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Morning Edition

April 3, 2025

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“Torpedo” bats have taken over MLB in the season’s first week. Bat manufacturers are seeing new orders skyrocket—even as results don’t match the hype.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]], Lisa Scherzer [[link removed]], and Colin Salao [[link removed]]

‘Torpedo’ Bat Sales Boom As Debate Rages About Effectiveness [[link removed]]

The Courier-Journal

As the debate continues to rage about the effectiveness and fairness of MLB’s “torpedo” bats, [[link removed]] the sales are now quickly amassing.

Several major bat manufacturers, including Chandler Bats, Marucci Sports, and Victus Sports, have begun to sell versions of the torpedo bats to the general public, allowing ordinary consumers to access the same design that has quickly become the talk of baseball after the Yankees’ historic offensive start to the season [[link removed]]. The torpedo bat design moves more mass into the sweet spot of the barrel and closer to the handle.

Not surprisingly, early interest among players at all levels of the sport has been massive, with many of the manufacturers reporting record sales in company histories spanning decades.

“I’ve gotten more messages about the torpedo bat—I’ve been doing this for over 20 years now—than I have on anything we have ever done in the history of our company,” Marucci CEO and cofounder Kurt Ainsworth told The New York Times. “This is torpedomania.”

The frenzy around the bats, however, remains somewhat disconnected from statistical results, or prior player experience. While the Yankees have been relentless so far at the plate, leaguewide statistics so far this season show that both average runs scored per game and batting average are nearly identical to comparable results from last year.

As MLB rules do not regulate the geometry of the bats, so long as they stay within the maximum diameter of 2.61 inches, some batters have experimented with torpedo-type shapes over many years. Former MLB manager Ozzie Guillén said on WSCR-AM in Chicago on Wednesday that he used a torpedo bat in 1986 and “they don’t work.” This Getty Images photo [[link removed]] may confirm his use of that bat. Guillén hit .250 that year with just two home runs, ultimately amassing just 28 over a 16-season career.

SPONSORED BY AMAZON WEB SERVICES

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Read more [[link removed]] on how data is transforming scouting.

New Masters Look Post-Hurricane: Augusta Has Fewer Trees, Fresh Greens [[link removed]]

Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Network

Augusta National Golf Club will likely look and feel slightly different for players and longtime Masters observers this year.

Fans will get their first look at the course, which suffered damage from Hurricane Helene [[link removed]], on Friday, when the Augusta National Women’s Amateur descends upon the home of The Masters, which begins April 10.

The consensus from Augusta National leadership, players, and other insiders who have already seen the course is that there is a lot less lumber than there was a year ago. “The loss of a few trees is definitely noticeable,” Rory McIlroy said last week, echoing a comment club chairman Fred Ridley made in January.

After a Masters tune-up trip to Augusta, McIlroy also noted that four greens, including the iconic 16th, had been redone, likely due to hurricane damage. But he said those holes still played mostly like they always have.

Augusta was one of the many cities and regions in the Southeast hit hard by the storm in September [[link removed]]. It’s unclear how much money the damage cost Augusta National, but the club donated $5 million to the Hurricane Helene Community Crisis Fund. Annual renovations are also not uncommon at Augusta National, which closes each summer to make course modifications.

“I think there are going to be some areas that will absolutely look different to the patrons and to all of our viewers on TV,” CBS lead golf analyst Trevor Immelman, who played Augusta in January, said this week.

ESPN analyst Andy North felt the same way. “It’s been thinned out,” he said. “I would think for those of us who have been there for 30 or 40 years, you’ll definitely see the difference. For people coming back for the first or second time, maybe they won’t see as much.”

CBS, which will once again have weekend coverage of The Masters, does not plan on showing before-and-after shots of Augusta National to compare how the course looks this year versus last year.

Sportswear Retailers in Crosshairs As Trump Announces More Tariffs

On Holding

Your sneakers may cost more soon.

In a much-anticipated press conference in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, President Donald Trump ran down a list of countries and the tariff rates the U.S. plans to impose on their products. He made a point to say he wouldn’t charge the full reciprocal rate, rather, it’s a “kind reciprocal tariff,” meaning “we’ll charge them approximately half of what they’re charging us.”

Trump announced the U.S. will impose a 10%, across-the-board tariff on all imports, and higher rates for nations the administration considers bad actors on trade.

The last time President Donald Trump imposed tariffs [[link removed]] on imports from China, much of the retail industry responded by reworking supply chains and moving manufacturing operations from China to other countries. Vietnam was the biggest beneficiary of that shift.

