Aaron Judge of the Yankees, Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies, Mike Trout of the Angels and Tyler Soderstrom of the Athletics lead the Major Leagues with six home runs apiece. Nine other players hit five home runs through games played April 11. What do all these sluggers have in common? None of them is using a torpedo bat. No one on the Guardians roster is using the bat that, after the Yankees pummeled the Milwaukee Brewers in their first series 2025, seemed destined to revolutionize baseball and send pitchers running for cover. The thickest part of a torpedo bat is closer to the hitter’s hands than a normal bat, so most of the weight is in the sweet spot. The end of a torpedo bat is smaller in circumference. Torpedo bats are a craze, but they are not new. Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, currently on the injured list with elbow soreness, used one to hit seven home runs in the postseason last year — four of them against the Guardians in the 2024 ALCS. “Everybody uses their own bat.” manager Stephen Vogt said before the Guardians played the White Sox on April 8. “Everybody has a different model, so if that works for those guys, they still have to hit it. “I feel like I’ve talked about this every day for the last 10 days. It’s a new type of bat that I’m sure some players are going to explore and some are going to use it. Some aren’t.” Count Jose Ramirez among the players happy with the status quo. “I took a couple of swings in the cage, but to me I don’t see any big difference,” Ramirez said through interpreter Augistin Rivero. “Some of the companies have shipped the (torpedo) bats out to players, but the normal bat works well for me.” Ramirez is currently hitting .244 with four home runs and six RBI using a standard bat. Last year he hit 39 home runs, 39 doubles and drove in 118 runs using the same style bat he is using this year. Guardians leadoff hitter Steven Kwan isn’t dismissing the Torpedo trend as quickly as Ramirez is. “I’m still trying to learn as much as I can about it,’ Kwan said. “It’s been around for a while, so it’s not this new phenomenon. I think it’s just blowing up because the Yankees used it and they scored a million runs that one weekend. But it’s definitely interesting to think about the science behind it. It makes sense. “I haven’t done as much research as I would’ve liked to, but we’re going to keep learning and if it makes sense to use it, hopefully some of our guys use it, but we’ll see what that looks like.” Kwan is hitting a torrid .340 with two home runs and eight RBI. He missed a chunk of the 2024 season with a hamstring injury but still hit .292 with 14 home runs and 44 RBI with a standard bat. Eighteen players across both leagues are using torpedo bats, according to a study done by FOX sports. Five of them play for the Yankees — Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr, Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Paul Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt is hitting .360 but the batting averages of Chisholm (.173), Bellinger (.189), Volpe (.250) and Wells (.205) are unimpressive. Cincinnati Reds superstar Elly De La Cruz uses a torpedo bat. He is hitting .236 with two home runs and 12 RBI. He struck out 16 times in the Reds’ first 14 games. He hit .259 last year while homering 25 times and driving in 76 runs using a conventional bat. • You might think a person born in 1862 with the name William Van Winkle Wolf would carry the nickname “Rip” from the moment his friends could talk, but such was not the case for the man who played right field, shortstop and first base for the Kentucky Colonels of the American Association from 1882-91. Wolf, a career .290 hitter who hit 18 home runs and drove in 592 runs while playing 1,196 games, was nicknamed “Chicken” by his friend Pete Browning. According to a story appearing on the Society for Baseball Research website, Browning and Wolf were teammates playing for a semi-pro team known as the Louisville Eclipse. The Eclipse manager told his players to eat a light meal before a certain game, but Wolf was famished and gorged himself on stewed chicken. Browning dubbed Wolf “Chicken.” His teammates and reporters picked up on it, and thus William Wolf became Chicken Wolf. The name stuck when Wolf and Browning were among four Eclipse players signed to be part of the inaugural Colonels’ team in 1882. Wolf hit .291, homered three times and drove in 57 runs on the 1889 Colonels team that finished 27-111. Wolf was the Colonels’ captain in 1889. Early during the ‘89 season, team owner Mordecai Davidson fined several players for playing poorly. Wolf was one of the players fined. As team captain he continued to play, but six of the fined players refused to suit up unless their fines were reimbursed. It was the first players’ strike in Major League history. Davidson resolved the situation by selling the team in June 1889. The Yankees’ Anthony Volpe bats during the first inning against the Pirates on April 5 in Pittsburgh. (Gene J. Puskar – The Associated Press) I didn’t know that … until I read by Snapple bottle cap. Children grow faster during springtime. Scientists speculate increased daylight hours stimulate the production of growth hormones. … Mangos, cashews, pistachios and poison ivy are botanically related. The belong to the Anacardiaceae family of plants. … Earth is the only known planet where fire occurs. … The average koala sleeps 22 hours a day. … It is illegal to run out of gas in Youngstown, Ohio, in the area bounded by Chestnut, Walnut, Boardman, and Commerce Streets. A first-time offense is a minor misdemeanor. Penalties increase if there are subsequent offenses. … Low air pressure and dryness cause about one-third of a airplane passenger’s taste buds to go numb. ...read more read less