A government lab in Wisconsin is helping MLB reduce the number of dangerous broken bats.

The partnership seems to be working: Since the broken-bat issue reached its peak in the middle of the 2008 season, Forest Service researcher Dave Kretschmann says he has tracked an approximately 50 percent reduction in dangerous multiple-piece fractures.

Kretschmann says the main issue is getting batmakers to make sure the grain of the wood remains as close to perfectly straight as possible during the manufacturing process.

Nice to see an issue dealt with effectively.