
Pelican Pine Tar
Best Pine Tar Sticks
It’s important to get the best pine tar so you will always have a good grip on the bat. Grips, no matter what type of bat you are swinging can get slick. Wood, aluminum, composite, bat grip or tape can all get slick and may need some tackiness to help you hold onto your bat and swing with confidence. (Below you’ll see a video on How to apply pine tar to a baseball bat)
I have tried many pine tar sticks because of the convenience and the portability, but many have not stacked up. They either don’t provide enough tack in cold weather and melt in hot weather.
Not all pine tar is created equal. You can really tell a difference in extreme temperatures. Most don’t provide enough tack in cold weather and melt in hot weather, getting slick rather than sticky.
The best pine tar can still perform in these conditions. These four are the best pine tar sticks.
Best Pine Tar – Top 4 Pine Tar Sticks
1. Manny Mota Grip Stick
*** WINNER | Hot and Cold Weather ***
Manny Mota Grip Stick is the pine tar stick you’re most likely to see pro guys using. In the clubhouse, we usually have our pick of different options, but most of us have been using this one for years and really like it. Especially for
Playing this summer in Texas during the dead of summer really separated the average pine tar sticks from the high performance ones. In extreme summer heat with humidity, most pine tars clump and run. Mota performed the best… staying on the bat really well, giving a long lasting tacky grip.
So, like I said, many, many pro guys use this type. Good in cold and hot weather. You can find Manny Mota Grip Stick from Hitting World or here from Amazon. It’s $13.95 at both places.
2. Pelican Bat Wax
Like I said, the true test of pine tar quality is when the weather is very cold or very hot. My first experience with Pelican Bat Wax really surprised me. It was 38 degrees outside, which is usually when most pine tar sticks let you down.

Pelican Pine Stick
The Pelican Bat Wax pine tar performed perfectly.
It felt the same on my bat in 38 degrees as it did in a 65 degree batting cage.
So far I’ve tried two different types of pine tar sticks from Pelican Bat Wax and they exceeded my expectations. My favorite is the Pelican Pine Stick. It’s packaging is different from most pine tar sticks, and I really like how much easier it is to apply.
This a very cool company based out of San Fransico. Their products are hand-poured, all natural ingredients. A high quality product.
Click here to see a detailed product review. Both of these available to buy from Hitting World.
Or if you want something for the whole team, check out the Clubhouse kit
3. Tiger’s Stick
The Tiger Stick is one of the best pine tars. It’s very sticky and high quality. You won’t be disappointed. You can get Tiger’s Stick from Amazon.com
4. Tanner’s Grip Stick
Very sticky and high quality. All three are similar but Tanner’s Grip Stick may be the best pine tar stick. Stays tacky in hot and cold weather.
Liquid Pine Tar
Liquid pine tar is another way to apply tacky grip to your bats. The liquid pine tar is applied to a rag that you can wrap around the bat handle or a little above where you grip the bat.
Liquid pine tar can be a little messier than the stick but it is personal preference. If the liquid tar is not as sticky as you would like, add some rosin directly on top of the tar on the bat. The rosin will help make the tar stickier.
Pine Tar remover
Pine tar on your bat grip can get clumpy and needs to be removed periodically. A good pine tar remover comes from 2Bwax. Before getting my hands on their spray bottle, I would use adhesive remover to take the pine tar off my bat. This is more convenient and works just as well.
Baseball Rosin
Rosin is an important thing to have in your baseball bag (see the video below if you have questions for how to use rosin on your baseball bat grip).
What is the best rosin to use for baseball? All rosin is about the same. Whether it is labeled for pitchers or hitters, it is still the same stuff. With this in mind, you have 2 options (1) buy a ready-to-go bag or or (2) buy loose rock rosin so you can make your own.
For teams – To buy loose rock rosin, you will probably need to buy in bulk. This only makes sense if you are buying for an entire team for an entire year.
If you are a player just buying rosin for yourself, then one little rosin bag should last you all season. If you have access to loose rock rosin through your team, then you can just take some and put it in a sock. If not, you can buy a ready-to-use bag that will work for your batting grip or throwing grip.
Where can I buy baseball rosin?
Here are a few places that sell individual rosin bags you can use for your baseball bat: Baseball Express, Baseball Plus Store, or Amazon
MLB Rules for Pine Tar and the “pine tar incident”
The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia…
“In baseball, pine tar is applied to the handles of baseball bats. Because of its texture, pine tar improves a batter’s grip on the bat and prevents the bat from slipping out of the batter’s hands during hard swings. It also helps hitters because they do not have to grip the bat as hard and in result the hitter gets more “pop”.Rule 1.10(c) of the 2002 Official Rules of Major League Baseball states that batters may apply pine tar only from the handle of the bat extending up for 18 inches.
The most famous example of the rule being applied is the Pine Tar Game, the July 24, 1983 game between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees in which George Brett hit a home run to put the Royals ahead 5-4. Yankees manager Billy Martin immediately protested that Brett’s bat had more than 18 inches of pine tar. The umpires called Brett out and nullified the home run. However, league president Lee MacPhail overruled the umpires. MacPhail said that the pine tar restriction wasn’t about competitive advantage, but economics. If too much pine tar was on the bat, pine tar would end up on the ball and render it unusable for play. MacPhail said that the umpires shouldn’t have taken the home run off the board, but simply discarded the bat. The game was resumed from the point of the home run, and the Royals won.”
I hope this article on the Best Pine Tar has been helpful. I invite you to leave comments below.
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8 Comments
Should I get a pine tar spray
Hey Doug & PBI, we’d love to get our stuff added to this review. Can we send you one of our sticks?
What kind of liquid pine tar do the pros usually use???
Tyrus bat grip
I use Tiger Stick and it works great. But I want want to know what tiger stick is made of. On the official website it says that tiger stick is the best pine tar alternative. If you can help me find out, I would be very grateful. Thank you
James,
I am not sure what Tiger stick is made out of. I go with the product that keeps a good secure grip on the bat. With a lot of pine tar sticks out there, Tiger stick is one of the better ones. Sorry I can’t help you with what its made out of, but I know it works well.
Doug
Great guide. I use tiger stick to get a good grip on my bat and it works great. But I have a question on what Tiger stick is made of. On the official Tiger stick website it states That Tiger stick the the best Pine tar alternative. I wanted to know what it is made of because I couldn’t find it anywhere. Thank you.
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