Reply #6: No. Here's the history of maple bats

[Better Believe It]

Until 2001, nearly all wood baseball bats were made from the same northern white ash that bats had been made from for over 100 years. That year, however, brought Barry Bonds, his incredible 73 home runs and an extremely quick change in the wood bat market. Bonds' record breaking season brought attention to the fact that he was using unique maple baseball bats - made by Sam Bat of Ottawa, ON. In no time at all, the maple bat craze had begun.