quote:Originally posted by HRKB:
People ask, "Why not just go all wood?" The answer, "Sounds like they just did with the BBCOR bats...only they don't break!"
Yep...that is what the initial results/reports seem to indicate.
I say this without having actually picked one up, so take it FWIW... even if the new bats are a lot like wood as far as exit speeds/velocity when striking a ball, I would be shocked if they still do not utilize a larger barrel (and subsequent "sweet spot") on the bat compared to a wood counterpart. From everything I've researched and read (and I may have indeed missed something), they are not changing the diameter of the barrels, nor the width of the barrel at its maximum diameter. Therefore, I really think while they will perform a lot more like wood, you will still have a larger sweet spot.
And for those of us who date ourselves by remembering the "good old days of the '80s", those aluminum bats were no better than the high-end wood bats today. I remember playing in adult leagues in Dallas just several years ago and hitting with wood... my goodness, the ball jumped off those bats compared to the aluminum ones I used in HS and college. Certainly the aluminum bats today are that much better, and I always wondered how I'd have done using what the kids use today. But I still maintain that most of us got along just fine with those lousy aluminum bats, and the kids will now as well. I'm betting BBCOR bats are better than those.
Certainly it will change the game some... for the better, IMHO.
But my 16U team will not be using BBCOR bats in summer play in '11. They'll adjust just fine with those bats starting in the fall '11, but there is no reason to be at a competitive disadvantage now.