BBCOR vs. GORILLA-BALL ERA | How hot is a 1997 Easton Reflex compared to a modern metal BBCOR Bat?
2023 ж. 27 Ақп.
345 025 Рет қаралды
The Bat Bros are joined by D1 commits Drew Burress & Pete Craska to compare how a present-day "BBCOR" metal bat stacks up against the bat that propelled the LSU Tigers to a record-breaking 188 home runs in 1997: the Easton Reflex Extended C405.
Our Top 50 BBCOR rankings are listed at baseballbatbros.com/pages/bbc...
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I played 3rd base in 97 and I remember what the ball looked like when it was hit of those bats. TPX was a nice bat too. Good old days for sure.
My 96 TPX still hangs on the wall in my office :)
The white TPX?
I still have my TPX drop 4 C4O5 alloy. It is very hot
Redlines and Omahas drop 7's until about 98...
I have 2, one is the drop 9 the other is a drop 6
(promise it's worth the read) I was in Pony League, just barely turned 13 & Pony league allowed you to swing high school/college bats & wood bats as long as they weren't lighter than the Pony Regulation bats. This one kid went up there with this bat but in the Orange and black version. 33/28. I was pitching, mind you, he was 15 in high school & was a big boy. But, his birthday made the cut off to play one more season of Pony League. He SMOKED the ball back at me & I absolutely stuck that liner right in my glove, I didn't flinch or move out of the way just straight up pure stuck it. (I practiced this a lot with my dad for that very reason) I remember the look on everyones face at that time. Just pure shock, however the following day I remember my hand hurt quite a bit! But, I just kept playing. Fast forward to me being 18 in Rookie ball & Single-A I get an x-ray for my left arm & they did the whole arm to be thorough. They asked if my left hand was okay, I told them "Yeah its my left shoulder that's injured, not my hand" The doc told me "Son, at one point in your life. It seems you broke at least 9 bones in your left hand based on the extra calcification I can see here." Well, Will. I think I know why & when those broken bones happened now 😅
Got my first orange Reflex (32-27) at 13 in 1995 and then graduated to the red Reflex (33-28) at 16 in 1998. Then the year after I graduated high school in 2001, the rules changed from minus 5 to minus 3 (we didn’t refer to them as drop 5’s back then). Never played with anything other than a minus 5. Can’t believe all that was 25ish years ago now. Thanks for the video. It brings back great memories.
Bro you just answered a question I always wondered about -5 and -3 . I started using -3 in 2003 and never saw a -5 makes sense as the rules changed a few years prior to my Time
I played in Kansas and we had to start using the -3s my senior year in spring 2001. Everyone was pissed about having to buy new bats. I had the Louisville orange Air C555 TPX that year.
Man that brings back memories. I swung a Reflex back in 97-99.
That was my first big barrel I ever owned. It was absolutely nuclear. Prayers to all the 3rd basemen playing the hot corner during that era!
I was a big fan of Easton growing up so this brings me back a little bit. The Stealth was THE bat to have when I was in HS. Thing felt so smooth.
I hope Sim gets to use the bat sometime, preferably at like the Vegas minor league stadium where there are no car windows to pay for. I wanna see some more g hacks with that bat! Also, I distinctly remember the era of college baseball when this bat was used to be one where teams never stopped scoring runs even when up double digits because they knew large comebacks were very possible.
Played my Sr year in high school in 1998. I used a red reflex and hit 10 homers with it. Had no idea at the time how hot that bat was.
That sounds for the Easton just brings back a flood of memories. I definitely still have mine as well. ✌️
Checking in as a representative of 1997 baseball ... we were, in fact, swinging like that back then. Also, the black & yellow reflex was pretty good too
THANK YOU!!! I was wondering what he was talking about. 🤦🏾♂️ Especially after mentioning LSU hitting 188 bombs in 97. It’s as if they didn’t WATCH any video of LSU hitting. 🤷🏾♂️ David Eckstein??? Please! 😆
Had the black & yellow reflex back in the day playing Pony League and immediately started crushing the ball.
