Initially, the only material baseball bats were constructed from was wood. In 1876, an all-metal bat was produced by John Montgomery for the National League of Professional Base Ball Players. The advantage of metal over wood is that it is less likely to break; as a result softballs are often used in place of baseballs in softball games.
In fact, the rule that softball is played with a wooden bat was only put into effect in 1924. The game was originally played with a wad of straw that would be placed at the top of a hole on the ground. The object of this game was to hit a ball through the hole and into a net behind it.
