On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 08:45:47 -0700 (PDT), p4o2 wrote:

So many people (players, umpires, fans) get hit with parts of broken
bats that it seems like a simple solution exists. I am not a
woodworker so I can not judge the problems with drilling a very small
hole in the center of the bat (or the piece of wood that would be
turned into the bat) down the lenght of the bat. If this could be
done, a polymer fiber (nylon, polycarbonate, etc.) placed in this hole
would hold all the pieces of a broken bat together and prevent most of
the injuries.

Any technical woodworking problems in doing this?


It is difficult to drill a deep hole into long stock, since there is
nothing to keep it on-center as it drills. An off-center hole would
make an unbalanced bat. Similar to a hole for a lamp, I'd cut the
stock in half, make a groove, glue the halves back together, then turn
the piece.