I love my maple bat...

I read recently that many of the maple bats used in the minor leagues are now banned -- gone forever from the bat rack. The bats are likely to shatter at some point and the remnants fly through the air and end up lodged in the throat of a player, or worse -- a fan in the stands.

I love my maple bat. It's a beautiful piece of lumber. I keep it in my bat bag along with my Louisville Slugger (which has a crack in it at the moment) and my aluminium bats -- which I use 99 percent of the time. Once or twice a year, usually at an event such as the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series, I'll pull out the maple bat from my bag and head for the batter's box -- knowing full well that the next hit off it could be the last. The maple bat has yet to be banned from the MSBL, but the league may follow suit soon.

If that happens, I'll have my teammates autograph it and then I'll stick it in my trophy case.