quote:Even when it is metal instead of wood, there is something sweet about the sound of a well-struck baseball. But, as USF centerfielder Pete Lavin knows all too well, such sweetness also has limits.
"I got to first base and my heart just dropped to see him go down," he recalled.
On February 13, Lavin swung on a 3-1 scrimmage fastball from teammate Matt Hiserman. The ball hit Hiserman in about the same place it hit Marin Catholic pitcher Gunnar Sandberg, but Hiserman was more fortunate.
"It was a severe concussion. I had a fracture, the temporal bone in my head," Hiserman said.
Only recently, Hiserman returned to school and he stills suffers from headaches and dizziness. It is another case in the growing movement to ban metal and composite bats from baseball. At USF, coach Nino Giarratano is already on that train.
"In 1920, in baseball, they went to the helmet to protect the hitter," he said. "And we haven't done anything in 90 years in the sport of baseball to protect the pitcher, and he's at the same distance."
"Come-backers" have always been a part of baseball at all levels, but aluminum bats have a larger sweet-spot which increases the odds of a hot shot doing damage.
"A lot of ringing, a lot of ringing in your head. Most of it went numb," Lavin recalled.
This is not just a safety issue, but also a financial one. A metal bat might cost $200 or $300 dollars, but a player could use it all season. A wooden bat might cost $50 or $60, but a player might break 10 or 12 before a season is over.
"I think my moral position is safety for the kids," Giarratano said. "I'd like to take that position and stay with it no matter what."
An excerpt from another Northern California news source (KGO TV, San Francisco). I have met the young USF pitcher that is quoted here...he is one terrific young man and this was the 2nd time he's been hit in the head by a batted ball. I also know people who were there when it happened and they said it was horrific. Glad to read the position the USF coach is taking.