Patent ID: 7232388

Claim:
A baseball bat comprising: a handle portion for gripping, said handle portion having a handle length; a cylindrical tubular hollow void barrel portion for striking, said barrel portion having a barrel length; and a tapered mid-section portion connecting said handle portion and said barrel portion; said handle, barrel and mid-section portions constructed solely of a polymer composite material, said polymer composite material comprising a thermoset resin and continuous length reinforcement fibers, wherein said continuous length reinforcement fibers in said handle portion have a handle fiber length and said continuous length reinforcement fibers in said barrel portion have a barrel fiber length, and wherein said handle fiber length is greater than said handle length and said barrel fiber length is greater than said barrel length, said continuous length reinforcement fibers being arranged at a resultant fiber angle relative to a central longitudinal axis of the bat, wherein an average of the absolute values of all said resultant fiber angles in said handle portion is less than an average of the absolute values of all said resultant fiber angles in said barrel portion, thereby providing said handle portion with an axial stiffness that is greater than the axial stiffness of said barrel portion, and wherein the axial stiffness of the handle portion is between 50,000 lb-in 2 and 250,000 lb-in 2 , and the radial compression stiffness of said barrel portion is between 70 lb/in and 350 lb/in.