Be Not Afraid

"By the start of the 2009 regular season, the plan of MLB's safety and health advisory committee is that all bats will have been certified by MLB and that the 32 manufacturers making them will be held to a new list of standards surrounding their production. That means keeping track of different models and how frequently they are breaking — a process that has a lot to do with determining the quality and slope of the wood's grain." [ SI/AP]