I graduated in 97 and I can still feel the knob of the bat in my left hand. Didn't hit many home runs but batted .460 for my career with an Eston C core bat. It didn't have ping like most bats back then but it was a great bat.
I pitched in amateur ball in Minnesota back then. In addition to being -5 oz from their length, the sweet spot ran for almost the entire barrel. It was scary, and looking back at it, I was lucky to not have been severely injured. The whole state switched to wood around 2000 after a couple of pitchers weren't so lucky, including one who lost an eye in a 35 & over game.
VA of the juice era. RIP bros
Who the hell would use a Reflex in a 35+ league?
@@user-ut9ui5us3v Pretty much everyone at the time.
Great video! Easton made great bats in the 90’s! The C-Core bat, Black Magic and the Easton Ultra light. The Louisville Slugger TPX bats were legit also
Yeah those black magics were 🔥
David Eckstein? Not the goons I played against! I was a pitcher in that era, and there were plenty of times I heard contact and barely picked up the baseball as I heard it sizzle by me. Took a line drive off the ribs on a 92 MPH fastball that came back to me at probably 120+ MPH. Three broken ribs and a chest contusion later, I was only in the hospital for one night. We found creative ways to jam dudes up back in that day. Can’t mess up and leave one fat over the plate, they’ll kill you with the damn thing! Great video!
Was playing Roy Hobbs 30+ Adult baseball in 1997, had a Reflex & it ROCKED !!!! Was not long after that season that we switched to wood. We weren't getting any younger & our reflexes weren't getting any faster :)
Awesome video 🤙 I never realized how much they started modifying aluminum bats to mirror wooden bats. I played high school ball in the early 2000s and my bat of choice was the Easton Connexion 32/29. Small bat big results 🤙 Miss those days.
Old comment but I used and still have in my garage the 33-30 connexion. Beautiful bat and I remember it being pretty popular at the time
Batbros outdid themselves with this vid, love to see these prospects hit
Glad you’re getting some use out of that bat! It was great and glad to have donated it for all the entertainment you’ve brought…
You’re the man Jon!!!
What a legend you are John
Super entertaining, youre a beast for donating that!
The TPX Air Attack 34/29 was king of the era. I still have a Reflex and a TPX and hit bombs with them both back in the gap.
Lol. No it wasn’t!
Played with that Easton and the Redline. Loved those bats lol
Still have my Reflex C Core from Xmas 96. cracked, but can still launch nukes. Would love to see a bat madness with the late 90's bats and some rankings for them!
Fire vid once again. Love to hear the Reflex again. Been a long time since I've heard one. Something else to note, Those reflex bats were north of $400 back in 1996. Which was a TONNE of money back then. The Z2Ks were even more expensive $550 - $580 in Australia. taking into account 1996 exchange rate $400 AUD was $320 USD.
I paid $129 for my easton reflex extended in December of 1996. Bought it from Eastbay. Probably $400 in today's money but it wasn't $400 in 1996 money.
This is the reason I say that bats will never be as expensive as they once were. Brand new, three z-core was released at 380 dollars. This is over 600 dollars today
I believe that Easton’s Stealth line of bats were the first Easton’s to retail for $300 followed by the Comp at $350. All of these late 90’s bats were $275 or less.
@@ThePhenomf4 not true. Catalogs and old receipts from the 90s clearly state that these bats retailed for $330-380. Whole newspaper articles were written as to the price surge of bats whereas wood bats where $20
@@Tevatron044 interesting. I’ll have to see if I can find those catalogs. Update: I could t find anything so if you’ve got links to those catalogs or receipts I’d love to see them.
Great content and thank you for adding the distances!! Makes it so much better
You make the whole process of evaluation a joy to watch. Keep it up!
Love to see the comparison and sorry you guys don't get to use those great bats. I've watched these videos and always wondered why such huge swings and the balls go nowhere. And to say we didn't swing then like you do now, SON, we hit balls in the 90s that crossed county lines.
