Why should you choose Hard Maple over White Ash?

For over 100 years, White Ash (Fraxinus americana) was the wood of choice for use in baseball bats.

White Ash absorbs shock very well.

White Ash is relatively lightweight for a high strength hardwood.

However, White Ash is a RING POROUS hardwood, which means that there are empty wood cells between each year of ring growth.

The microscope photo to the right shows the RING POROUS grain of White Ash.