That is part of it. Hillerich & Bradsby is a 129-year old, family-owned company that also makes youth, amateur and softball bats, and as it lost market share in recent years, it has tried to ...

Players have been altering bats for decades in a bid to improve their grip -- adding pine-tar or some specialized grip tape, maybe shaving the handle slightly to make it thinner.

This year, players went all out with their bat designs, including some classic designs such as the No. 2 pencil bat and various colors of crayons. The ingenuity didn't stop there, however.

The bats the athletes use are a big part of that.Mike Butler, a senior product line manager for Louisville Slugger, and Joe Cmelik, with DeMarini, have worked on bats for years.

In this Feb. 8, 2018, photo, Kyle Hodge, product engineer for Axe Bat, holds a bat in the company's research lab in Renton, Wash. Axe Bat is trying to revolutionize baseball with a simple concept ...