Should MLB Ban Maple Bats?

None | 03 23 10 | Notoriously Conservative

[Notoriously Conservative]

With all the recent news about injuries related to splintering maple baseball bats, do you think the MLB should ban them? Yes or no, and why? I'd be interetested to hear your thoughts.

[advertising guy]

ban em...there’s no stabbin in baseball

[Hot Tabasco]

metal bats are significantly more dangerous than wood ones

From a softball standpoint, metal bats are now as obsolete as wooden bats when compared to the present composit bats.......

[superfries]

that is a classic! Your comment has me laughing pretty hard....you read just like he speaks.

[kitchen]

Don't forget the horsehide balls!

[Notoriously Conservative]

Maple is a harder wood, so hitters like them more. But, they also tend to splinter on impact, sending sharp shards flying, often causing injury.

[ClearCase_guy]

Can you tell us that haven’t followed this contraversy what is the difference between maple and the more traditional ash?

One of them is made of maple. And the other one isn't.

[SnakeDoctor]

Rather than splintering, maple bats are a harder wood and tend to break like this ...

... which is supposedly more dangerous to players in the field.

SnakeDoc

[Hot Tabasco]

With all the recent news about injuries related to splintering maple baseball bats

I'm not aware of that but then again I don't follow baseball.

If Maple bats are indeed splintering and MLB wants to encourage the long ball then I would suggest a compromise. Ban the Maple bats and legalize corking.........problem solved.

Sammy Sosa was just ahead of the times........LOL!

[Elderberry]

Wood bats all break in the handle area. If the bat handles were sleeved with a carbon fiber/ kevlar biaxial sleeving epoxied on. Then when the bats broke the two pieces would stay together.

[Wooly]

Maybe MLB should be forced to go back to the specifications for maple bats that were used back in the days of Babe Ruth and the other greats. Today's bats have been changed to give hitters more power instead of being more like the sturdy club of yesteryear. If you have ever noticed today's major league bat has more of a golf club profile (a really skinny long handle tapering dramatically to a large hitting area) than that of the older bat where the taper from the handle to the hitting area was more gentle.

[Mr. K]

I could never stand the sound of an aluminum bat... it just sounds so wrong

A good hardwood CRACK is so satisfying. Sometimes I go to the batting cage just to experience it.

[Mr. K]

You’re absolutely correct!

The local chapter of Keep Our Own Kids Safe (KOOKS) should be called into action!

[Yo-Yo]

I think the players should have to make their own bats.

[anymouse]

[Grunthor]

They should ban the Yankees and the Red Sox.

[Osage Orange]

Dude..!!

Making a argument on a baseball thread...using an analogy with gays??

Close to blasphemy.....

[Vigilanteman]

The traditional ash and even hickory bats tend to break cleanly-- 2 or even 3 pieces. When I was a boy, we could even glue and ash back together and give it a second life if the break was clean enough.

Maple bats not only splinter and fly off in a more unpredictable manner, but they are heavier than the traditional ash bat. Combine more pieces + more weight + unpredictable flight pattern and you have a bigger risk.

Maple is a little more durable than ash plus some people like the greater weight which, if you wield it properly, makes a batted ball travel farther. But weight can also reduce bat speed.

Remember Sammy Sosa and the corked bat scandals? Before Sammy started juicing, he was a little guy who stole bases, hit for average and managed around 30-35 home runs per season. The corked bat was his option to lighten the bat and increase bat speed. All things considered, I think bat speed poses less danger to players than maple bats, but I also have a built-in bias because one of the reasons I love baseball is that little guys with skill can compete just fine against big guys with brawn.

[gathersnomoss]

The Baltimore Orioles banned their bats years ago.

[oh8eleven]

With all the recent news about injuries related to splintering maple baseball bats
I'm well aware of the maple bat controversy, but have never heard of injuries. Your source?

[N. Theknow]

Nothing beats a good piece of ash.