None of this seemed likely when Leanhardt was earning his doctorate and spending seven years teaching at the University of Michigan. But he would leave academia to pursue a higher calling: the solution to a complex, century-old physics problem with significant real-world applications. He wanted to know how to effectively hit a round ball with a wooden bat.

Leanhardt’s solution, which he devised a couple of years ago as a minor-league hitting coordinator for the Yankees, moves the fat part of the bat closer to the handle rather than the end. The result is a product that better resembles a bowling pin than a traditional bat, redistributing the weight to the area where players most often make contact with the ball.