torpedo bat

noun

plural torpedo bats

: a wooden baseball bat that is widest at the center of the barrel (see barrel entry 1 sense 3f) and tapers to the tip

His concern is whether redistributed weight in the torpedo bat would feel the same as his current, standard-shaped bat.

—Shayna Rubin

The torpedo bat has been circulating for a few seasons. … The bat's barrel has a bowling pin-like shape that puts the heartiest part of the barrel lower for a wider area of contact and then tapers toward the end.

—Derrick Goold

MLB [=Major League Baseball] states that the diameter of the bat cannot be thicker than 2.61 inches in diameter. … With the torpedo bat's diameter and length below the legal limit, there is nothing illegal about them.

—Oliver Thomas

Word History

First Known Use

2012, in the meaning defined above