MIT physicist Aaron Leanhardt has been credited with creating the torpedo bats. Leanhardt previously served as a hitting analyst with the Yankees before he joined the Miami Marlins as a field coordinator in the offseason.

Stanton torched the Royals in the American League Division Series, which the Yankees won three games to one. He led New York in batting average (.375), OPS (1.132), doubles (two) and hit one of the Yankees’ three homers in the series.

But the development of the uniquely shaped piece of lumber — it looks more like a bowling pin than a traditional bat, with a thicker middle and tapered end — wasn't the result of a life spent around the game.