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KAY: See ya. The Yankees' ninth home run of the day.
KHURANA: The Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers 20 - 9 in their second game of the season. They also tied their record for most home runs in a single game. But the focus of the game has shifted to the baseball bats some of the players were using.
BRIAN DURYEA: You've seen a ton of bats. And you would see it and be, like, there's something weird about that bat.
KHURANA: That's Brian Duryea, the owner of Bat Digest, a website that reviews baseball bats. The bats were designed to have a larger barrel than a standard baseball bat.
DURYEA: They're trying to put more meat of the barrel where contact occurs. And so, immediately when I saw it, I thought, oh, that makes perfect sense. Why has no one done this before?
KHURANA: The new bats were not used by every player on Saturday. Five of the home runs were hit using the new bat, according to ESPN. Alan Nathan is a retired professor at the University of Illinois and studies the physics of baseball.
ALAN NATHAN: I wouldn't want to draw too strong a conclusion based on a single game.
KHURANA: Nathan said it's also unlikely that the new bats are leading to more home runs. A spokesperson for Major League Baseball has confirmed that the bats do meet the league's requirements. The Yankees beat the Brewers for the second time on Sunday, and the new bats were responsible for two more home runs.
Mansee Khurana, NPR 瓜神app.
(SOUNDBITE OF SID BASS AND HIS ORCHESTRA'S "HERE COME THE YANKEES (INSTRUMENTAL)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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