Month: January 2006

Points to consider while buying discount bats

First, consider the barrel size of the discount bats you re shopping for. The barrel size involves the top part of the bat. It measures both the barrel length and barrel diameter. When it comes to a sweet spot on a baseball bat, you want a longer barrel. The common wisdom is that longer barrels, generally speaking, have larger sweet spots.

This goes against common practice, though. Most players tend toward smaller barrels and a lighter bat for faster swing speed. Your standard baseball bat will have a diameter of about 2.5 inches. Your standard fast pitch softball barrel will be slightly bigger at 2.75 inches.

Your second measurement of importance for your discount bats is the bat taper, which is the diameter of the bat at its handle. Your typical baseball bat has a taper of 31/32 of an inch. This size varies, nonetheless, depending on the weight of your bat. There are players who claim that a narrower taper on a lighter bat allows them to rotate their wrists faster, while there are others who say the bigger taper helps lessen the pain when you don t catch a ball with the sweet spot.

Recipes for Cuban expresso coffee

Imagine the old days in Havana. Old men dressed in white linens playing
dominos and sipping some of the finest espresso in the world, while
cigar smoke and guitar music linger in the air. When one round of espresso is finished, women in beautifully woven dresses gladly deliver more. Relive these Cuban glory days in your own home with your do-it-yourself Cuban expresso coffee recipes. Cuban cigars may be illegal, but great coffee made from these Cuban expresso coffee recipes definitely isn t. It isn t even difficult to make.

The first of the Cuban expresso coffee recipes involves making the beverage on your stovetop. Start with one ounce of good water per serving and heat it over a low flame in a small pot. Add one rounded tablespoonful of coffee per ounce of water when the water boils. Stir briefly. It s finished when it boils again. The tricky part comes now at the end. Filter the expresso by using a Cuban flannel strainer, which you can find at Cuban or exotic markets. Your typical paper coffee, on the other hand, won t work. They will clog up instead.