Wow. That's a revelation, huh? I wonder if it also applies to things like arrows and hockey sticks.
It is interesting, though, that Major League Baseball is now requiring bat makers to use blanks that meet a certain grain straightness specification. My initial thought was "why wouldn't bat makers automatically use only the most suitable blanks?" But then I realized that more broken bats equals more bat sales. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I can't help but wonder if the bat makers had that same thought. At least the new regulations will give them some motivation to cull out the bad blanks now.