23 July 2007

Borers against baseball

Even as the Yankees reach the point of being 5 games over .500 there is a tiny insect threatening baseball - Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire. Garden Design Online posted a story about this tiny threat to America's pastime:
The emerald ash borer is also causing concern in the professional baseball world. Eighty percent of the "Louisville Slugger" brand bats are made from ash, and most of the wood comes from Pennsylvania. The company manufactures about 850,000 bats a year, and it supplies more than half of the bats used by major league players. While a few top sluggers, including Barry Bonds, prefer bats made of maple, others -- including Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter -- always use bats made of white ash.

I've been keeping a very close eye on my old ash tree, worrying about these little creeps. Now they take a whack at #2 and A-Rod?

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