I'm hoping BMH can help here...

Since the new 'Maple Rules were adopted with the black 'stress' mark (the black dot that is supposed to indicate a bat may break/explode if the ink starts to run in the grain), does anyone know what the accepted 'tolerances' are (i.e. how far the ink can 'run') before a bat is supposed to be taken out of play?

I just picked up the bat Corey Dickerson (Rockies) broke in half last night while hitting a triple against the Padres. The ink is about 1/2" to 3/4" long and narrow... what got my attention is that the bat was just made on 7/25/2013, so it was only 19 days old when it broke.

Just wondering if the 'stress mark' should have been an indicator at that point that the bat may break - as is the point of putting it on the bats in the first place.

I'll post pics later when I get home.

- Smitty