Keeping kids fitted out with gear feels like a full-time job sometimes. My boys are at that stage where they are growing out of shoes quickly and it feels like every day, their pants are a little shorter on them. We went through 3 sets of cleats this past baseball season!!
Clothes and gear aren’t cheap but there are some items that can be bought used very easily. Practice pants, for example, can often be found in thrift shops or on social media and used pants are great as long as they aren’t torn up in the knees!
With some used gear, however, you need to be careful. One example: bats.
Kids outgrow bats in the same way they outgrow clothes. To know if your kid is using the right length, have them hold one end at the center of their chest, with the other end extending out to the end of their outstretched arm. If the bat reaches their fingertips, you’ve got the right length. If they can wrap their hand around the end of the bat—or if the bat isn’t reaching the center of their chest when held at the fingertips, then it’s time for a longer bat.
Then there’s the weight issue: a “drop 10,” (or -10) is a bat that’s 10 ounces lighter than the length. My kids just outgrew their 29″ -10 bats, and not only did they need a 31″ by the end of the season, but they were looking for something heavier: a -8 for one, and a -5 for the other. Coaches are often helpful in guiding kids to the right weight, but the key is to make sure it’s heavy enough to give them power while not being so heavy that they can’t swing it quickly. And our coach advised using a slightly heavier bat in the winter practice season vs. what they used in games as a way to help build muscle during that preseason training.
The question, then, is how are we supposed to afford all these different bats??
This is where smart buyers can sometimes find great deals by looking at used bats on social media sites like Facebook Marketplace and NextDoor, or stores like JustBats.com. Seriously—not only did I find a great deal on a barely used bat at JustBats.com, but I also snagged a new bat on clearance for a tiny fraction of the sticker price. And in both cases, the bat is JUST FINE for off-season training. Once the new season kicks in, we’ll see if these bats are still the right size and then we’ll assess whether it’s time to buy something brand new.
See, bats have a specific lifespan. You need to get at least 100 hits in to break in a new bat… but as they accumulate hits, they begin to lose their “pop.” I saw one for sale on Marketplace where the seller disclosed that the bat had a rattle, which is a sure sign that the bat is no longer going to give optimal distance on hits. Others I’ve seen have visible cracks, not just in the paint but in the metal. This (in my view) is pretty useless for a kid who is still perfecting their swing and needs to see whether their mechanics are working.
But not all used bats are at the end of their lifespans. In fact, those 29″ -10s my kids used this season still have life in them—we simply outgrew them! So I’ll be listing them for sale this summer. Maybe a couple younger kids out there who are just getting started with baseball can use a good used bat that was well cared for. And those sales will help fund my kids’ next bat purchases, too.
If you don’t want to deal with making a sale on your own (I could do a whole rant about the social media marketplaces), you can also take good used bats to local resale events. They are held at retailers like Dick’s and Monkey Sports all the time. You won’t get quite as much for them, but in return you won’t have the hassle of negotiating with individual buyers.
One last thing: to help with the resale, I recommend giving those bats a thorough cleaning with… NAIL POLISH REMOVER! After much trial and error, I found that this is super effective in removing all the scuffs that balls leave behind. You won’t believe how good the bats can look after a cleaning!
Anyway, if you’ve had luck selling used bats, or buying them, leave a comment below. I’d love to know what strategies have worked for you!
Baseball Mom On A Budget 