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Reply to "Illegal bats"

luv baseball,

As an umpire, I don’t like this rule. Do I think a 2 game suspension is excessive – YES. But that is what the VHSL has mandated. Umpires try to make sure that illegal bats are identified so that players don’t use them. I sure don’t want to eject a player, but if he uses an illegal bat I have to follow the VHSL and eject the player.

Now, I think the rule is relatively clear. Any BBCOR bat is legal, and only BESR metal barrel bats are legal. BESR composite barrel bats are illegal. The issue comes when the bat is not clearly identified as to what kind of material or if the barrel is metal and the handle is composite. Fortunately, I have an engineering degree and making this determination is a little easier. Also, an alloy barrel is metal. For example, there many different alloys of aluminum from your basic aluminum can to aircraft aluminum. A scandium alloy bat is also metal. So you can have a metal bat without it saying “Aluminum” on the barrel. However, I would say that the vast majority of umpires do not have materials knowledge to help them sort out the BESR bats.

I would guess that NFHS rule, with exempted BESR bats, would be more difficult since you have to have manufacturer and model numbers available. It will be nice when only BBCOR bats can be used as they do in college.

Randy
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