Posted on 02/27/2008 10:46:07 AM PST by kc8ukw
It's been three decades now since the ping of aluminum started drowning out the crack of a wooden bat on youth baseball fields across America.
But that older sound of summer is making a comeback on some grassy diamonds these days — not for nostalgia, but safety. Some Illinois lawmakers, in fact, want to ban metal bats from youth baseball.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
The article also mentions that some youth organizations have voluntarily decided to ban them - not a problem.
Aluminum bats are easier to swing for kids. If they want to go to wood, they’ll have to use exotic woods, making the bats very expensive, or use smaller bats, making it harder to hit the ball.
Idiots the lot of them.
Illinois - YOU CAN’T HAVE FUN IN OUR STATE!!
Much as I despise aluminum bats, the government has no business here..................
Talk about legislators who would rather generate headlines than deal with real problems.
Case in point: Steroids in baseball. Instead of these dog-and-pony Capitol Hill show trials, why not just tell MLB to deal with the problem or lose their antitrust exemption?
I think the drug problem would be solved tout de suite!
On the other hand, banning them is not the government's job.
My son sure didn’t have any fun the summer he was hit in the by a baseball. Half an inch lower, it would have taken out his eye. He’s got a titanium plate in his forehead now.
Just saying.
I think they should ban aluminum bats, and ugly girls.
Are you suggesting that kids were unable to play baseball before aluminum bats came along?
Sorry to hear about your son's accident. I hope he's doing OK now.
...but the injury would have been the same whether an aluminum or a wooden bat was used.
People often don’t realize that aluminum bats are very different than they used to be. The way they are engineered has the ball coming off at such a rapid speed that pitchers cannot react fast enough to defend themselves. This is particularly true in the younger ages.
The better solution, however, is for the league to provide all bats and use only the lower tech bats.
Much as I despise aluminum bats, the government has no business here..................
Agree completely on both counts. My son nearly killed me ~10 days ago. I didn’t get behind that ‘L’ shaped pitcher net fast enough and barely got my glove hand up in time to prevent what would have been an ugly head shot. Pointer finger on my left hand is MUCH better,,,, and still it hurts to type those ‘FFF’s.
Alternative suggestion: Ban baseballs and go all-Nerf.
No, but I was referring to toddlers mostly.
Yep, I’ve seen orbital fractures occur with balls hit with wooden bats too. Wearing the wrap-around sports frame glasses can help protect against some of these injuries, plus they reduce glare, improve contrast, and look cool too.
I agree that the government should stay out of it, however there has been such a strong and antagonistic pro-aluminum coalition (supported by EASTON, etc.) that most youth leagues can’t effectively resist, much less change back to wood.
I fought the bat battle 10 years ago along with the NCAA, and you’d be amazed to see the lengths that aluminum bat manufacturers will go to “head these initiatives off at the pass”. It’s pretty disturbing stuff.
Aluminum bats are great ... unless your kid is a pitcher!
That’s happening in Slow pitch softball, too. I play in a church league, and everybody’s buying $300 bats that are made out of two different materials. I’ve seen a lot of weird injuries that I don’t think would have happened with normal metal bats.
When I pitched in HS and college I just threw inside or at the batter :) Maybe that’s why IO am here instead of on the big show, dang.
Professional baseball doesn’t use aluminum bats, so why use them in Little Leagues, schools and colleges?..........
Possibly not. The aluminum bat place more energy into the ball than the wooden ones, so the headshot may have been just a concussion..................
Whiffle Balls......
What is sadder is the level of competition in Dixie ( 7-8 yoa ) and youth girls softball among the parents. The kids just want to play and the parents are all about playing “select ball” and if their kid does not get asked to the all star team they are offended.
My son was asked to play select after the season and I said no and you would have though I kicked someone’s grandma. This year the word was out that I am a non-team parent (??) so don’t bother asking my kid to play. The good thing is he is in the top 5 of players in the league so they need him.
Are you saying that the people are up against BIG ALUMINUM (Alcoa, Reynolds, etc)?............
They blow up real good!
Maybe there should be a weight limit or something. If a kid is over 100lbs he is big enough to swing a wooden bat. Granted, he might not hit as well with it, but he probably won’t kill the pitcher either. I don’t know what the solution is but those light bats are pretty dangerous.