I had the Easton Reflex bat back in 8th grade and used it for one summer league season before reaching high school. One of the best bats i ever owned.
I played D1 in the Easton Reflex and Louisville Air Attack era. NO one swung the bat like Eckstien! Try playing the corners when guys like Pat Burrel Eric Hinske and other BIG hitters came to the plate!!!! I wore some hard shots off my chest from guys and a few of them knocked me over!!!
My man Pete's swing is so wild to me. That man's back has to be as durable as a tractor tire after the years he's swang like that lmaooo. What an absolute unit, can't wait to see him on the pro level.
I never owned a Reflex but I’ve used them before. Insane pop. We still had some hot bats in the early 2000’s though. I had a couple of versions of the Connexion and used a Demarini Vexxum in 2007-2008 and those still had some powa I feel like. I also remember the old TPX bats, the gen1X and the EXO’s. Good memories 😢
I played during that TPX era. As a matter of fact I had one in high school that was a black 34/31 "big barrel" and that signature "ping" was the norm. This was from 94-96. I played 3rd and the outfield and I remember that you just played. Nobody was really concerned with safety. It was a part of the game. Fun times though.
God the stories I could tell using these bats. Ripping 3rd baseman's glove off his hand, line drive barely above fence top level left center 330' homerun (maybe my actual hardest hit ever screaming line drive), on top of rockville HS in md (over 400') HR, 2 350+ bombs in ONE inning, i could go on and on and this was just one season at 13 in 3 leagues rec, select mcba and HS. Those bats were FUN especially if you were a good player and big to begin with :o) I see myself in mr lefty here minus the bat flip thing lol. Somewhat similar stance and mechanic.
I know Warren Morris personally. GREAT DUDE!! He still has that bat he hit the game winning homerun with!
Aaah, the good old days. Miss those old school bats. Best for me back then. Louisville Slugger TPX Air attack (1) 34/29.
7:44 This is so true. I played in that era and we were taught to swing level for a base hit. Because of that I can't even swing like these guys
I had the reflex gold drop 5 in ‘97 and that thing was solid. The white TPX was solid also. It wasn’t fun playing 5.
I was taking laser shots at shortstop! I loved watching the groundballs go, with the reflex bat. Giving me flashbacks from little league with this bat! Greatest time to be a infielder during the late 90's baseball days! Thanks for sharing this video, got my adrenaline up. 😅
That reflex was my bat in high school... damn I'm old... loved that bat
Hey I just noticed y’all do throw back videos on older bats but y’all haven’t done the nanotech or techzilla made by Anderson would be a dope video
I love these videos with the 90s aluminum bats. I still have a long barreled 34" Mizuno and a fat barreled thin handled Worth. They've been sitting since the mid 90s when townball in my state went to wood. Fantastic bats!
Feeling Very nostalgic. Thanks Bat Bros. I remember the good old days of bats.
We played down there a few times during our spring trips. Stands behind the backstop looked almost castle like. Definitely a cool field!
Another great video guys. Love seeing balls being launched with the old school bats.
I had that same reflex bat. Didn’t realize what I was swinging at the time. What a difference
this vid was absolutely dope🔥 BBB just continue to deliver killer content👊 I remember taking bp with that Reflex and it was just considered a normal gamer lol. who would've thought it would resurface as one of the most fire bats ever :)
Yes the BESR bats of my era were Gas. I remember having to field so many missles launched back at me on the Mound. Had no choice but to finish your follow through on pitches in an active fielding position, never knew when a Scud Missle was headed right back at you. Many bruises and Battle scars from BESR bats. And I hit SO many Nukes with my LS Omaha TPX too. Easton and TPX 1 pc Alloys ran the bat Game back in the Day in both HS and College ranks, Then came the Stealth and The Connexions with the 2 pcs.
we need to see how hot the 2019 juiced mlb balls are with the reflex 😳
Had the reflex in hs, graduated in 97, 33/28 it was ridiculous!!!! But we also had other bats nowhere close to the reflex n still hit about the same!!!! And we didn't get killed cuz we were use to it especially infield, back when baseball was real and nobody was worried about getting hurt, we just played ball!!!!
