On Deck: A Showdown Over Metal Bats

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070415/hl_hsn/ondeckashowdownovermetalbats

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

44 minutes ago

 

 

 

SUNDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Many baseball players, coaches and fans are convinced that bats made of aluminum or other metals outperform traditional wooden bats, sending balls screaming out of the park.

 

But do these hi-tech bats work so well that they pose a health hazard, crushing balls with such force that they can become lethal projectiles?

 

 

New York City believes so. Its City Council last month passed a ban against bats made from metal for use in high school games, with enough votes to defeat a veto by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

 

 

Other governments, large and small, across the country are considering similar measures during April, National Youth Sports Safety Month.

 

 

"The kids don't have a second to react to those balls anymore," said Debbie Patch, of Miles City, Mont., who testified before the New York City Council about the death of her 18-year-old son, Brandon, a pitcher who was struck in the head by a ball hit by a metal bat. "The companies promote it that way. They promote it as, 'Choose your weapon,' and that's what they are."

 

 

But, the co-author of one of the studies cited to argue the deadly potential of metal bats says New York City may have acted in haste.

 

 

"To my knowledge, there are no published, peer-reviewed articles that show there is an increased incidence of injury from the use of aluminum bats," said Richard M. Greenwald, executive director of the National Institute for Sports Science and Safety, and an adjunct associate professor of engineering at Dartmouth College.

 

 

A 2002 study co-written by Greenwald found that some metal bats can significantly outperform wood bats, mainly due to increases in swing speeds and the elasticity of the metal. The hollow metal bats can be swung faster. Also, the bats flex when a ball strikes them, denting inward and creating a "trampoline effect" that bounces the ball off at a greater velocity, the study found.

 

 

That study was part of the evidence the New York City Council used to make its decision. But Greenwald believes the lawmakers were off-base.

 

 

Greenwald said the research had been intended to show that lab tests of baseball bats could serve as a good indicator of how bats would perform on the field. Although the study did find that metal bats performed better, nothing in the research indicated they performed so well that they could be lethal.

 

 

"If they're talking about regulating the game from a safety perspective, then it seems logical that they would identify a safety issue first," Greenwald said. "We just need to see peer-reviewed published data that says there's a problem."

 

 

Bat manufacturers are resisting efforts to ban aluminum bats, which were introduced more than 30 years ago, largely because they are far more durable than wooden bats, making them a cost-effective alternative. Since then, many players and coaches have come to believe the metal bats are superior to wooden ones.

 

 

The bat makers say they use research like Greenwald's to make all bats -- whether metal or wood -- perform to a single standard.

 

 

"All bats must perform at a standard ball-exit speed ratio," said Andrea Cernich, a spokeswoman for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, a trade group. "Basically, it's a standard on how fast a ball can come off a bat, either wood or not wood. The manufacturers develop products based on those standards."

 

 

"We believe today's products are safe," Cernich added. "That's because leagues have taken a lot of interest in creating safety guidelines."

 

 

Some states considering or undertaking a ban on metal bats include:

 

New Jersey, where a state Assembly committee voted last October to move forward with a bill banning metal and metal-composite bats from league and school baseball games involving children younger than 17. The bill has not yet been considered by the full state legislature.

North Dakota, where the state High School Activities Association has banned any bats not made of wood, starting this spring.

Massachusetts, which has considered a ban for several years but never has passed one.

 

In addition, conferences and leagues like the New York Collegiate Baseball League and the Great Lakes Valley Conference have stopped using metal bats. And the Cape Cod League, which attracts some of the top collegiate players each summer, banned metal bats back in 1983.

 

 

Bans have been sought with the urging of parents like Patch, whose children have been hurt or killed by balls hit off metal bats.

 

Patch's son was pitching in a high school game in July 2003, when a batter using a metal bat hit a line drive straight at him.

 

"Nobody saw it even hit him until he was on the ground, and the ball was in the air, Patch recalled. "You didn't even see the ball until it was caught by the first baseman."

 

Her son was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Great Falls, but he died about five hours later from internal trauma.

 

"It totally crushed him," she said. "There were not a lot of injuries on the outside. It was all internal."

 

Patch noted that Major League Baseball only allows the use of wood bats.

 

"How many major league players have you seen killed on the field? I don't know of one," she said.

 

What do you guys think? Wood all around or metal should stay?

 

Personally I think wood. Simply because it just takes more life out of true baseball. I can't stand the sound of a ball hitting the metal, and I've never found a good metal bat that works for me. Give me a real baseball bat anyday.

 

As far as safety wise, that 18 year old pitcher took the risk every time he stepped onto the mound. No one can predict where a ball is gonna go. Especially if not hit correctly. Accidents happen and you shouldn't blame the manufacturer. Now if this started happening all across the U.S. and many metal bats started causing fatalities, then yeah, take them out of the sport. But as of right now there's no true safety hazard other than the people who use the bats.

