Baseball bats are often made from ash trees that grow in northwestern Pennsylvania, where some bat companies are located. With the dual threats of the invasive emerald ash borer and global warming, ash trees may not provide the best wood for those hard-hitting athletes.

This leaves both players and bat companies a bit on edge, according to an article in The New York Times:

“We’re watching all this very closely,” said Brian Boltz, the general manager of the Larimer & Norton company, whose Russell mill each day saws, grades and dries scores of billets destined to become Louisville Slugger bats. “Maybe it means more maple bats. Or it may be a matter of using a different species for our bats altogether.”

The emerald ash borer, a destructive beetle that is already responsible for the deaths of 25 million ash trees in the US, prefers to lay its eggs in ash trees. When the larvae hatch, they bore into the tree, preventing water and nutrients from moving between the ground and the branches. Even though the government is planning on releasing another invasive species later this summer to stop the borers from spreading, no one is completely sure this plan will work.

And if the ash tree isn’t gone altogether, then its wood might be softer. As the warm season gets longer because of climate change, the ash wood gets softer, making it a less desirable material. Some athletes already use bats made of sugar maple, which reportedly packs a bigger punch because it’s a harder material to begin with.

All of this information is enough to drive any baseball fan batty. We wouldn’t even be surprised to hear people start talking about which wood a bat is made from in the same breath they use to spout statistics.

See, baseball players are treehuggers, too.