Back in 97, there was a study done that tested exit velos AT third base. The highest exit velo recorded was 123 mph. Whether or not this was accurate, multiple instances of 500+ ft home runs and +110 mph exit velos were recorded. At home plate, this most likely was much higher. There are many stories of glove webbing being ripped from the glove and balls getting stuck or popping through chain-link fences. I heard a story of a line drive that was caught and still spinning in the glove during transfer. One guy got hit dead in the chest because he couldn't even react to get his glove up fast enough. The collision knocked him over. There were cases of comebackers leading to comas. In 2002, a parent of a pitcher that got hit in the head won a lawsuit against Hillerich and Bradbsy for making the Air Attack 2 TOO hot. This is the reason why companies don't make nonconforming bats, even just for fun. The reason why exit velos and home runs nowadays seem closer to those numbers is for multiple reasons EXCEPT the bat. A. Balls are much better. By making balls more elastic, they are more durable, but also much hotter. After bbcor, there was a strong dip in batting averages to the point that the balance of the game swung too hard to defenders. Fielders weren't getting the experience they need to showcase or fine-tune their skills. The answer was to use balls similar to those of the MiLB, which are flat-seamed and have a higher COR and Compression. As these balls got better, so did the batting averages. This change happened in 2014. B. Fields are smaller. Rosenblatt Field was a MAMMOTH of a park and almost always had the wind blowing in from centerfield. This always put the batters at a disadvantage. With the change of fields, balls fly further and come off hotter. Fences are 10 feet shorter so home runs are easier to hit per exit velo C. Players have fine-tuned the minutia of hitting the baseball. The technology we have today makes the art of hitting just a little more advanced than the training and technology of the late 90s With all this, we still are hitting the ball 110-120, but so are the guys in the MLB. Is it not better then to have college guys matching the balance of the game at the pro level? If so, then if safety is a concern, the answer is humidors, as we see some at Coor's Field. The bat has gone through 3 (arguably 4) regulations since the days of the reflex extended. Let's work on the ball now Also, Will, you HAVE to try out the Green Omaha from that era. It was TPX's endloaded model and favored by the college guys, even over the Air Attacks
Graduated in 99….. these bats were crazy good! Loved the reflex, but I rocked the air attack from TPX, badass bat
Me too! I hit more for average but hit some absolute bombs when we'd goof around and play hr. Derby.
Ayo the guy from the LSU picture was my coach for a couple select seasons. Man hit 40 bombs that season
🤯
Thx
@@baseballbatbros what do you think is hotter? The reflex or the cf zen?
Imagine being a pitcher in that Era which I was and only gave up two HR in whole highschool career while paying no one hit it back at me. (college was a sifferent story) I did take one off the shin which gave me a fracture and took me out the game. As an outfielder you played against the fence.
The light grey Easton Redline C-Core (the last -5) is the most juiced bat of all time!
Absolutely! I used to have a few of those. They had such thin walls and cracked easily BUT when they hit a ball it flew off of the bat. I recently picked up the 20th anniversary replica of that bat that Easton Korea made. It hits absolute missiles and is unrestricted. Easton engineers said it is the hardest hitting bat that they ever made.
Love y’all boys. Preciate y’all coming out again.
pete's bat slap on his back is insane lmaoo
Still have a mint '98 Redline drop-3 from my buddy at UCLA. I remember seeing multiple 500'+ shots off that bat in SoCal late 90's. Glory days😂
I was 16yrs old when I get this at snf I was hitting 💣 💣 with that thing.. thanks for the memories of my baseball days thst just went Into my head
This vid was insane. We now need a vid to know what definitively was the HOTTEST BAT of the Pre-BESR Era that you've swung on this channel: The Louisville TPX C405 Plus The Z2K The 1997 Reflex Extended The Redline
I’d like to see these guys use the Reflex C Core bat. They’ve yet to hit with that one and it was one of the hottest bats ever used. Model number BRX100-C and BRX100-CX (the latter was c405 ultra and the first was c405).
