After the Bronx Bombers lived up to their nickname with an historic nine-homer game, attention turned to the new larger-barrel bats some players used.

Those rules — specifically Rule 3.02 — state, “The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length.

Engineered by a former MIT physicist, the torpedo bat is completely legal under MLB rules. It meets all dimensional requirements but redistributes mass toward the barrel, creating a larger, denser sweet spot.