<P> Players can be very particular about their bats . Ted Williams cleaned his bats with alcohol every night and periodically took them to the post office to weigh them . "Bats pick up condensation and dirt lying around on the ground," he wrote, "They can gain an ounce or more in a surprisingly short time ." Ichiro Suzuki also takes great care that his bats do not accumulate moisture and thus gain weight: he stores his bats in humidors, one in the club house and another, a portable one, for the road . Rod Carew fought moisture by storing his bats in a box full of sawdust in the warmest part of his house . "The sawdust acts as a buffer between the bats and the environment," he explained, "absorbing any moisture before it can seep into the wood ." </P> <P> Many players "bone" their bats, meaning that before games, they rub their bats repeatedly with a hard object, believing this closes the pores on the wood and hardens the bat . Animal bones are a popular boning material, but rolling pins, soda bottles and the edge of a porcelain sink have also been used . Pete Rose had his own way of hardening his bats: he soaked them in a tub of motor oil in his basement then hung them up to dry . </P> <P> A fungo bat is a specially designed bat used by baseball and softball coaches for practice . The etymology of the word fungo (/ ˈfʌŋɡoʊ /) is uncertain, but the Oxford English Dictionary suggests it is derived from the Scots fung: to pitch, toss, or fling . A fungo is longer and lighter than a regulation bat, with a smaller diameter . The bat is designed to hit balls tossed up in the air by the batter, not pitched balls . Typical fungo bats are 35 to 37 inches (89 to 94 cm) long and weigh 17 to 22 ounces (480 to 620 g). Coaches hit many balls during fielding practice, and the weight and length allow the coach to hit balls repeatedly with high accuracy . The small diameter also allows coaches to easily hit pop - ups to catchers and infielders along with ground balls due to better control of the barrel of the bat . </P> <P> Baseball bats are often used as a club - like weapon . </P>

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