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MIAMI: For the MIT-educated physicist behind the torpedo bat, it’s more about the talent of the players than their lumber at the plate.
The torpedo model — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — became the talk of major league baseball over the weekend.
The New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers that traveled a combined 3,695 feet on Saturday. Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all went deep using a torpedo bat. New York’s 15 homers through the first three games matched the 2006 Detroit Tigers for the most in major league history.
“At the end of the day it’s about the batter not the bat,” said Aaron Leanhardt, a former physics professor at the University of Michigan who is being credited with the design. “It’s about the hitter and their hitting coaches. I’m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better but ultimately it’s up to them to put good swings and grind it out every day. So, credit to those guys.”
Leanhardt, 48, a field coordinator for the Miami Marlins, said the origin of the bat dates to 2023, when he worked for the Yankees. He said several versions were tested that didn’t create the desired effect.
Leanhardt was approached by major league and minor league players early in the design stage, seeking information on the bats.
“I’ll let the players always talk about their own experiences. I’m not going to drag anyone into this,” Leanhardt said Monday. “But there were definitely guys on the major league side and on the minor league side in 2023 that were definitely asking me questions and offering design advice and demoing them.”
Leanhardt said the past couple of days had been “surreal.” Some of Miami’s players joked around with him as he answered questions from the media before their game against the New York Mets.
“The industry as a whole was probably a little bit more aware of this maybe than you guys were,” Leanhardt said. “Guys have been asking me about it. Guys have been wanting to swing them.”
Bat manufacturer Victus Sports dropped off a batch of torpedo bats for the Phillies just before first pitch of their home opener on Monday. Alec Bohm grabbed one, took about five swings and decided to use one.
His logic seemed sound: Look how it might have aided the Yankees.
“You see a team hit 20 homers and you’re gonna try it,” Bohm said. “It didn’t work.”
Bohm managed just one single with his new lumber. He noted it “felt just like a normal bat” and wasn’t sure if he would swing with a torpedo again any time soon.The torpedo model — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — became the talk of major league baseball over the weekend.
“It’s a bat. It’s different,” he said. “It’ll probably run its course.”
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said he didn’t feel like the bats had any effect on their opening series against the Yankees.
“I think they have a lot of really good players. That’s probably the biggest factor in how that went,” he said.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said shortstop Francisco Lindor used a similar bat in their series at Houston. He got the models late in spring training.
“Nothing new for us,” Mendoza said. “This is something that every team, every player continues to look for an edge and find ways to improve within the margins. And this is a perfect example.”

NEWARK, NJ: Duke’s stream of long, tall NBA-ready standouts smothered Alabama and papered over Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night to lift the Blue Devils to the program’s 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region final.

Flagg made only 6 of 16 shots, including a brick that got stuck in the flange of the rim, but still finished with 16 points. Kon Knueppel, another potential lottery pick, led the Blue Devils with 21 points.

But the most important stat: Alabama’s nation-leading offense, one coming off a record-setting night from 3 in the Sweet 16, failed to crack 70 points for only the second time this season.

The Crimson Tide’s 35.4 percent shooting from the floor was their worst all season and their 25 percent from behind the arc (8 for 32) matched their fourth-worst showing of 2024-25.

Mark Sears, who came one short of a tournament record with 10 3s two nights earlier, finished with one and only six points against the Blue Devils (35-3), who won their 15th straight.

At the Final Four in San Antonio, top-seeded Duke will play the winner of Sunday’s game between Houston and Tennessee. Its win erased any chance of an all-Southeastern Conference show at the Final Four, but with No. 1 Florida winning earlier, it kept alive the prospect of all four top seeds playing on the sport’s biggest stage for only the second time. Khaman Maluach scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Duke shot 53.6 percent despite its best player’s rough night.

Flagg was hardly bad in this one. He had nine rebounds, three assists and one mega-block that sent Mouhammed Dioubate’s floater flying over press row.

But in a game in which both teams were focused on taking away the other’s best player, it was Duke that did it more effectively, switching off on Sears, locking down the perimeter and never letting him find breathing room.

The fifth-year senior’s first bucket of any kind came nearly 18 minutes into the game and the shot was a 16-footer from the elbow — the exact kind of midrange shot Nate Oats’ team of dunkers and 3-point specialists avoids.

Sears’ first 3 came with 16:19 left in the game. His final line: 2 for 12 from the floor, 1 for 5 from 3. He also had six assists. Labaron Philon led the second-seeded Crimson Tide (28-9) with 16 points. Not a single Alabama player made more shots than he missed.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer, leading the program to the Final Four for the first time since his predecessor Mike Krzyzewski’s last season in 2022, has up to six NBA prospects on his roster.

They all chipped in on offense — Tyrese Proctor had 17 points — and even moreso on defense, where Alabama looked nothing like the team that set tournament records for makes and attempts by going 25 for 51 from 3 against BYU.

Final Four firsts

The only other Final Four to feature all No. 1 seeds was in 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and North Carolina made it. The site: San Antonio.

Another title for Tide wheelchair team

It wasn’t a totally lost night for Tide fans. Shortly before tipoff, the Alabama women’s wheelchair hoops team beat Texas-Arlington 67-52 for its fifth straight national championship.