Torpedo bats are just the latest innovation in the design of baseball bats, some of which stuck, and others which ... did not.

A common danger with reacting to early statistical returns is to exaggerate -- and often to erroneously extrapolate -- a precariously small snippet of baseball results. In the case of these torpedo (or bowling-pin, or whatever you choose to call them) bats, much of the overreaction danger stems from that Yankees outburst on March 29.

Many of the Yankees used torpedo bats while posting historic numbers this weekend. Here's how the team started using the oddly-shaped bats and why they're legal.