Aaron Leanhardt, the former Michigan physics professor who got his PhD at MIT and was part of the Yankees organization for six-and-a-half years, had a simple question he was trying to answer when coming up with the idea for the new torpedo-shaped bats five of the team’s players are using this season.

But the development of the uniquely shaped piece of lumber — it looks more like a bowling pin than a traditional bat, with a thicker middle and tapered end — wasn't the result of a life spent around the game.