Rawlings Adirondack 232 Big Stick Baseball Bat Review
By: Site Staff
As the weather gets warmer in North America, thoughts turn to sunshine, beaches, barbeques, and America’s great past time, baseball. Many people love the game, for its high level of competition, and the great strategy behind it. Skill and coordination play a big role in being successful, but nothing helps a player more than having high quality equipment. Today I will be reviewing Rawlings’ Adirondack 232 Ash baseball bat.
I am not a pro baseball player, but the league I am in is quite competitive. The pitchers throw heat, we play on full major league sized diamonds, and the competition is stiff. We are being treated like major leaguers (minus the salaries) so I needed to buy a wooden bat that is high quality, yet affordable. I opted for one of my favorite baseball brands, Rawlings, and their Ash Adirondack 232 Big Stick bat.
The 232 is made from professional grade wood from a Northern White Ash tree. Many experts consider the Northern White Ash to be one of the most dependable types of wood on the market. Rawlings advertises this bat as an ideal bat for various ages and skill levels, whether you are in high school, college, adult senior league or minor league professional baseball.
From an aesthetic standpoint, the bat comes in a flame tempered natural finish, giving it a smooth, comfortable feel and a great look. Performance wise, the 232 has a two and a half inch barrel which provides hitters with a large sweet spot. It is quite forgiving and will provide good pop even if you miss the fat part of the barrel slightly. Rawlings kiln dried the 232 to provide optimum moisture content and gave it a double lacquered finish to provide users with greater durability.
The bat gives off a nice sound when you hit the ball on the sweet spot and is tough to break. It is very reasonably priced at $29.99 and is ideal for both practice and games. I only have a few small complaints about the bat. At 34 inches, my bat was quite long. This leaves a lot of vulnerable spots in the bat. The nature of wooden bats is such that if you do not hit the ball with the barrel, the 232 is vulnerable to breaking. I used the bat for several months without any issues and got many great hits out of it, but it eventually developed a hairline fracture when I fought off an inside fastball and lined a single into left center field.
After many clutch hits and happy memories, I have retired my Adirondack 232. It was great while it lasted and provided a lot of pop and durability for the price. I recommend it to everyone who plays in a wood bat league and needs an affordable bat with a good amount of pop!