My TPX in around 94 was HOT. 12 hitting well over 400' homer's. I was huge and a power hitter but still that bat must have been super hot. Ripped gloves off infielders hands, 350' homer that never got much above glove level. The ball was absolutely screaming as it left the park in a beeline barely above fence top . Thankful I never accidentally hit anybody hitting that hard at that age. My 8yr old swings a cat9 composite lol.
The ultimate lineup Green Omaha Omaha 2000 Air Attack 2 Air Attack 3 C555 Platinum Pro Cup Mega Barrel Vs Redline Z2k Reflex Extended Connexion -5 I also would love to see them use the senior league era bats. Drop 8s with even thinner walls
Reflex was a sleeper back in the day. Used a cracked one all summer and still hit bombs.
I remember when the first kid on the team to busted out a Reflex, everyone wanted to use it. By the time the season was done we had 3 or 4 of them on the team.
First bay I had was the reflex. I dented the shot out of the bat. This was in 1998 playing tee ball/coach pitch.
The reflex C-core was hot as hell and so was the redline c-core
I’ve noticed the catx connect outperforming the catx in your videos in terms of high end top 10% exit velocity but the power score is lower. Is that to balance the score due to the feel of the awkward connector piece? My goods one piece just broke and I’m looking for a replacement with a similar swing weight. Enjoy your content, you guys are doing the Lord’s work keeping bat companies accountable
Thankyou for giving the people what they want brother!!
I still remember when they banned the BESR bats, it was a few months before the baseball season in my junior year of high school and I was so mad, the amount of home runs I coulda had my junior and senior year if they didn’t make us stop using them. The ball would just explode right off the bat and you wouldn’t even feel it
I used and still have my 97 reflex gold. Bat is so hot. I was putting them over the eucalyptus trees at Grossmont college here in San Diego.
Played the red reflex ccore. 34-29. Could mash that thing in 1998. That ping in video brought back all the memories. Good stuff.
Pretty much every time the ball left the Reflex I was cracking up. Good stuff.
Playing highschool and college baseball from 1994-2002 I can tell you that we definitely were taking big up hill swings. You could pull the ball of the end down the line by just getting a piece of it and send the ball 350 feet. Also players were getting hurt. I saw some extremely nasty shots that both pitchers and the corners took and remember thinking they're dead. I had a TPX gold and Reflex gold both were just monster bats.
Dude, every time you guys do videos with these bats, I get flashbacks from pitching against dudes swinging these things. pre-BESR PTSD
I owned that reflex and I loved it. Thanks for the video.
Its interesting how in a lot of sports, the equipment is now starting to be dialed back down in its performance a bit. Motor sports were probably the first, pretty much any kind of racing the vehicles are slower now than they were 30-40 years ago. I remember in swimming they started having to regulate the swimsuits athletes wore. Ski jumping had to start limiting the size of the ramp. Even something as simple as running, the shoes that have come out in the last few years make a substantial difference and regulating bodies had put limits on them. For over a century, when comparing athletes of one era to another you'd try to account for the fact that people 20, 50, 100 years ago had lower performing equipment to work with. But now we've started to see that dynamic reverse, and the people 20 years ago often had much higher performing equipment than what's available now.
Loved my Easton C-Core Reflex. Once launched a homer over dead center (400ft) wall. The baseball was still gaining altitude as it flew over the wall. The pitcher was impressed enough to give me a high five as I rounded third. The baseball must of gone 600 plus feet. Took my teammate a while to retrieve the ball. He said it ended up on the football practice field.
Easton redline graphite was my HS bat. My entire team begged me to use my bat at every opportunity. Thing was a beast
So cool to see Oglethorpe on here. I played there in high school for the WWBA national championships in Marietta. I remember coming home and telling people how cool that field was. I could never remember the name of the school until I watched this video. All I remember was the dope field and the dopey ass sounding mascot... Stormy Petrels?!?!
