It could definitely put an eye out.
Posted on 05/05/2010 3:07:11 PM PDT by smokingfrog
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California legislative committee advanced a bill Wednesday that would place a two-year moratorium on the use of metal bats in high school baseball to allow for a safety review.
Supporters said metal alloy and aluminum bats make baseballs travel faster and lead to more serious injuries. Opponents of the moratorium said wooden bats also are dangerous.
The bill moved forward on the same day a 16-year-old pitcher for Marin Catholic High School, who was struck in the head by a line drive hit off an aluminum bat, was released from a rehabilitation hospital.
The March incident left Gunnar Sandberg with a traumatic brain injury.
His father Bjorn Sandberg said Gunnar had been in a coma for weeks and was happy to be recovering at home.
“He’s made really tremendous improvement,” Bjorn Sandberg said in a telephone interview, adding that Gunnar will be returning to the hospital for rehabilitation therapy several hours every day.
Gunnar’s family had planned to attend the bill hearing in Sacramento but changed their plan when they learned their son was coming home.
“We are totally supportive of anything that will make the sport safer so others don’t have to live through what Gunnar and the family have had to go through,” Bjorn Sandberg said.
The legislation, introduced by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, passed the Senate Education Committee on a 5-1 vote and now moves to the full Senate for consideration.
Opponents of the moratorium cited studies comparing the safety of wood and non-wood bats.
“The difference between the two of them ... is actually very narrow,” said Rand Martin, representing Easton Bell Sports, a company that manufactures both wooden and metal bats.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
They could swing a purse.
Back in the day I never liked how a metal bat felt when it contacted the ball. I much preferred the wood bat. California is being silly though.
It could definitely put an eye out.
what a lot of time the legislature has on its hands. bats no less.
Hit in the head by a ball traveling 60MPH from a metal bat or 50MPH from a wooden one ...
I'm still dead, right?
Why not just ban HS baseball? This ban may make it slightly safe, but there is always a danger of serious injury in a sport.
Kids are still allowed to play baseball? Isn’t that too, too dangerous?
Bats in their collective bellfry !
They ought to be going after retards who can't capitalize.
Priorities.
We should ban everything dangerous.
CA is addicted to making laws banning stuff.
One day they are going to run out of stuff to ban, and then they’ll have to go through withdrawal. Of course, by then no one will be living in the state but the government.
The Legislators all have bats in their belfreys. They could use those.
” They ought to be going after retards who can’t capitalize.”
Now that’s funny! LOL
How about banning baseball?
Nobody would be hurt then. Of course they might all sign up for High School MMA. lol.
My 12 year old son a few years ago was standing by his coach and one of the boys threw a ball and knocked three teeth out of his mouth. Never did get hit by a bat.
Maybe for safety we need to get the ball out of the game.
Once again, liberal legislators use non-science to come to a conclusion regarding physics (a science). The difference in maximum velocity between a wood bat and a metal bat is what? If the V diff is just a few percentage points, maybe we should make the ball softer instead of changing bat material.
If a pitcher has no fast ball and throws only junk, does that make the game safer? Maybe we should outlaw fastballs.
ARE ALL LIBERALS WIMPS????? (Very few seem to fall outside that designation.)
The California government will come out with a ‘safety suit’. A rubber suit all will be forced to wear with airbags that deploy in case of an accident. It will have a propeller to generate power on the top and also to power flashing lights at night.
They are seriously deranged.
Actually...I think this is a wood bat conspiracy. They’ve paid off California lawmakers and hoping to bring their industry back into profits. Next...we need to President to state that metal bats are threat to the nation...and have a commission formed to settle the issue (Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and Bobby Tolan...all Reds of course).
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