[Cocos Disciples]

Wood all around. Metal is way too dangerous, and balls carry too much.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

Middle school and high school players are still developing and should be allowed to use metal, but I think college should switch to wood.

[TGov]

I say wood bats all the way, it would be safer and if a player (in Middle/High school) wants to play pro ball you have to switch to wood bats anyway, so why not use wood bats when you're younger...

[Thumper]

Middle school and high school players are still developing and should be allowed to use metal' date=' but I think college should switch to wood.[/quote']

 

I think highschool should use would as well. You'd be surprised some guys can hit hard and I know a lot of people that got hurt.

 

Jr. High down should be allowed metal since it's unlikely that they'll slug a 90mph fastball back to the mound.

[jacksonianmarch]

What people dont get is the cost entailed with wooden bats. Each bat is 40-75 bucks a pop. And including batting practice, you are talking probably 100 bats that will hit the shredder for a 20 game season and 6 weeks of workouts. This is due to the kids not knowing how to swing them either. When you swing a wooden bat, your hit zone decreases. In order to save the cost, you dont go after the outside corner pitches or swing at the inside pitches unless you have 2 strikes and most kids wont even know that you are supposed to hit with the label facing towards you (most kids spin it at the dish). And if you switch an entire high school team to wood, you are accruing serious costs, costs so high that they may be prohibitive for inner city schools from pursuing the sport altogether. Keep the metal in high school. Take it away in college.

[schillingouttheks]

Are you saying that wooden bats cost more at 40-75 bucks than metal bats?

[jacksonianmarch]

Are you saying that wooden bats cost more at 40-75 bucks than metal bats?

 

No, but for a HS, you buy 2 metal bats a season at 150 bucks a pop. You wont break them. For the wood, you buy maybe 50 at 40 bucks a pop and then have to order more when your kids are turning the lumber into kindling.

[ORS]

Aren't the latest generation of aluminum bats designed with less COR (coefficient of restitution), so that they are a little safer? The economics of what Jackson says do exist, but so does the safety issue. As long as they can engineer the metal to act like wood, I don't see a problem with metal.

[jacksonianmarch]

Aren't the latest generation of aluminum bats designed with less COR (coefficient of restitution)' date=' so that they are a little safer? The economics of what Jackson says do exist, but so does the safety issue. As long as they can engineer the metal to act like wood, I don't see a problem with metal.[/quote']

 

they did die it down a little, but it still isnt close.

[Thumper]

No' date=' but for a HS, you buy 2 metal bats a season at 150 bucks a pop. You wont break them. For the wood, you buy maybe 50 at 40 bucks a pop and then have to order more when your kids are turning the lumber into kindling.[/quote']

 

$40-$50 a pop for wood? What bat are you talking about??? I get "180 Louiville Sluggers" for $15 a piece down here.

[jacksonianmarch]

$40-$50 a pop for wood? What bat are you talking about??? I get "180 Louiville Sluggers" for $15 a piece down here.

 

if you want a bat that will last you more than 3 or 4 days, you pay 40 for it. You want a bat that even the worst hitter wont break, spring 75 bones for a maple bat.

[Thumper]

I've got a year old 180 Grandslam that has never let me down and I use to bat the thing every day. But that just tells me it's breaking point is near. I actually almost purchased a Maple Bat today but the place I went to didn't have any in stock, naturally.

[BSN07]

My thoughts are on the same line with Jacko here. The economics will play a big part. Unless you get some big company like Lville to produce a cheaper alternative it will be tuff for most schools to supply bats. Baseball has become a very expensive game to play over the last 10-15 years.

[schillingouttheks]

No' date=' but for a HS, you buy 2 metal bats a season at 150 bucks a pop. You wont break them. For the wood, you buy maybe 50 at 40 bucks a pop and then have to order more when your kids are turning the lumber into kindling.[/quote']

 

Oh, I gotcha now. I thought you meant just paying for 1 wooden bat would be more than 1 metal bat. But yes, the economics make sense.

[Soxfan1]

What people dont get is the cost entailed with wooden bats. Each bat is 40-75 bucks a pop. And including batting practice' date=' you are talking probably 100 bats that will hit the shredder for a 20 game season and 6 weeks of workouts. This is due to the kids not knowing how to swing them either. When you swing a wooden bat, your hit zone decreases. In order to save the cost, you dont go after the outside corner pitches or swing at the inside pitches unless you have 2 strikes and most kids wont even know that you are supposed to hit with the label facing towards you (most kids spin it at the dish). And if you switch an entire high school team to wood, you are accruing serious costs, costs so high that they may be prohibitive for inner city schools from pursuing the sport altogether. Keep the metal in high school. Take it away in college.[/quote']

My point exactly. Once you hit college, then they should use Wood from then on. High schools dont have the money to buy that many wooden bats.