The Trademark Legend and Boning the Bat
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It was easy to realize that millions of baseball bats with a brand trademark are manufactured each year. Why are these trademarks so vital? The philosophy of Hillerich and Bradsby on the trademark states that "the strongest part of a wood bat is the grain. We brand our bats with the grain of the wood exactly ninety degrees either side of it. Therefore, if you keep the trademark up, the grain will be facing the pitcher, whether you are a right or left handed batter." It is important to remember that the turn of the batters' wrist may vary. This will determine the proper position of the trademark in order to hit the ball on top the grain.
Years ago, baseball players would devote hours to boning three or four select bats from an order of twelve. In 1944, in the Philadelphia Phillies clubhouse, I observed such players as Ron Northey, Buster Adams, Tony Lupien, and Bob Finley performing this procedure by using a mounted hambone attached to a table platform. On the hambone, they were rubbing the barrel of the bat against the grain to seal the pores, and to make the surface harder. However, boning is no longer necessary due to the sophisticated methods of treatment and the final finish used by bat manufacturers today.