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Switch to wooden bats!

K KuvinrsMember
The Aluminum Bat Controversy
The controversy that aluminum bats are too dangerous has been going on for quite awhile. Many argue that aluminum should not be allowed to be used, and wooden bats should be used instead. There have been many incidents where a kid has hit the baseball with an aluminum bat and have, or nearly have, ended the pitchers life. I believe that the advances that have been made in aluminum baseball bats in the past few years are pushing t even more. The companies keep making these bats lighter, and easier to swing while still meeting the league standards and requirements. This makes the ball come off the bat even faster then it has before, putting the pitcher, and even other players at more of a risk.
Gunnar Sandberg is a Bay area high school pitcher, and on March 11, 2010 he took a line drive to the head. He suffered traumatic brain injury and had to re learn how to eat, speak, walk, and other crucial things. This is just one of many stories of young little league baseball players who have been severely affected by theses aluminum bats. To me it just does not seem like it is worth risking the health of these young ball players. Instead of putting these kids health at risk every single pitch of the game, why not just switch the bats to wood?
The reason that people want to keep these bats in the game is because they obviously favor the hitters. The velocity in which the ball leaves the aluminum bats does not only put the pitchers at risk. Anybody paying the infield could get drilled with one of those deadly line drives. When people tried to get aluminum bats banned in the NCAA, the NCAA responded that there are certain risks in the game, and the players are aware of those risks. Well sure the players are aware of the risks, but that does not mean that they can react fast enough in less than half of a second to avoid these line drives. Some high schools have switched to all wooden bats, which is good, but way too many still use the aluminum.
One of my friends has a brother that got hit in the head with one of these line drives, and was in a coma for a little over a week. I am sure that this was very rough on him and his family. This shows that incidents like this can happen to anybody, and that they are rare, but not too rare.
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RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
My sympathies to anyone who has been injured by a batted ball in the past. But are you familar with the term BBCOR? If not, your information is out of date. If so, your information is incorrect.

You're editorializing to a group of people who have seen a lot of baseball. They've seen players get injured. While pitching, my son was once knocked unconscious by a batted ball. It was hit so hard it went from his head to over the fence on the sidelines. It was a wood bat.

Stuff happens. He was ok in a few days. There is an inherent risk with playing sports. Parents have the option of not allowing their kids to play.

All this said I would prefer wooden bats since it's the way the game was intended to be played. My son only played wood bat in the summer. I love the sound of wood on a ball. But, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for metal to be outlawed, especially when the bats have been tamed.
Last edited by RJM
biggerpapibiggerpapi5,000+ posts
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kuvinrs:
There have been many incidents where a kid has hit the baseball with an aluminum bat and have, or nearly have, ended the pitchers life.

Response: "Many" pitcher's deaths? Really?

QUOTE: The companies keep making these bats lighter, and easier to swing while still meeting the league standards and requirements. This makes the ball come off the bat even faster then it has before, putting the pitcher, and even other players at more of a risk.

Response: There are rules in place and the bat companies follow the rules. Have you heard of BESR and BBCOR?

QUOTE: Gunnar Sandberg is a Bay area high school pitcher, and on March 11, 2010 he took a line drive to the head...This is just one of many stories of young little league baseball players who have been severely affected by theses aluminum bats.

Response: Was this a HS player or a young LL player?

QUOTE: ...every single pitch of the game...they obviously favor the hitters...Anybody paying the infield could get drilled with one of those deadly line drives...less than half of a second to avoid these line drives....

Response: Way too many vague and overly sensational comments to take seriously. You sound a lot like our local politicians who want to raise our taxes here and pretend that our entire existence depends on it.
Last edited by biggerpapi
TrumanTruman5,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Kuvinrs:
The Aluminum Bat Controversy
The controversy that aluminum bats are too dangerous has been going on for quite awhile. Many argue that aluminum should not be allowed to be used, and wooden bats should be used instead. There have been many incidents where a kid has hit the baseball with an aluminum bat and have, or nearly have, ended the pitchers life. I believe that the advances that have been made in aluminum baseball bats in the past few years are pushing t even more. The companies keep making these bats lighter, and easier to swing while still meeting the league standards and requirements. This makes the ball come off the bat even faster then it has before, putting the pitcher, and even other players at more of a risk.
Gunnar Sandberg is a Bay area high school pitcher, and on March 11, 2010 he took a line drive to the head. He suffered traumatic brain injury and had to re learn how to eat, speak, walk, and other crucial things. This is just one of many stories of young little league baseball players who have been severely affected by theses aluminum bats. To me it just does not seem like it is worth risking the health of these young ball players. Instead of putting these kids health at risk every single pitch of the game, why not just switch the bats to wood?
The reason that people want to keep these bats in the game is because they obviously favor the hitters. The velocity in which the ball leaves the aluminum bats does not only put the pitchers at risk. Anybody paying the infield could get drilled with one of those deadly line drives. When people tried to get aluminum bats banned in the NCAA, the NCAA responded that there are certain risks in the game, and the players are aware of those risks. Well sure the players are aware of the risks, but that does not mean that they can react fast enough in less than half of a second to avoid these line drives. Some high schools have switched to all wooden bats, which is good, but way too many still use the aluminum.
One of my friends has a brother that got hit in the head with one of these line drives, and was in a coma for a little over a week. I am sure that this was very rough on him and his family. This shows that incidents like this can happen to anybody, and that they are rare, but not too rare.