Playing 3rd base in the 90's was rough. Weird fast turf, crap grass, rocky dirt infields, and that Easton tryin to kill ya.
That was a badass video. More Reflex!
Bro dudes were absolutely swinging hard in the late 90s. I played the corners in this era. Lot of broken blood vessels in the fingers on hot shots
I wonder what EV's are possible??? Imagine someone the likes of Oneil Cruz, hitting off 90+ mph pitching, with the REFLEX!?!?!
125+ easy
Watched our 3B in ‘98 take one right off the forehead. I guess back then never knew how crazy these were. Swing the C-Core and that thing was ridiculous.
I played in the Gorilla Baseball Bat era and if you want 500 foot plus bombs check out the 90’s Demarini Double Wall -5 Baseball bats!They were constantly getting band and I think the whole reason Certification came about! BY FAR the most juiced bats ever!
Here's a video of JD Drew hitting 3 HR with a previous gen Reflex in the '95 CWS. Compact swings, everything is leaving the yard. kzhead.info/sun/aLlyfpdtgWV8ZoU/bejne.html
Can you try testing metal bat exit velos when you heat up the metal so it’s hot to the touch vs cold and see how much that helps in cold weather
Had a reflex. I can attest that it was wicked. Used it till the barrel finally cracked after 3 full seasons.
As a freshman and sophomore I swang the Reflex C405 Ultra. I would hit BP with our Local Semi Pro team and I would hit balls over lights out of #330-400-325 Fields with this bat all day long. I then switched to the Gray Redline SC500, but those would crack easily. The Orange Easton in College and the Grey Redline Connect were wicked as well!!
Have you ever tried a Mizuno VKong? Mostly used by Japanese high school players. Would love to see it.
How is it even possible that the BESR bats in the 90s were so much better than Stealth Comps and the other late BESR bats? Is it really just the difference in weight that matters? Or were the restrictions on metal types different? 120 mph is INSANE
I'm newly addicted to this channel. I'd kill to see a MLB power hitter with the Easton Reflex.
I played Fall 1997 at Portland State and can assure you that Rusty Keith and Rick Southall were not swinging like Eckstein, in fact, Southall was hitting balls off the Mac Club at Civic Stadium during BP
I played like 2 seasons of little league without bbcor. We were all hitting moonshots. Fast forward to bbcor throughout high school and it was rare to see more than like 5 home runs total in a season.
1998 TPX Air Attack, my friend had one (33/28)...JFC, that bat was amazing.
the akadema 34-31 red and grey bats had the most pop of all time but know one used them. we hit nucks with them but you cant find them anymore
I never knew that my bat had a legendary status till I cam across your video. Crazy this showed up for me. I was born in 80 I had an orange Reflex. Loved that batt. My buddy had the next years C-Core. Which the rest of the team thought was the better bat. But I loved my Reflex. Edit: I just got to the part where the actually swing the bat. I knew there was a second part to the name of the bat but I couldn't think of it. It's extended. I had the orange reflex extended!!! Crazy good memory.
Nothing better than the sound of a moon shot!
When you played 4 years with reflex bats at 3rd base :)
As a HS/College pitcher in this era, I can tell you these bats hit the ball well where ever you pitched it. You should find a Late 90's Copperhead bat, those things were nasty.
Lmao that reflex is literally looking at me right now by my bedroom door. This was my h.s. bat, now it's my "personal defense" bat lol.
My brother used a 36 wooden Louisville Slugger when he was in high-school and was hitting 450 ft. bombs off a pitcher throwing 95 mph. Strength and bat speed was alive and well in the 80's too.
Was your Dad Bob Horner? 😂
Do a exit velo just for that bat! Take 20 good barrell swings to see what’s the highest
give a notice when ur filming at oglethorpe😂 i’m in walking distance and i want to see bat bros live
If you haven't swung the 97 Reflex 2 3/4 barrel, you may not even know what a sweet spot is.