Skip to main content

Replies sorted oldest to newest

The reason this bill dies is not because the legislature prefers metal bats.

The legislature just historically stays out of VHSL's business.

Now, if the VHSL would like to consider a rule permitting only wood bats, I could start a letter-writing campaign in support! But you have to like it when the politicians actually do decide NOT to stick their noses into someone else's business.
While I agree with cvsting pretty much, here are a few points that may be of interest:

The game is played with wood mainly because the game was invented in the 1800's. If the game hadn't been invented until now, in all likelihood the standard would be metal across the board.

Metal swept through amateur ranks in the 1970's because of a fire at the Hillerich & Bradsby wood curing facility that wiped out their seasoned timber stock. Pro teams had first pick of what was left, and by the time youth programs got theirs they frequently had to settle for unseasoned timber that tended to break like balsa wood. There were several experiments with replacement bats but metal won out. (Anyone remember fiberglass bats? And what would happen if you used them in cold weather?)

The problem came when metal bat companies began following the lead of Prince rackets in tennis and Big Bertha golf drivers. Initially the goal was to emulate wood, but soon it became a marketing thing to surpass the performance of wood, to sell a competitive advantage.

It's been all downhill from there, if you ask me. And even though the historic reason for the move to metal is long forgotten, now metal is so ensconced in amateur baseball I don't know if you could ever get it rooted out.
What I never understood is that everyone outside of baseball complained about the government intervening in high school sports, but those who are actually affiliated with the sport and who would be affected by the bill know what comes with it. The cost of wood bats is a legitimate reason to review the bill. But prevention is key if this bill is going to be implemented. It would essentially be avoiding injury and the chance of a young kid dying on the field, rather than waiting for it to happen then act on it.
I didn't realize it had passed the NYC Council. Did Bloomberg sign it? If so, did we ever get all that threatened litigation? I wonder what their basis for suit would be?

I don't know that I've ever been convinced this is a safety issue. But having seen teenagers play with both metal and wood, it's just a better game with wood. It really separates the real hitters from the pretenders, that's for sure.

The thing that bugs me about metal is not whether it hits the ball farther. It's when the pitcher gets a kid on the handle and he muscles it into the shallow OF grass for an undeserved blooper hit. Or when the batter hits it off the trademark area and gets a line drive hit out of it, instead of a shattered bat pop out. (But then, I'm an old pitcher, and a pitcher's dad.)

I don't know that wood is any more expensive. In most programs the kids are supplying their own bats, and it's not unusual to see a kid buy two $200 & up bats each year. A very good wood bat can be had in the $75 range, so you can go through a lot of wood in a year on the same budget you currently have for metal. And when players get used to wood, they stop breaking their bats so often, too.

Plus, a lot of kids are already buying wood to use in drills or summer play. For those guys, doing away with metal would save them (or their parents) a tidy sum.

Which I guess tells you all you need to know about why Easton is so up in arms about this kind of legislation.
We play metal and wood. I do not believe it would cost more to play wood only. I think my son has broken 1-2 bats in 3 years of wood bat play. The new composite bats cost almost $ 400.00 that converts to between 8-10 wood bats. I like my chances of spending less money. It just makes for a better game. So many of the high school fields are small, and players product huge numbers but are really just average in power. And I agree with Midlo- my son's a pitcher it allows a pitcher to pitch inside.
I need to ask all of you why you think HS players using wood bats is going to make for a "better" game? I also want to hear how going from metal to wood is going to make the game "safer". You guys are jumping on the nostalgic bandwagon. HS players swinging wood will produce a lot fewer hits making the game BORING not better. As for it being safer that is plain hype. Study after study has shown the highest mph of a ball coming off a wood bat to be 87mph. The highest for a metal bat is 94mph. Plain and simple 7mph is not going to make a difference. A line drive hit straight back at the pitcher at 87mph has the potential to do serious damage (ie: Mike Mussina). Finally if you think the average HS player is going to break three or fewer bats in a sesaon you are kidding yourselves. Cost of the wood bats will be an issue.

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×