Peter Bowes

The crack of the bat is as timeless a part of baseball as the roar of the crowd and the smell of hot dogs in the bleachers. The shape of the traditional bat seemed, at least, to be optimal for making solid contact with the ball, the type of whack that launches home runs and makes that satisfying snapping sound.

But to start the 2025 season, five members of the New York Yankees have been swinging a very different piece of lumber, developed by a physics professor turned professional baseball coach. The new torpedo bat is shaped like a bowling pin. Instead of starting narrow at the grip and widening into a straight cylinder like a standard bat, it bulges at the sweet spot.

But to start the 2025 season, five members of the New York Yankees have been swinging a very different piece of lumber, developed by a physics professor turned professional baseball coach. The new torpedo bat is shaped like a bowling pin. Instead of starting narrow at the grip and widening into a straight cylinder like a standard bat, it bulges at the sweet spot.

That's the ideal point on the bat for making contact with the ball. And then it tapers to a narrower top. It seems to work. Those five Yankees have hit a combined nine home runs in their first three games of the year. Staggering numbers. So what's the science behind this potentially potent new piece of equipment?

That's the ideal point on the bat for making contact with the ball. And then it tapers to a narrower top. It seems to work. Those five Yankees have hit a combined nine home runs in their first three games of the year. Staggering numbers. So what's the science behind this potentially potent new piece of equipment?

DJ Pisano is a professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Cape Town, who's written about the mechanics of baseball. He says the key to hitting home runs, on paper at least, is to strike a fine balance between the mass of your bat and the speed of your swing.

DJ Pisano is a professor of astronomy and physics at the University of Cape Town, who's written about the mechanics of baseball. He says the key to hitting home runs, on paper at least, is to strike a fine balance between the mass of your bat and the speed of your swing.

With that bulge near the middle and the narrow top, the torpedo bat maximizes mass where it hits the ball without adding unnecessary weight that could slow down a swing. And it moves the center of mass, where the bat would naturally balance, closer to the contact point, improving the transfer of momentum from bat to ball. Of course, this all comes with a caveat.

With that bulge near the middle and the narrow top, the torpedo bat maximizes mass where it hits the ball without adding unnecessary weight that could slow down a swing. And it moves the center of mass, where the bat would naturally balance, closer to the contact point, improving the transfer of momentum from bat to ball. Of course, this all comes with a caveat.

So the bat doesn't work miracles. But baseball players around the world will be watching the Yankees' home run totals closely this season and maybe picking up torpedo bats of their own. Peter Goffin reporting.

So the bat doesn't work miracles. But baseball players around the world will be watching the Yankees' home run totals closely this season and maybe picking up torpedo bats of their own. Peter Goffin reporting.

I don't feel safe. I'm worried. Trump is trying to control the country. What do you think is going to happen? I have no idea. What do you want to happen? I want Greenland to control its own fate.

I don't feel safe. I'm worried. Trump is trying to control the country. What do you think is going to happen? I have no idea. What do you want to happen? I want Greenland to control its own fate.

These will be oil spills, I suspect, from the process again, or leaks even.

These will be oil spills, I suspect, from the process again, or leaks even.

And look, you can see here, carbon dust is penetrating the roofs of some of these sheds. Even basic health and safety rules being flouted. I should not be ending up in places like this.

And look, you can see here, carbon dust is penetrating the roofs of some of these sheds. Even basic health and safety rules being flouted. I should not be ending up in places like this.

We've learned some really very sad details and officials in New Mexico making the point that it's very unusual for them to talk about a case like this so soon after the post-mortem examinations. Indeed, all the results are still not in, but they know enough, it seems, to piece together. A timeline.

We've learned some really very sad details and officials in New Mexico making the point that it's very unusual for them to talk about a case like this so soon after the post-mortem examinations. Indeed, all the results are still not in, but they know enough, it seems, to piece together. A timeline.

And they say they believe now that Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, died on February the 11th from complications caused by Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, which is a rare, serious respiratory illness, which is caused by the exposure to infected rodents. He is believed to have died, Gene Hackman, a week later, approximately a week later, on the 18th of February,