In search of more information about maple bats, we spoke to players and two experts in the industry -- Chuck Schapp of Louisville Slugger and Sam Holman, owner of The Original Maple Bat Corporation -- for their opinions on the ash vs. maple debate.

1. When were maple bats introduced to Major League Baseball?

It's tough to know the exact date, but Holman says Joe Carter first used a maple bat in a major league game in 1997. Holman, a carpenter from Ottawa, Canada, first met Blue Jays scout Bill MacKenzie in a local watering hole where Holman was asked to make a maple bat. By the end of the 1996 season, Holman and McKenzie went to the Triple-A Ottawa Lynx and got Fernando Seguignol to use a maple bat. Holman thinks Seguignol is the first professional player to homer with a maple bat. By the next season, word about maple bats had spread and big leaguers with the Blue Jays asked for a shipment. Schapp says he first noticed players using maple in 1998, and a year later, Louisville Sl......