Word: kubota
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...Kubota's bats have won such a following because of his innate knowledge of the character of wood. He can discern the weight, pliancy and even the width of the rings of a piece of wood by look, feel or the knocking sound it makes. He can harvest a dozen or so promising blocks out of a thousand he might examine--and then transform them...
Ichiro's reverence for the bat came to him during a 1992 visit to the wise man of batmaking, 64-year-old Isokazu Kubota, master craftsman for equipment manufacturer Mizuno Technics Corp. Over the past 49 years, Kubota has made custom-designed wooden bats for more than 1,500 professional players, including Pete Rose and Hideki Matsui...
When making a bat for Ichiro, for example, Kubota shaves it to 31 oz. to 31.75 oz. (880 g to 900 g), taking into account the 0.25 oz. (7 g) of lacquer that will be added. He places the sweet spot--the point of peak springiness--2 in. to 2.4 in. (5 cm to 6 cm) from the top, which is where Ichiro wants...
...happiest moment of Kubota's career was when Ichiro tallied his 258th hit of the 2004 season, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old major-league record. "It felt so lucky to witness the breaking of a record that was set before I was born," says Kubota. "That might not happen even once in 100 years' time...
...original version of this article misspelt the name of Isokazu Kubota...