You’ve done your research and tried all the baseball bats you could get your hands on, and now that you have the wood bat that’s best for you, you need to take care of it.
Here are a few tips to keep your bat in great shape:
Most importantly, keep your baseball bat clean. This is especially important if you use pine tar on your bat.
The best way to clean a bat is to wipe it down with rubbing alcohol after use. Some people like to perform this task every day, but cleaning after each day’s use should suffice.
Take a soft cloth or a wad of paper towels and wet liberally with rubbing alcohol. Wipe down the bat from the top of the barrel down to the handle, paying particular attention to the handle, where pine tar, sweat and grime quickly accumulate.
To take care of dings, scrapes and scratches on the bat, try rubbing it with a piece of bone or another wood bat. If you don’t have a piece of bone or another bat, a wood rolling pin works well. The idea is to smooth out the rough spots caused by play and to keep the bat’s surface smooth and unblemished.
When it’s not in use, store your bat in a cool, dry place. Store the bat vertically, with the handle end up.
If you take care of your bat, you’ll be ready to take care of business when you step to the plate.