Metal Bats Strike Out in NY Court

[reds1]

In a case closely watched by baseball organizations and bat manufacturers across the country, a federal judge yesterday upheld a New York City law banning the use of metal bats in high school baseball games. . .

While the judge observed that there was disputed evidence over whether metal bats were more harmful than wooden bats, he said that the Council had acted rationally in assessing “that the risk is too great.” . . .

At the core of the issue was whether metal bats, which proponents of the law say have a larger “sweet spot” and propel balls at faster speeds, present a greater danger to pitchers and infielders than wooden bats.

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[darkhorse]

They should outlaw them at all levels of organized baseball. And, MLB should step in and pay the cost for those athletic programs. Something they should have done long ago.

PING!

[Gastric ReFlux]

I wouldn't mind having the clang of aluminum disappear. The difficulty is supplying the wooden bats that would be needed to replace the aluminum bats which can basically last forever almost.

[Skipaway]

It's not hard to deaden the metal bats. Probably just need some new rules from the various baseball governing bodies.

[Prodigal Son]

Ping never answers its pings.

[reds1]

Here is an interesting article discussing the movement in Tuscon area towards a return to wooden bats.

The type of bat used can have an effect on the game, as well as on the outlook of the hitter using it, since wood and metal bats are far different in the results they produce.

Wood bats are generally heavier than metal bats, meaning more energy must be expended to make a good swing and make good contact with the ball. Compare that to the lighter and stronger metal bats, which require less effort to hit the ball a lot farther.

Wood bats are also more solid, requiring that contact be made on the "sweet spot" in the middle of the bat. With metal bats, if the ball hits any part of it there is the appearance the ball bounces off like rubber.

"With an aluminum bat if you get jammed you're still going to hit it 300 feet," said Bill Leith, president of Thornydale Little League. "With a wood bat it's going to go 30 feet and you're going to get thrown out at first. I've played with a wood bat, and I know using a wood bat changes the dynamic of the game."

Kids who have used only metal bats could tend to think of themselves as better hitters, noted Cienega High School baseball coach Todd Welch. He said they discount the fact that much of their production is a byproduct of their equipment rather than their abilities.

"How many times does a kid think he's a better hitter because he got that flare off the end of the (metal) bat that he wouldn't get with a wood bat?," asked Welch, whose team is made up of several players from the American Legion team known as Post 36. "My philosophy is, you want to make the game as realistic as possible. Using wood improves their mechanics."

Not much difference in safety

The move from metal to wood locally was never an issue of safety, those involved in the switch say. That's because metal bats had already become safer.

As metal-bat technology improved over the years, so did the power of those bats. And, consequently, the dangers that more powerful bats create.
The 1990s included a large increase in reports of players at all levels being injured by balls hit with metal bats, which prompted research to be done to examine the speed — known as exit velocity — at which balls hit with metal come back at fielders.

This increase in safety awareness led the National Federation of High Schools to adopt new standards for metal bats, which now limit the weight/ length differential to minus-3. That means, for instance, if a bat is 34 inches long, it can weigh no less than 31 ounces.

Nearly every youth baseball league — including Little League and American Legion — has aligned itself with these safety standards, and bat manufacturers have created a slew of bats that meet these requirements. That has created piece of mind, especially for parents.

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[Skipaway]

Yeah, I think banning metal bats is a stupid act. What should be done is to come up with a safety standard and allow whatever bat that'd fit the standard.


Metal bat manufacturers can easily provide whatever bat you want given standards. To ban them is going backwards and only benefits wooden bat manufacturers.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Skipaway

To ban them is going backwards and only benefits wooden bat manufacturers.

and pitchers, hitters, baseball scouts, and baseball fans. But, nothing beyond that.

[Lastplaneout]

Originally Posted by Skipaway

Yeah, I think banning metal bats is a stupid act. What should be done is to come up with a safety standard and allow whatever bat that'd fit the standard.

Metal bat manufacturers can easily provide whatever bat you want given standards. To ban them is going backwards and only benefits wooden bat manufacturers.

That seems like the most reasonable thing to do. Have the manufacturers design a metal bat that has identical physical properties to a wooden one. It's mostly just a density issue, right?

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

and pitchers, hitters, baseball scouts, and baseball fans. But, nothing beyond that.

How would it benefit those people? You can obviously get metal bats to be safer than wooden bats. Why not choose that route? A blanket ban on metal bats would drive up the cost for playing baseball, therefore bad for everyone involved.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Skipaway

A blanket ban on metal bats would drive up the cost for playing baseball, therefore bad for everyone involved.

It's in MLB's best interests to have players at all levels using wood bats, and it's a cost they could easily absorb.

[Skipaway]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

It's in MLB's best interests to have players at all levels using wood bats, and it's a cost they could easily absorb.

Why is it in MLB's best interest to have players at all levels using wood bats?

The best interest for them is to help develop a cheap bat that won't break easily while having performances similar enough to whatever bats they are using. Probably some kind of composite material.

[Jason Moyer]

I thought it was generally regarded as a myth that using aluminum bats had a negative impact on hitters when they switched to wooden bats in pro leagues. I can't remember who it was (James maybe?) but someone wrote an article about how part of the homerun-jump in baseball was being fueled by hitters learning to do things with aluminum bats that everyone always said you couldn't, and then applying those techniques to wooden bats and finding that they worked (i.e. getting jammed and crushing the ball anyway, slamming the outside pitch into the opposite field, etc).

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by Jason Moyer

I thought it was generally regarded as a myth that using aluminum bats had a negative impact on hitters when they switched to wooden bats in pro leagues. I can't remember who it was (James maybe?) but someone wrote an article about how part of the homerun-jump in baseball was being fueled by hitters learning to do things with aluminum bats that everyone always said you couldn't, and then applying those techniques to wooden bats and finding that they worked (i.e. getting jammed and crushing the ball anyway, slamming the outside pitch into the opposite field, etc).

I think James point was that pitchers lost certain areas of the stike zone (like the inner middle of the plate) because all of their lives the had pitched against wooden bats and found that you had to be very careful where you placed the ball and by the time they reached the majors that sort of thinking had become ingrained to the point where they would pitch the exact same way versus wooden bats

[Long_Long_Name]

I am generally a traditionalist (I believe that the DH and the wild card are bad for the game of baseball and I long for the return of 450-yard CF fences), I suppose, but I would have absolutely no problem with metal bats being allowed in MLB. Of course, making the ballparks bigger would probably also be a good idea.