The mark consists of a circular band or ring, which is painted, burned, sanded, etched, stamped, or otherwise placed near the barrel end of a bat. The band or ring passes around the circumference of the bat, and appears in a color that contrasts with the color of the bat. The darkened band or ring shown in the attached drawing is meant to illustrate the three dimensional nature of the barrel ring design and the relative position of the mark, but is not intended to limit the mark to a particular color. .