Those moves largely prepared retailers [[link removed]] for the threats Trump made during his 2024 campaign to hit China with even more tariffs. But the president’s new reciprocal tariff policy distinctly affects the beneficiary of the last round.

Vietnam charges 90% tariffs on U.S. goods, Trump said, so the U.S. will charge the country 46%. Other countries subject to tariffs include Indonesia, Cambodia, Taiwan, South Korea, and more. At $123.5 billion, the U.S. trade deficit with Vietnam [[link removed]] is the third largest behind only China and Mexico, Morningstar analyst David Swartz tells Front Office Sports.

Trump has said tariffs are meant to boost U.S. manufacturing. But economists generally agree tariffs function as a tax on companies and ultimately consumers. Typically, companies can respond to tariffs by passing the increased cost to consumers, absorbing it, or negotiating with their suppliers. Either way they are aware of the risks that come with basing a significant portion of their manufacturing in a handful of countries.

“As a rule of thumb, every 10% in tariff exposure results in a low-single-digit increase in prices,” says Telsey Advisory Group retail analyst Cristina Fernández.

The prospect of price increases in the sportswear space should make the industry nervous, given the current economic backdrop and decline in consumer confidence [[link removed]]. Last week a Commerce Department report showed consumer prices rose 2.5% in February from a year earlier. It also found that consumer spending increased, but much of the lift came from price increases. Sneaker prices are about 25% higher than they were in 2019, according to Circana.

You can read Lisa Scherzer’s full story on the reciprocal tariffs announced Wednesday and the effect they could have on sportswear companies here [[link removed]].

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In the NIL Era, College Basketball’s Biggest Programs Keep Winning [[link removed]]

William Purnell-Imagn Images

This year’s March Madness results have been an indicator that the NCAA’s most powerful and deep-pocketed programs may be the biggest benefactors of the era of NIL (name, image, and likeness) and a free-agency-like transfer portal.

Only Power 4 teams qualified for the Sweet 16 [[link removed]] on the men’s side this year. UConn was the exception on the women’s side—though it is arguably the most successful program in women’s college basketball history.

The SEC set a record as 14 of its 16 programs qualified for the men’s tournament. It parlayed that into $70 million in prize money [[link removed]] from 35 units earned, also a record for any conference. The Big Ten and its growing pool of programs also set its own record with 12 of 18 schools in the tournament and finished with $42 million from 21 units.

On the women’s side, it was the first year the NCAA awarded prize money for units, and both conferences also topped the league in earnings [[link removed]]. The SEC secured $3.4 million from 30 units and the Big Ten followed with $3.2 million from 28 units.

The rich could get even richer if conferences decide to award the prize money directly to the schools based on the number of units they’ve earned, leaving those out of the tournament with nothing. According to Sports Business Journal, the American Athletic Conference approved a rule [[link removed]] Wednesday that would give schools 100% of the value of the units they earned in the NCAA tournament, both in the men’s and women’s division.

The AAC is not one of the power programs, but its decision may set a precedent for the Power 4. While the model would reward teams for their success, it would be another setback for those at the back of the pack that may already be seeking more funding to improve their programs.

SPONSORED BY LILLY

Supporting Women’s Health Courtside

Lilly has been announced as the title sponsor of the Women’s College All-Star Game and the inaugural Lilly Women’s College All-Star Combine. The combine will give top prospects a platform to showcase their skills ahead of the WNBA draft.

Lilly’s support also extends beyond the court—raising awareness for early breast cancer detection with free mammograms in partnership with Black Health Matters, outside the stadium, to women 35+ at the women’s Final Four in Tampa this weekend. Athletes at the combine will wear No. 99 jerseys to highlight that, when breast cancer is detected early, the five-year survival rate can be as high as 99%.

The All-Star Game tips off Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Learn more about Lilly’s work as a medicine company and in oncology at [[link removed]].

Editors’ Picks NWSL Could Make Tens of Millions Selling New TV Games [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Almost 200 games are up for grabs over the next two years. FanDuel’s PE Backers Fire Back at Founder’s Legal Fight Over 2018 Sale [[link removed]]by Ben Horney [[link removed]]The legal dispute stems from the 2018 sale of 61% of FanDuel. Question of the Day

Do you think MLB’s “torpedo” bats provide an unfair advantage?

YES [[link removed]] NO [[link removed]]

Wednesday’s result: 91% of respondents think Olivia Miles is making the right decision by returning to college rather than declaring for the WNBA draft.

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