I know that this is straying off topic, but I coached youth leagues, high school and college summer leagues. Parents are often the worst component of youth athletics, and in fact often inhibit their kids’ ability to advance in their sport. Too much domestic conflict.
Tell your son to just have fun and try to get a little better each year. The college scouts won’t even look at him until his junior year of high school (even though some parents insist that their kid has been “booked” by an MLB team at the age of 10.) LOL. I’ve heard them all!
“Aluminum bats are great ... unless your kid is a pitcher!”
and my kid is a pitcher.
The older, bigger, stronger these kids get, the more nerve wracking the whole aluminum vs. wood issue becomes.
In golf, the USGA sets tight limits as to the maximum COR that any driver face can have, thus limiting how lively any club can get.
If it's a problem, then have Little League, Pony League, and Babe Ruth League (all of which claim to have "approved" the aluminum bats my kids use) actually do their job and set strict limits on youth bat CORs before approving a bat for league play.
Banning aluminum bats totally is impossible, simply because there isn't enough wooden bat manufacturing capacity.
No Red Badger - just EASTON, Worth and the other aluminum bat manufacturers (who by the way contribute to youth league programs — OR NOT.)
Thank god for this. baseball’s a game of tradition, anyways.
Now if they’ll only get rid of the stupid DH rule and take those @*&%^$%# lights out of Wrigley Field......
Than God for this. baseball’s a game of tradition, anyways.
Now if they’ll only get rid of the stupid DH rule and take those @*&%^$%# lights out of Wrigley Field......
You're correct about the aluminum bat manufacturers. They do not want wooden bats to be legal.
Aluminum bats don't break.
I always preferred the wood bats in my youth growing up in the 70’s, just didn’t like aluminum bats and the sound they made. That being said, its stupid to ban them
Remember when all you had to do to “fix” a bat was cork the handle and use pine tar?
They are? That's news to me.
My son pitched in college (NCAA D-IA), and I can assure you that it can get really worrysome at times, especially against 230+ lb. #4 hitters! It’s almost impossible to react to a 110 mph “screamer” coming at your head afyer you’ve just delivered a pitch.
Is this about bats or stopping baseball? Kickball was dangerous and it was stopped. Why not just ban all balls and bubble wrap the kids?
I’ll show your post to hubby.
Our boy has potential both as a catcher and as a pitcher.
Up until last year, I would have guessed catching was his thing.
But then he went to a showcase and was clocked at 83 mph at the age of 14.
Ever since then it’s been “pitcher pitcher pitcher”
I’d still rather have him stand behind the batter.
Can I carry one in my Truck?
What about carbon fiber bats? Titanium? Kevlar?
It's really about the bats. The issue, which is real, is that the ball leaves an aluminum bat much faster, and more kids are getting hurt.
The propsed legislative solution.... well, that's a different matter entirely. Leagues should deal with the problem.
OTOH, if the leagues aren't dealing with it ... then what?
getting hit in the head with a kickball is much different than getting hit in the head when kids are throwing 80+ mph pitches that are getting hit by large muscular boys.
It’s not too much of an issue in LL - but now that we’re heading into varsity high school baseball - it is making me nervous.
We call them "hot bats" and they are a concern in baseball and softball.
Illinois has cancelled Little League this year. All kids will just receive an appropriate self esteem “All Star Winner” certificates in the mail.
That is all.
Aluminum bats don't GIVE, either. They impart much more of the energy to the ball than the wooden ones do, thus harder and longer hits. I've often wondered how much damage the aluminum bats do to the batters' wrists from the jar.............
Light beer too.
This is silly. People aren't getting hit with the bats. They're getting hit with the BALLS. They should ban the balls. That would make it much safer.
You show me any kid throwing 80+MPH fastballs, and I’ll call the Pirates front office to go sign him immediately.
The move to aluminum was partly driven by a shortage of ashe, the primary wood of baseball bats in years past. There is a Pennsylvania-based company that has been making bats from maple for a number of years. They have caught on at every level in which wooden bats are still used.
All that said, it is possible to make an aluminum bat a little less ‘lively’ so that it more closely mimics a wooden bat. This has already been done.
I suspect any time there’s a hotshot up the middle that nails a pitch, and an aluminum bat was used, you’re going to get a replay of this story.
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