Baseball: the great all-American pastime. Few of us can remember a summer from our childhood that did not include throwing a ball around or running the diamond. Today, baseball is all of that and much more. Baseball equipment has become as advanced as the space station?well, maybe not that advanced, but it is certainly more complicated than when we were kids! The point is baseball is not just a game anymore.

A few years ago, you grabbed your wooden bat and baseball and headed to the park for a game. However, the days of wooden bats are over (at least in the unprofessional realm of the sport). Today, everything is alloy and not just aluminum either. Boasting magnesium, scandium, and even titanium, the bats of today are far more advanced than their predecessors ? but the advancement in technology does not stop there. Many new bats on the market offer graphite cores and even two-piece bats to eliminate vibration.

When it comes to advancements in baseball equipment technology, gloves were not left out. Once simply made of leather, the old fashioned kind made from cows, many gloves on the market are now available in buffalo, kangaroo, and pigskin, not to mention the numerous grades of cow and steer hide offered. The major differences in each type of hide is the softness and durability of the material, which determines the amount of time necessary to break it in and, of course, how long the glove lasts.

To the best of my knowledge, luckily, baseballs have not changed much over the years. Unless there is a square ball out there I am unaware of, the balls of the past are still used to play the game today.

With all of the advances in baseball equipment, is it any wonder records are constantly being broken? If the tools really do make the man, baseball equipment should be producing superstars, as that is the technology form which they come.