According to Major League Baseball, 2,232 baseball bats were broken by batters from July to the end of the regular season. 756 of these bats broke into multiple pieces. An MLB research team was brought in after several high profile accidents seriously injured spectators, a base coach, and, finally, a plate umpire. Additionally, a number of close calls were reported including one with a team president and one with Bobby Cox, manager with the Atlanta Braves. The researchers found that maple…