For the MIT-educated physicist behind the torpedo bat, it’s more about the talent of the players than their lumber at the plate.

But the development of the uniquely shaped piece of lumber — it looks more like a bowling pin than a traditional bat, with a thicker middle and tapered end — wasn't the result of a life spent around the game.

For the MIT-educated physicist behind the torpedo bat, it’s more about the talent of the players than their lumber at the plate. The torpedo model — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — became the talk of major league baseball over the weekend.