NOT ALL WOOD BATS ARE CREATED EQUAL. Slugger is baseball. for over 125 years, we"ve dominated the batter"s box in Major League Baseball. Still to this day, more teams and players – from rising stars to All Stars –swing Slugger than any other brand. What do they know that other players don"t? No other bat combines heritage, expertise and passion for the game like Louisville Slugger. Slugger uses superior lumber and superior craftsmanship to create a better, harder and longer-lasting bat. The rest is up to you. QUALITY of WOOD Don"t make the mistake of thinking all wood bats are the same. They may look similar, but the quality of wood is very different from one wood bat company to another. Louisville Slugger sets itself apart from other bat makers with over 125 years of bat making experience, outstanding turning models and the ability to offer the best quality wood on the market. This quality comes at a price. Louisville Slugger bats can be more expensive than other bats because we use only the very best timber to make our bats. with wood bats, you get what you pay for. Cheaply priced wood bats usually mean cheap-quality wood. Why Maple? Hard hitting surface. Maple is a very dense timber with a greater surface hardness than ash and some players believe this hardness gives them better performance. Maple is a closed-grained timber with a structure similar to layers in a laminated product. This makes the bat less prone to flake than an ash bat and allows for a maple bat to be more durable. When a maple bat breaks, it tends to snap in half rather than just splinter like ash. The heavier weight of maple makes it difficult to make lightweight large barrel models. Most players who use maple use a model with a smaller barrel to get the bat weight they desire. This Rock Hard Maple wood provides a player with great wood at a great value. Turning model in image may or may not be shipped to you.