Label on wooden baseball bats

Question
Are professional baseball players trained to keep the label up on their wood bats to avoid breaking them? When a Pro player breaks a bat, TV announcers never discuss this issue.It seems it is forgotten or no longer matters.When I was a kid 40 years ago we were severly reprimanded if we ignored this proper holding.Anyone who broke a bat was supposed to buy a new one because it was supposedly impossible to break if held correctly.

Answer
Charles,

I think it must be somewhat forgotten.

I play on a base ball team that plays by the rules of 1860.  We obviously only use wooden bats.  I still have to tell people which way to hold the trademark to avoid breaking.  Some of our bats are hand turned, which leaves them without a trademark.  People don't understand that you need to hold the bat so it strikes the ball where the wood grain is close together.

Forty years ago it might have been difficult to break a bat if you held it properly.  Today, with the thin handled bats that are in use, it doesn't matter how you hold it, sometimes it will break.

I still find myself watching TV to see if the major leaguers hold the bat properly.  I see that they almost always do - trademark either facing up or facing down.  The old story is that some people like the trademark down because having it up distracts them.  I guess that's what separates the major leaguers from the rest of us - the trademark was the last thing that would distract me when I played!

Hope this helps!

Brian