Injuries caused by split maple bats

I've seen more intact bats fly into the stands than shattered remnants. Why doesn't Passan mention that in this his 2nd piece on the "maple bat controversy?"

spizzle,
Maybe because it is more like a spear?

TPM,

I'm just trying to point out that most victims of flying bat accidents are struck by the barrel. I thought it strange that Passan didn't mention in either piece that errant bats in the stands have always been a hazard in MLB, and almost always they're released intact by the hitter. I don't have the stats, anymore than the author does, but I doubt that the rate of incident has gone up due to maple. The one incident with the bench coach getting speared isn't any scarier than Steve Yeager getting impaled in the neck with a bat shard back in the 80's, and that was long before maple.

BTW, I'm not pro-maple. In fact I think the whole maple bat trend is a fad created on the success of one ex-Giant. Ash works just as well.

quote:

BTW, I'm not pro-maple. In fact I think the whole maple bat trend is a fad created on the success of one ex-Giant. Ash works just as well.

Leave the maple trees alone and let them keep making maple syrup like God intended. Ash bats are fine.

Spizzle,
I was only repeating a dicussion I heard on the radio this morning. I found it interesting since I don't know much about bats used.

There's been much discussion over the years regarding the danger of using metal bats. However, the way I see it, there are dangers regardless of bat used and regardless of whether you are a player or a spectator.

Trust me I know that from a personal experience.

TPM,
Sorry, no offense intended towards you at all. I understand this is a sensitive topic for you, and you have my respect and sympathy for going through a great ordeal.
With regards to metal vs. wood, I only hope this issue doesn't get used by Big Batco to muddy the debate.

More people are injured going to and from the game in autos so lets fix the problem and ban them.

I watched 3 people this year get hit in the face with line drive foul ball.

I always wondered why the seats given to baseball players family members were behind the netting...

Spizzle,
No problem, for those who don't know at spring training practice many, many years ago my husband got hit in the eye with a batted ball that hit the batting cage then spun around in the stands and he was the lucky recipient, smack in the eye. He basically suffered the same type of injuries as Erik Davis. However, for 12 years has had to wear special corrective lenses for a slight loss of function in his right eye.

There were no warning signs regarding dangers of flying objects in the stadium, but a disclaimer on the ticket that management was not responsible for injuries. So as far as taking responsibility, it was no ones but my husbands.

We were very lucky to have good insurance, still left with bills we also inquired as to liability. With no questions asked the stadium (which no longer exists) was willing to pay the remainder. A year later when my husband returned, the netting area behind the backstop had increased and we became aware of signs that were never there. Sometimes things happen and although no one's fault it increases awareness. The same with first/third base coaches now using helmets.

So this particular interview got my attention and I came home to read the article. It's the same as for the metal vs wood bat discussions.

Obviously there are dangers involved in playing and observing.

First of all, that a paragaph in that article is fundamentaly wrong: "Ash bats tend to crack innocuously, the study found, while maple bats explode, sending huge chunks of wood in every direction."

Maple will tend to break along a line and usually produce two pieces, Ash on the other hand tends to "splinter" or "explode" at the point of break.

Personal story here too, I was at an Astros V. Cardinals game about 4 or 5 years ago. Sitting fifth row behind Cardinals dugout. Edgar Rentaria got sawed off and the barrel of his bat came hurling towards me and two of my friends. We all saw the bat coming and ducked out of the way, it hit the seat next to one of my friends, which was empty, he grabbed the bat, just the barrel, and still has it to this day. What kind of bat was it?

It was a Louisville Slugger c243 Ash bat

The only difference between our story and the story in the article... we were paying attention.

About a minute later we all got calls from our other friends telling us they saw us on TV.

.

Your friend ended up getting a nice piece of Fraxinus americana!

TPM again with the "I Heard" bit

We use maple bats ef very year---two showcase BP sessions ( 90 to 120 kids each getting 15 swings) and 9 tournaments ---we get 24 maple bats and if we lose two during the season that is a lot

This isn't I heard --it is FACT !!!