The short answer is that hardness isn’t the only criterion for making a good bat.Oak used to be very popular for baseball bats, and there is still a niche market for it. But ash is almost as hard as oak, and slightly lighter.Hickory is quite a bit harder than either and used to be used for bats, but it’s very dense so bats from it tend to be too heavy. Sugar maple is also significantly harder, and about the same density as ash, but the grain is such that it splinters easily.Hardness is a measure of resistance to denting, not of breaking. Sandstone and quartzite are both silicon dioxide and so equally hard, but as I know from personal experience if you hit a block of sandstone with a geological hammer you’ll break it, while if you hit a block of quartzite you’ll just dent the face of the hammer. The difference between the two is the grain: quartzite is sandstone that has been compressed and heated to the point where the sand grains are fused together.
The short answer is that hardness isn’t the only criterion for making a good bat.Oak used to be very popular for baseball bats, and there is still a niche market for it. But ash is almost as hard as oak, and slightly lighter.Hickory is quite a bit harder than either and used to be used for bats, but it’s very dense so bats from it tend to be too heavy. Sugar maple is also significantly harder, and about the same density as ash, but the grain is such that it splinters easily.Hardness is a measure of resistance to denting, not of breaking. Sandstone and quartzite are both silicon dioxide and so equally hard, but as I know from personal experience if you hit a block of sandstone with a geological hammer you’ll break it, while if you hit a block of quartzite you’ll just dent the face of the hammer. The difference between the two is the grain: quartzite is sandstone that has been compressed and heated to the point where the sand grains are fused together.