Note that the incident you refer to on March 11, 2010 is when HS's were still using BESR bats. All of California as of 2011 are required to use BBCOR bats (Calif. being the first state to do so). And now I think all of HS baseball has switched to BBCOR bats . . . .as has all colleges. Since BBCOR bats are now the requirement for all metal bat use in HS and College, I heard of many cases where HS players didn't like the BBCOR bats and were allowed to use wood if they so chose to. But I don't think that option is allowed anywhere in college. The primary reason for the switch was exactly for the issue you speak of.

As I just mentioned in a previous thread, baseball is a dangerous game and players have had serious injuries from hit or thrown balls long before metal bats. And BBCOR bats have dumbed downed metal bat performance to that comparable to wood. So there's little difference if any in exposure to injury between metal and wood bats. So, just because a bat is metal doesn't make it more dangerous than wood bats. . .it has more to do with how their engineered and how far the engineering is allowed to go.

PS: Oh, and note that some of the most "dangerous" bats were not metal but were COMPOSIT bats.
Last edited by Truman
Stats4GnatsStats4Gnats10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Truman:
…Since BBCOR bats are now the requirement for all metal bat use in HS and College, I heard of many cases where HS players didn't like the BBCOR bats and were allowed to use wood if they so chose to. But I don't think that option is allowed anywhere in college….


I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that wood is not an option in college or anywhere else. I don’t know of any rule set that disallows wood.

Here’s the NCAA rule on a wood bat.

The Bat
SECTION 12. a. Wood bat. The bat must be a smooth, rounded stick not more than 2¾ inches in diameter at its thickest part nor more than 42 inches in length. There must be a direct line from the center of the knob to the center of the large end. Any material to improve the grip may be used for a distance not to exceed 18 inches from the end of the handle. It is mandatory that all bats have an identification mark 18 inches from the end of the handle. An indentation in the end of the bat up to 1 inch in depth is permitted (cupped bats). All bats other than one-piece solid wood must be certified in accordance with the NCAA certification program.
TrumanTruman5,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
quote:
Originally posted by Truman:
…Since BBCOR bats are now the requirement for all metal bat use in HS and College, I heard of many cases where HS players didn't like the BBCOR bats and were allowed to use wood if they so chose to. But I don't think that option is allowed anywhere in college….


I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that wood is not an option in college or anywhere else. I don’t know of any rule set that disallows wood.

Here’s the NCAA rule on a wood bat.

The Bat
SECTION 12. a. Wood bat. The bat must be a smooth, rounded stick not more than 2¾ inches in diameter at its thickest part nor more than 42 inches in length. There must be a direct line from the center of the knob to the center of the large end. Any material to improve the grip may be used for a distance not to exceed 18 inches from the end of the handle. It is mandatory that all bats have an identification mark 18 inches from the end of the handle. An indentation in the end of the bat up to 1 inch in depth is permitted (cupped bats). All bats other than one-piece solid wood must be certified in accordance with the NCAA certification program.


In my case, I guess I got that idea from particular programs that say they're using BBCOR bats and nothing else . . . no wood allowed. And maybe it's not "allowed" because of some kind of arrangement between the program and sponsors???
Stats4GnatsStats4Gnats10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Truman:
In my case, I guess I got that idea from particular programs that say they're using BBCOR bats and nothing else . . . no wood allowed. And maybe it's not "allowed" because of some kind of arrangement between the program and sponsors???


I can’t say what any individual program does, arrangements with sponsors or not. There are a lot of things “allowed” by the rules that coaches don’t allow though. Wink

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